Mike Heslin makes his directorial debut with the new series The Influencers out today.

Six social media influencers are selected to live together and compete for an exclusive brand deal in a series of creative challenges. As cameras capture each influencer in real life, the manicured version they present to the world online not only crumbles, but implodes before our eyes.

I had the opportunity to speak with the creator of the series, Mike Heslin via phone. He talked about The Influencers and how he came up with a concept that had not been seen before.

Nancy Tapia:  It’s always fun to discuss something new on screen right now, like The Influencers.

Mike Heslin: Yeah. Especially this year, I think the timing kind of worked out, I guess, in our favor. It’s like, take what wins you can in 2020, but I think everyone can use some laughs and people definitely are home and ready for content. So yeah, fingers crossed.

Nancy Tapia: Yes, and this is your directorial debut, right?

Mike Heslin: Yeah. I mean, professionally. I have been a creative director and directed music videos and stuff like that, but in this capacity, it’s my first and it was really exciting.

Nancy Tapia: What made you want to take the big step?

Mike Heslin: So I wrote it. It was truly just kind of a passion project. I thought it was a good story, I couldn’t believe we hadn’t seen kind of… There’s been the circle and social media reality shows, but there hasn’t been anything like this yet so I just really kind of loved my characters and the story. I’ve always kind of had a knack for directing. I was that kid, when I was young making my siblings and the neighborhood kids be in my little skits in the backyard or put on magic shows. Then in college I got a minor in directing as well.

And so it’s kind of always been in my bones. I just like to create and kind of help see it, shape it from beginning to completion. So I thought about it, it was like, I don’t know what it’s going to be like to also be in it and direct, but it was like, I just want to give it a whirl versus giving it to someone else because I felt very attached to it. And it was fun. There was a bit of a struggle to be in it as well. Don’t know if I’ll do that again, maybe, we’ll see. But yeah, directing was probably my favorite part of the whole experience.

Nancy Tapia: So let’s talk a little more in depth on The Influencers. I had a chance to watch two of the episodes. They were fun and entertaining. As the writer, how did you came up with the six different personalities?

Mike Heslin: Yeah. So I’ve had some experience as a creative director and working in the social media space, working with tons of influencers. I have a lots of friends who work as influencers and they’re super business savvy and are making a killing. But that being said, I’ve worked with a lot of very interesting folk who I think are maybe just lucky to be there because they’re beautiful. So in terms of the six, we went for the stereotypes and then honed in. Like there’s Kristen (Samantha Gracie), who’s tying into that big basic, namaste, good vibes only, that I think we all have seen on Instagram every day of our lives. The fitness guy there’s so many thirst traps posted every day and people turning their personal training into like an Instagram thing.

Then the insta-couples, there’s a lot of insta-couples that I’ve experienced and have some friends and you project one thing online that certainly is not maybe happening in real life. So we kind of just looked at what are the big ones that you see the most and yeah, the characters were born from there. But I also have like a long laundry list of other types that are very bizarre and a bit more unique that I’m saving for season two.

Nancy Tapia: Awesome. So there’s a season two?

Mike Heslin: I think so, I hope so. I mean, it’s already written and I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s a little different. It’s kind of like how Ryan Murphy with American Horror Stories, each season, it’s a bit of a different setup. It’s kind of in that world, but that’s all I guess I’ll say for now. 

Nancy Tapia: Okay, no problem. From one of the six, you have this character that’s more of like more of an average Joe who considers himself out of the bubble of influencers as the content creator.

Mike Heslin: Yeah. So Cruise (Noam Ash), he is like a self-identified entrepreneur. That is a kind of a subgroup online that just fascinates me. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but certainly on Instagram and on Tech-Talk, YouTube, you get these young men and women, I think it tends to be more like young guys in their early 20s. They are shouting at the camera and telling you how you’re going to make a million dollars and that they are this successful CEO and their own company.

But it’s just funny to have these… I admire the confidence, but these young men who perhaps don’t have much experience claiming to be the next Mark Cuban or something. So Cruise I guess he’s not as into the selfies and the aesthetics of it all, but he’s more in like, how can I take my business more globally through my online presence. So he’s definitely a bit different from the other five. I think he, knock on wood, will be an audience favorite because he is quite a weirdo.

Nancy Tapia: Yeah, I agree. He kinda already won me over after watching the second episode. I didn’t expect that. 

Mike Heslin: Oh yeah, wait until you see him in episodes three and four. That’s all I’m going to say. You saw the first two episodes, so he shows up, he’s like, “I’m going to win. I will win.” Then he realizes he’s like a fish out of water. I mean kind of with all of them, but especially with Cruise, it kind of, his inward spiral just continues quickly.

Nancy Tapia: The little bit I got a chance to see, it also gives you tips on promoting subjects.

Mike Heslin: Yeah. I think the show is a satire. I always kind of refer to it as like a mockumentary, like the Comeback or Best In Show, but it also kind of is like social media 101. Because these people have to know what they’re talking about so we kind of had to cover like best practices of social media and I think in the second episode they talk about brand placement and just tips for how to advertise products or working with other brands. So yeah, that’s a good point, I didn’t think about that. But it kind of also as a social media education in a way, I guess.

Nancy Tapia: Yeah. After watching that second episode, I’m like, “Oh, no wonder I can’t get to 600 followers on Instagram” haha…

Mike Heslin: Haha…We do this amazing. Well, what I will say, I hope and I think that the show is great for if you love social media and you’re like, “Oh, that’s a good tip,” and you’re walking away with that and you understand every reference. It’s packed with lots of YouTuber references. If you’re into that world and you get all that stuff, I think you’ll eat this up. But simultaneously at the same time, it’s also, if you loathe social media and like you can’t stand influencer culture, you hate Instagram, then I think there’s also tons of laughs for that group as well because it definitely shows the behind the curtain version of these people’s lives.

Nancy Tapia: Yeah, it’s a full time job. It’s pretty time-consuming in creativity too.

Mike Heslin: Yeah, it truly is. Again, our show’s satire I’m not knocking all influencers because I do have so many friends who have built successful careers out of it and it is a full-time job. I think one or two of the characters like Cruise, for example, he’s an oddball, but he works hard and he takes it seriously. He’s kind of very self-motivated and super tenacious. Then we also have some other characters who, like Kristen for example, who’s gorgeous and just happy to be there. But it is true, it is a full-time job and it requires a lot of strategy as well as creativity and discipline, I suppose.

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Nancy Tapia: It was interesting to see the first episode the task of disconnecting from their mobiles and that was a huge sacrifices for The Influencers. I can’t relate because I’m in my 30s, I’m happy to disconnect, but the younger generation doesn’t feel the same way.

Mike Heslin: Same. I actually woke up this morning and, I don’t know if you have an iPhone, but I woke up to a notification that was telling me what screen screen time was last week. And it was like, “Oh gosh, I would be happy to put this away for a month if that was possible with work.” But it’s true, especially the younger generation and Gen Z is, I think that they’re growing up so differently. I talk about it a lot with my friends who have kids and also my aunts and uncles with, I have some cousins who are much younger than I and I’m like, “What’s it like to parent a kid at this age? How do you even know when to let them go on Instagram? Or how do you moderate when there’s screens incorporated into their daily lives?”

Whether it’s at home or at school or whatever. But yeah it’s a different world, I’ll be interested to see what social media and I guess influencer culture is like 20 years from now with the evolution of technology. I can’t even imagine what’s next or where we’re headed because it’s changed so much in the past 10 years. Influencers or influencing people wasn’t a thing in 2010, because I think Instagram came out in 2011 or ’12? So yeah, it’s wild. It’s given birth to so many jobs and stuff and new industries, but yeah, I wonder what’s next.

Nancy Tapia: Yeah, for sure. To start wrapping up, is there anything you can share that you may be working on or in the works for 2021?

Mike Heslin: Yeah. So the character Cruise, the odd ball, is played by my good friend and my business partner, Noam Ash. We own a production company together called Well-Versed Entertainment and we have a really exciting year, pandemic allowing, we’ll see what happens. But we have a stage-to-screen adaptation we’re working on. We’re working on a feature film that was through the Jewish Writers Initiative. We also have some pilots on our docket as well. So lots of exciting stuff, it’s just more a matter of like, what are we going to be able to realistically shoot. But hopefully with the vaccine and all the new measures people are taking, we’ll be able to get to work up very soon.

Nancy Tapia: Yes, indeed. Well, thank you so much for your time, Mike to discuss The Influencers. It’s definitely going to be something fun to watch as of December 28th.

Mike Heslin: The Influencers will be available on Prime Video and we’re super excited.

Nancy Tapia: Exciting. Well, thanks again and I wish you a lot of success and luck for the coming year.

Mike Heslin: Thank you.

The Influencers is available on Amazon Prime today