Henry and Rel

Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman known as Henry and Rel began their career with a handheld camera, a mac computer, and a love for videography. They are best friends and one day they decided to start filming their brother Nev Schulman as he was receiving artwork from a little girl, Abby, who loved his photography. Nev and Abby become Facebook friends, which then turned into Nev becomeing friends with Abby’s mother, Angela, her father, Vince, and Abby’s attractive older sister, Megan. Megan started to send Nev songs of covers she was performing for him, but Nev eventually discovers they are songs taken straight from YouTube. After more investigating, Nev finds out that the family has lied about some details of Abby’s art career. After much hesitation, they decided to drive to Michigan to find out the truth. Upon arrival, they find out the profile pictures were false, Abby doesn’t paint, and Abby never sees her sister. Angela finally admits to the fake profiles and lies she had told Nev. Through her friendship with Nev, she had reconnected with her love for painting, which she sacrificed to marry Vince- who has two severely mentally disabled children who require constant care. The title of the film comes from an interview with Vince at the very end of the documentary where he describes the people in everyone’s lives who keep them alert, active, and always thinking, which is implied that he believes Angela to be such a person- a catfish. “Catfish” was then premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was a huge hit and people were beginning to acknowledge the same issues in their online relationships. As Henry and Rel described in an interview, “There were articles about it [“Catfish”], and people started writing us, and before we knew it there were hundreds of emails from people saying this happened to me.”  The next big step in Henry and Rel’s career was ready to take place- Catfish the TV series on MTV.

Catfish the movie was an unexpected movie. Henry and Rel began filming because they thought they were filming an art prodigy. They began filming because they were simply in the habit of shooting their surroundings and everyday events. Rel said, “We had no idea it would turn out to be the crazy story it is. We were mind blown when we started finding clues to a bigger story, which is why we kept filming.” Furthermore, they had no idea other people were running into the same issues. MTV gave Henry and Rel a TV series deal for “Catfish”, which is now on its 97thepisode in the sixth season. The TV series shows the lives of online relationships that rarely result in people telling the truth. The next step in Henry and Rel’s career was when Paramount offered to let them shoot Paranormal Activity 3 and 4 as long as they admitted Catfish was fake. Henry and Rel decided “instead of admitting it was fake, we kept our mouths shut and got the gig.” Paranormal Activity 3 turned out to be the second highest grossing horror opening in history. Some other examples of their work include: White Girl (2016), Nerve (2016), and Viral (2016). They are set to direct “Power” which will come out on Netflix in 2018, and they are writing and directing an adaptation of Capcom’s “Mega Man.”

Henry and Rel use multiple social media platforms to stay connected and updated with their audience. They use Vimeo, Twitter, tumblr, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. The most prominent begin Vimeo since it is more focused on video footage. They post shorts, commercials, features, and other artistic pieces on their vimeo in order for their audience to follow their work. Other social media platforms are used in order to show the audience behind the scene footage or photos of the set. Ultimately, they just want to show their followers what they are up to and how to stay involved in their work. They will post weekly or daily depending on when a film is being released in order to have a bigger audience on the release date. Henry and Rel have experienced an age where social media simply wasn’t a big deal because it didn’t exist. When social media became an important place to post, and a reliable source to release their work they began posting. Henry said, “When we put things on our Instragram, Vimeo, or Youtube page, you get it out there immediately.” With the relatively new aspect of social media, it allows creators to release their work from wherever and whenever. Furthermore, it allows viewers and creators to be in contact with each other in order to get immediate feedback and views. Henry and Rel post on social media normally through their multiple social media platforms in order to have a strong viewership of their work.

The main strength in Henry and Rel’s Internet presence is the consistency. They post regularly with original content that all have a certain color tone, and a consistent style to the footage. Some creators move from their original style, and they lose followers because viewers like that original style. Furthermore, they post on multiple social media platforms in order to reach all their followers. For example, I follow them on Instagram and Facebook, but I often check their vimeo footage because of their Facebook and Instagram page updates. Their social media is very connected in order to gain a bigger following. A big weakness though is the fact that they are producers, so Nev Schulman (subject of Catfish the movie) has a bigger following on social media only for the fact that he was the face of the documentary. It is hard to be noticed as a director or producer when your face is behind the camera instead of in front of it. If I posted a photo of Nev, everyone knows whom that is, but when I post a photo of Henry and Rel, a smaller audience anyone knows them. In order to help the viewers put a face to Henry and Rel, I think a personal interview or funny blooper footage posted on their site could help followers. They often do interviews for their feature films, but the interview style I am referring to is a more personal interview in order for viewers to really get to know them as people. Henry and Rel have many opportunities to expand their videography skills because they have so many ideas, but the main problem is the money. As Henry said in the interview, “it’s easy to come up with an idea, but it’s hard to have $29 million to be able to put that idea into a film.” All in all, they have plenty of opportunities as well as parts of their job that are difficult, but that’s all apart of the business and that’s what they are used to in the videography world.

As was mentioned earlier, Henry and Rel have a new film to be released in 2018 on Netflix called “Power.” I think this will help viewership on their social media platforms because people will see their name and become curious about their other work. Henry and Rel make it very easy to find them on every social media site, so their potential followers will probably end up following them on multiple social media sites. Furthermore, Henry and Rel have had a career full of surprises and unexpected events, which has brought them to where they are today, so it is unsure as to where they will be in four months, but that’s the excitement behind it all. Who knows when the next script will be put in their hands, or when the next deal will be signed, or when someone will pay big bucks to see their ideas a reality? As Henry and Rel said, “We’ve decided to let ourselves go with it, and that’s one of the most freeing parts of the job.” It’s a very busy and crazy career, but I know their career will keep growing from here because they produce what people want to see.

First and foremost, I liked these guys before I began my research and interviewing process, but after the interview my respect and love for them grew immensely. They are so down to earth, and so kind that it was such a pleasure and joy to write about their career. They are making feature films with famous actors, which is being shown in major theatres, yet they still made time for me- a college student writing a paper about their lives. Their career is on the rise, and after the interview I knew exactly why because they are so genuine when they talk to you and they make you excited for what is to come in their work.

Henry and Rel have had a solid career since the release of Catfish. It has been full of twists and turns in unexpected ways, but ultimately it has led to many new adventures and ways to stretch their skills. They started their career as a way to express their love for videography and now its turned into a filmmaking business. Even with their success, they stay connected to their fans and followers through multiple social media sites. They have a strong business plan, a strong fan base, and a strong Internet presence in order to make their viewership expand and grow.