BuzzFeed (BZFD) has seemingly been on a hiring spree since the end of last year when they hired Ben Smith to expand their original content offerings. The social news site’s latest addition is web video pioneer Ze Frank, who has signed on as Buzzfeed’s Executive Vice President Of Video. In a statement announcing the hiring of Mr. Frank, BuzzFeed’s Founder & CEO, Jonah Peretti, said he hopes his newest staffer will do with YouTube what the click generating, social news site has already done with Facebook and Twitter.
“As a social publisher, BuzzFeed’s growth has been driven by Facebook and Twitter and we are thrilled that Ze Frank is joining to extend our work to YouTube,” said Mr. Peretti.
Mr. Frank became famous in 2006 for “The Show with Ze Frank,” a yearlong online series that was seen as a template for the modern video blog. He restarted his eponymous show this year after getting funding from Kickstarter. He plans to continue that endeavor. At BuzzFeed, Mr. Frank will work with the editorial team to produce video content and help advertisers make sponsored, branded content.
Buzzfeed’s newly minted EVP and a merry team of video producers will start creating content for BuzzFeed ASAP on the West Coast.
“I’ve been a longtime fan of the way that BuzzFeed creates and curates great social content, so it’s a thrill to join them. There is a great opportunity to bring BuzzFeed’s philosophy to the wild west of online video and I’m excited to be putting together a talented team in LA to make that happen,” Mr. Frank said in a statement.
