When it comes to the optimal length of a video the accepted rule of thumb is it should be two minutes or less.
Many industry analysts believe that in today鈥檚 digitally-soaked world, where attention spans are declining and the amount of content competing for your time is going up, the sweet spot is as little as 10 seconds.
However North West-based SaaS animation firm Viddyoze has ripped up the rule book by spending 拢100k and six months creating a 53-minute feature length documentary about the business.
The video, entitled 鈥楾he Viddyoze Story: How We Built an 8-Figure Bootstrapped Software Enterprise鈥�, plots the story of the business through the eyes of its three co-founders David Chamberlain, Joey Xoto and Jamie Garside.
Xoto explains: 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e got a really cool story and it鈥檚 one of the reasons why the film is quite cool. Viddyoze is not just a software company. It鈥檚 not sterile. There鈥檚 comedy, there鈥檚 sadness, there鈥檚 excitement. There are all these different elements and it鈥檚 the perfect story for a film.
鈥淚鈥檓 a film creator. We are a content business. For us this is our bread and butter. That鈥檚 why people buy into us.鈥�
Viddyoze鈥檚 story is as remarkable as its technology. Set up in 2015 the company鈥檚 technology allows people to create and use their own video animation in three clicks. It鈥檚 now being used in 250,000 monthly clips worldwide and clients include Tesla, Sony and PwC.
The company鈥檚 story is depicted in the graffiti art on the walls of their Preston office but they decided they wanted to do something different to coincide with a new software launch 鈥� and so the idea for the documentary was born.
Xoto doesn鈥檛 subscribe to the theory that short is best when it comes to the perfect length for a video and says long-form content creates the opportunity to tell the story and build an emotional connection with the audience.
鈥淎 lot of content is geared around short-form content,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ikTok videos are 16 seconds but I don鈥檛 want to watch 100 16-second videos.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always going to be space for long-form content. A lot of us have Netflix on our phone and we want to sit down and watch a good story. You can鈥檛 tell a good story in 16 seconds.
鈥淥ur documentary gives the audience an understanding of the story so far but it also gives them a history of the product, how it was developed and where it鈥檚 going.
鈥淢oving forward it鈥檚 just a great brand piece and an opportunity for new people to understand who we are. If it鈥檚 at the enterprise level it鈥檚 even more effective.鈥�
But will people watch the full 53 minutes on YouTube?
鈥淲hat鈥檚 really interesting is a lot of the feedback we鈥檝e had refers to a story with the rapper Akon in a US club and that鈥檚 right at the end of the video,鈥� said Xoto.
The documentary is so slick that when Chamberlain produced a spoof video on April Fool鈥檚 Day joking that it was on Netflix several people 鈥� including his Mum 鈥� thought it was real.
鈥淚t humanises our brand,鈥� said Chamberlain. 鈥淢ost of our users are business owners and aspiring business owners. When we tell people about growing this business, people can relate to it.
鈥淭his gets our story out there. We鈥檙e not just a functional product that helps to make animations. We鈥檙e a business that people will enjoy engaging with because people can relate to our story.鈥�
Chamberlain has talked before about his battle with depression while Xoto has spoken out about being targeted by racists.
鈥淣one of us are really shy about talking about negative things,鈥� said Chamberlain. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to put across this perfect life. It鈥檚 not what life is like.鈥�
What鈥檚 clear from watching the video is the chemistry between the three co-founders is at the heart of Viddyoze鈥檚 success.
Chamberlain said: 鈥淛oey has the creative brain. I鈥檝e probably got a more analytical brain for things like data and numbers. I think Jamie sits in the middle.
鈥淲hen it comes to risk-taking, I鈥檓 probably the biggest risk-taker and Jamie is the most cautious and Joey sits in the middle. We鈥檙e different but that鈥檚 why it works.鈥�
Far from being a new concept the entrepreneur said long-form content has been around for years.
鈥淚f you look at Keeping Up with the Kardashians, they used 45-minute episodic content to build one of the biggest consumer brands on the planet,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檝e done ok.鈥�