In this day of technology, it’s almost unheard of for someone to not know what BuzzFeed is. Even if you haven’t searched the website yourself, one of your Facebook friends has probably shared some of their content before. BuzzFeed is known for their fun articles, addicting quizzes, and hilarious videos. HerCampus ISU had the opportunity to talk to one of BuzzFeed’s employees and producers, Keith Habersberger. Not only is Keith one of the Try Guys for BuzzFeed, but he is also an Illinois State alum! Check out what Keith had to say about working for such a fun site and being an ISU Redbird.
Her Campus ISU: What’s your current job at BuzzFeed and what do you do?
Keith Habersberger: I’m a producer, so I make videos in the unscripted department. There are a lot of divisions, so we have different YouTube channels and I make videos for BuzzFeed Yellow. We do mini docs and sort of excursion videos where we go out in the world and do things. It’s not quite reality show, but it’s unscripted content in short to mid form (two-eight minutes). The Try Guys is an unscripted, because it’s basically us just trying stuff. Like the drag video or the ones that are more immersive are what we try to make.
HC ISU: How long have you been working for BuzzFeed?
KH: Over a year, I started January 6th of last year.
HC ISU: How did you go about getting a job at BuzzFeed?
KH: I came in before it was like…super big. The department is only about two and a half years old. When I came in, there were maybe 30 people in the video department. I came in as an intern; I applied online. I did some video production stuff on my own, so I wanted to apply somewhere that had some sort of structure to get experience. I did the internship and ended up staying. It’s probably the best place to work.
HC ISU: What’s it like working there?
KH: It’s really fun, but it’s pretty demanding. We all make about one or two videos a week, so it’s a really tight turn around, especially for us who make longer videos. It takes a lot longer to edit a seven minute video then it does a three minute video. The best part about BuzzFeed is that it lets us experience things we would never experience. I would never have Israeli snacks or dress in drag and it’s really great.
HC ISU: What’s it like being one of The Try Guys?
KH: It’s really fun! It came out from wanting to make a taste test video. The first one we made was “Guys Try Victoria’s Secret Underwear” and we were like, ‘what’s a taste test that’s really ridiculous?’ so we did that. We wanted to get 4 different people, so we got Eugene, cause he’s gorgeous. We had me, because I’m big and goofy. We had Zach, who is like…the opposite of me (small, introverted, but goofy). Ned wanted no part in it, so we forced him to be in it. Then, it went really well and we wanted to repeat that success. We were actually shooting another video when we heard about the Kim Kardashian picture and we all agreed that we needed to do that. We had to jump on it right then, because it was only going to be relevant then. The video is almost at 10 million views now. We went from trying on women’s underwear behind a curtain to oiling each other’s butts in a matter of like… a month and a half. We’re trying to stay away from videos that involve us being naked or testing gender norms. It’s really fun and a great type of video project.
HC ISU: When did you graduate from ISU and what was your major?
KH: I technically graduated a semester early, because I started as a major/minor and took a ton of credit hours my first semester. So, I graduated winter of 2008. I majored in theatre.
HC ISU: What made you decide to go to ISU for school?
KH: I moved to Bolingbrook my senior year of high school, because of my dad’s job. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I just applied for schools in Chicago and at Illinois State. Really, I went to ISU because they gave me a scholarship to be a French horn performance major, which I ended up dropping and lost the scholarship. I really liked the theatre program at ISU and joined Improv Mafia my first semester of freshman year.
HC ISU: Were you involved in any clubs?
KH: I was involved with Improve Mafia and Theatre of Ted.
HC ISU: Where was your favorite place to hangout at Illinois State?
KH: Our apartment became the default place. We hung out at two apartments that were both in the same building. It was on Linden above a bike shop. One apartment was called the Lindenburg and we moved into the apartment on the other side called Pangaea, which up until last year, the Improv Mafia had the same apartment. If we were on campus, I was usually at the airport lounge.
HC ISU: If you could return to ISU for a day, what would you want to do?
KH: I’d come back and hang out with the Improv Mafia again.
HC ISU: What was your favorite class at ISU? Do you have a professor that left an impact on your life?
KH: I had a lot of good classes; even my Gen Ed classes had good professors. I don’t know if there is any particular class that I was like “this is the best class of my life”, but the professor who left the biggest impact on me wasn’t actually my professor. He was the assistant dean of the College of Fine Arts, Pete Guither. He ran Theatre of Ted and was a good voice of reason for all of us. I never had him for a class, but he was a really great guy.
HC ISU: What makes you proud to be a Redbird?
KH: I think ISU had the same sort of philosophy my parents always gave me which was, “just do it yourself”. In the theatre department, sometimes you get casted in things and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes it seems like, “man, why doesn’t anyone give me a chance?” and at that point you just have to give yourself a shot. I think ISU has that idea of “you have to push yourself to make things happen” and I think that’s important for everyone.
HC ISU: Do you have any advice for students currently at Illinois State?
KH: It’s true when people say, ‘”the friends you make in college are the friends you have for the rest of your life”. It’s not that you don’t keep making friends after that, but college is so big that you get to choose your friends at that point and get to make a real tight circle. Especially freshman, it makes it easier finding your core group of friends. You have to find that little family on campus that you belong to. For me, the Improv Mafia was my family. I also think that Gen Ed classes totally suck, but they’re very useful. So, pay attention. It may seem like they don’t have a point, but you never stop learning. You’re paying tons and tons of money to be there, so just go to class.