The Ford Fiesta Movement - An Interview With Shakemango

The Ford Fiesta Movement kicked off in April 2009. Social media savvy applicants vying for 100 spots sent in short videos explaining why they should represent the 2010 Ford Fiesta which has yet to be released in the United States. The 4000 entries were viewed over 640,000 on YouTube. The lucky 100 winners have been given the use of the 2010 Ford Fiesta for 6 months. During this time they will be performing monthly missions while performing a nationwide test drive of the Fiesta. The activities of each Agent can be followed on YouTube, flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and the Ford Fiesta Site. The monthly missions follow selected themes including travel, adventure, technology, entertainment and social activism.

The 100 Agents from all over the United States, come from different jobs and a variety of backgrounds, but all have a shared expertise in social networking with a strong web presence. They bring a multitude of Facebook friends and Twitter followers to the movement all anxious to track their favorites throughout the various missions.

Shakemango, a young group of entertainers from Redding California are excited and proud to be Agents for the Ford Fiesta Movement. With a strong following on YouTube they look forward to completing their selected missions.

How did you go about applying to be a Ford Fiesta Agent?

In early March we received an email from a Ford Fiesta Movement Rep asking us to participate in the video contest. We collaborated a few weeks later with some quickly thrown together ideas. Two weeks after submitting, we were given a second interview over the phone about our Youtube following and knowledge of social media. Within the following week, we were accepted into the program. A very exciting day for Shakemango.

What was your first mission?

The first months "Theme" was travel. In our submission video we promised that we would attempt to track down the notorious " Bigfoot," so we decided to make that our central theme. Bringing a old friend along with us was part of the mission details, so we traveled to Eureka California to surprise one of our friends, Stephen Coon. Eureka being widely known as a Bigfoot hot spot, we couldn't have found a better spot. Ford was very happy with our first video and we hope to impress them further with our future projects.

Tell me about your second mission.

You Are A Golden God. That is the theme of our second mission. We were instructed to throw a Rock Band Party. We saw the potential in this mission and took it to the max. Since we had recently moved into a new house, we mixed together our house warming party with a 80's Rock party. It was a blast throughout the entire shoot.

Exposure and contacts are what we hope to gain. We've already been blessed with the opportunity to meet with several big Youtubers, and being on the Fiesta Movement has enabled us to be exposed in many different mediums.

Shakemango was created in late 2008 by Nick Arnot and Tyler Stack. By the time of it's launch on January 12, 2010, the group had expanded to a four person team.

Where did the name come from?

Nick and Tyler sitting in a room, banging their heads on the table.

Who is in the group?

Nick Arnot
Tyler Stack
Kirwin Sullivan
Justin Glarson

Tell me about your YouTube sucess.

Our name began to spread once Nick Arnot created digital animation intros for successful Youtubers. They gave exposure in return for the intros. From there, our well received sketch videos have kept our viewers very happy and wanting more - Hopefully :)

• Nick, Tyler, Kirwin, and Justin have been friends and have been filming skits since Elementary school.
• Nick: Never wears underwear. He is hilarious on and off camera. He works extremely hard to make Shakemango successful. Nick has learned most of the Adobe programs, Premier, Aftereffects, etc) on his own. He loves anything from the sea. Nick DJ's for side income.
• Tyler: Has uncanny impression skills. He plays guitar and sings very well. Tyler doesn't talk to anyone until he has been awake for at least two hours. He plays a lot of WoW, is a Vegetarian, loves Batman and has dated almost every girl that Nick had in High School.
• Kirwin: Is of Irish descent He was an art director on a nationally released horror film. Kirwin loves The Gilmore Girls. He has kept a soulpatch since the7th Grade and writes most of Shakemango's material. He is a published writer and has written two feature length screenplays. He is obsessed with Star Wars.