In 2018, Anshul Aggarwal, a 2015 alumni, stood in the middle of the Jubilee studio in Los Angeles, cameras pointing at him from every direction. He watched as a line of 30 girls clad in black pants and white shirts headed toward him.
One by one, the girls approached Aggarwal as he began “swiping” the girls, liking them with a motion to the right, and using a motion to the left to indicate dislike. After this initial stage, Aggarwal stood in a circle with the women he had swiped right on — 16 in total. He then went on to engage in speed dates with six of them, choosing to connect with one woman in the end.
This was the premise of a video made by social media company Jubilee, which aims to “create a movement for human good,” according to its website. The company is one among several that creates videos that aim to break down stereotypes and connect people through hidden links.
“People want to connect on a deeper level, challenge and empathize with one another, and share vulnerably; and they want to do it in an engaging way,” wrote Jason Lee, founder of Jubilee on its website.
Located in Los Angeles, the media company has amassed 4.6 million subscribers with nearly 500 videos on its page. These videos include Middle-ground (where two opposing parties aim to come to a consensus), Spectrum (which displays the range of values a similar group holds) and other various videos aimed to clear up common misconceptions and bring up moral dilemmas.
2019 alumna Amy Tang was also in a recent video that featured a participant speed dating eight others based on their dancing.
In order to be chosen for one of these videos, Tang, who attends UCLA, said she had to answer some questions about herself and put in some information. She sent a video of her dancing, and she later interviewed with a director at Jubilee. She also had to choose music from a site provided by the directors and choreograph a dance to go with it.
“I was pretty busy with my school dance team and classes in general so I didn’t really choreograph the piece until two to three days before shooting the episode, which I do regret a bit now,” Tang said.
Besides this, Tang said she had fun and got to know some of the other participants. She said the filming was loose and she was allowed to do pretty much anything she pleased.
Tang said the video only somewhat captured what had happened. While she said the video showed only a short montage that did not “accurately represent the dances as a whole,” she said the rest of the video was “very genuine.” Overall, she said it was a fun experience.
The video featuring Tang amassed 1.3 million views. Aggarwal, who was featured in two of the videos on Jubilee — one featuring a blind date and the other depicting Tinder in real-life — had 2.6 million views on the former video and 24 million views on the latter.
At the time of the filming of the Tinder video, Aggarwal was a Computer Science and Engineering major at UCLA. When the video went viral, Aggarwal was in the process of interviewing for his current job.
Unlike the usual candidate for videos, Aggarwal said that he shot the Tinder video as a “part of a favor to a friend.” He was informed of the content of the video, but thought that he would be swiping pictures online, not doing it in real-life.
“It was strange being in the moment and realizing what was happening,” Aggarwal said.
This surprise caused some stress for Aggarwal, as there were cameras everywhere capturing the quick-paced experience. Despite this, he said the staff was “super nice” and the directors “just let things happen.” Unlike the short scenes in the video, however, Aggarwal felt that the real experience of swiping was awkward and much more stretched out, and the video condensed this experience.
“But then again, that’s real life versus the highlight reel,” Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal said he was happy to make the video for the enjoyment of others, and he has fond memories of the experience. He also said the exposure to shooting left a lasting impression, and he decided to start his own YouTube channel as a result of it.
After shooting this video, Aggarwal’s view of common dating apps changed, and he began to think about the implications of using these apps.
“I actually don’t use dating apps anymore partly because of the video,” Aggarwal said. “It’s such a strange experience that you do realize you literally judge people every second and it’s kind of uncomfortable.”
