CAFE is part of Some Spider, a digital media and entertainment company backed by Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara. Its content team includes Blake Zeff, Bryan Carmel and Rob Whisman.
Notable projects
Carl Diggler
is a fictional American journalist created by CAFE who became a viral sensation during the 2016 United States presidential election. Diggler, a middle-aged, centrist pundit who prides himself on his "Inside the Beltway" knowledge of the Washington, D.C. political scene, is the purported author of a column published at CAFE and a keen, if clueless, Twitter user. Portrayed as a smug, ignorant blowhard, the character comments on political news and delves into backstory from his personal life, particularly the details of his failed marriage and protracted family court proceedings for custody of his son Colby. Diggler also hosts The DigCast, a podcast featuring weekly guests and Carl's millennial intern.
Girl Friday
Girl Friday is a podcast hosted by Erin Gloria Ryan, co-hosted by Amanda Duarte, and produced by Briana Haynie, in which they talk about news of the week and their lives, with a new guest each week. The podcast has received positive reviews, and reached #59 on the iTunes chart in early 2017. According to AV Club's Podmass:
Todd Dracula Cuts the News
Todd Dracula Cuts the News is a daily series of short videos in which internet personality Todd Dracula edits existing news clips in order to highlight their absurdity and add comic effect. Todd Dracula got his start repurposing existing videos on Vine, creating viral vines such as the Drake "I'm from Toronto" vine and the Alex Jones "Gay Frogs" vine. Todd Dracula is most known for his Alex Jones and Donald Trump edits, including "Alex Jones Uncovers Pickle-Gate" and "Marty McFly Drag Races Donald Trump." His work has been featured on Huffington Post, Gothamist and New York Magazine.
Al Roker vs. Billy Bush is an edited video by CAFE's Matt Binder that went viral in August 2016. The video highlighted a disagreement about Olympian Ryan Lochte between Today hosts Al Roker and Billy Bush, by zooming in on Roker angrily stirring his drink during their debate, and adding comedic effects. The video was covered in various publications like Huffington Post, Variety and the Today Show itself, and drew attention to the tension between the hosts.
CAFE Crashes
CAFE Crashes is a comedic investigative journalism video series in which a CAFE reporter travels to a major event to highlight its absurdity or uncover its problematic nature. Events covered in the series include an interview with Democratic National Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz at a Presidential Debate in April, 2016, that went viral after host Blake Zeff exposed the politician's hypocrisy regarding political debates. In the video, Zeff asks Wasserman Schultz to explain why debates are vital to democracy, before getting her to refuse to commit to debating her own primary opponent, Tim Canova. After the video went viral, Canova used it in a political ad for his candidacy. Other popular videos in the series include dispatches from the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the 2017 Presidential Inauguration and the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference. In the 2017 CPAC video, CAFE's Rob Whisman interviews numerous participants of the conference and cannot contain his misery at being there. In July 2016, CAFE Crashes investigated an alleged residential water poisoning cover up in Hoosick Falls, NY, which included interviews with politicians at the State Capitol. Following the release of the video, a public legislative hearing took place instead of the planned governor-appointed commission that was criticized in the video.
