Going viral with Brad Pitt

Plus: short content that works on every platform, advice from Brendan Kane, and making a Jackass mini-doc.

Author

Brock Swinson
June 25, 2025

There are dozens of courses that teach you how to grow on social media. Ways to "go viral in your spare time." Growth Playbooks. And, how to "master reels in 2 days," among others (this one hooked me). 

But no matter what tactics they preach, they all believe in one thing: You've got 3 seconds to capture the viewer's attention.

I had this idea for a 30-minute companion video to showcase my documentary, but I decided I'd rather test a 3-second hook than spend weeks on something no one might see.

If they won't watch the first 3 seconds, they won't watch the next 10 seconds, and so on.

As critic Roger Ebert said: "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough." Whether it's a YouTube 59-second short or Martin Scorsese's 3-hour epic, everyone watches your vision one second at a time.

So here's what I did: I'm making a 2-hour documentary on Hollywood stunts and couldn't decide how much to include the Jackass crew. Then I saw a Brad Pitt interview and found my hook:

00:01 Second

Dax Shepard (interviewer): “I’m watching Jackass one time…”

  • Dax Shepard’s POV

  • Drop Jackass logo over Dax’s face

  • Cue Jackass guitar strum 

00:02 Seconds

Brad Pitt: “Celebrity kidnapping, yes.”

  • Brad Pitt’s POV

  • Continued Jackass guitar strum 

00:03 Seconds

Brad Pitt (2002): “Hi I’m Brad Pitt and I’m going to get abducted…”

Then 12 seconds of present-day Pitt reflecting, followed by 27 seconds of MTV’s original footage. I dropped it onto a Canva template with "That time Brad Pitt was abducted on Jackass…" plus captions and photos.

24 hour results:

This attention on Instagram was 99% non-followers, with 633 Likes, 3 Comments, 58 Saves, and 271 Shares. The most important number: 79.9% of viewers watched past the first 3 seconds.

Whether you're telling a 30-minute story or a 30-second one, the opening moments are everything. Master those first three seconds, and you've earned the right to tell the rest.

Talk soon,

- Brock Swinson

P.S. I bought the course but haven't even logged in yet. I'll share what I learn from both hands-on testing and formal training soon.

(Note: It’s unclear why it tanked on X, but I’m thinking the single line of text is more important on that platform than on the other two.)