He's Been Here The Whole Time: Sam Reich and "Game Changer"

    Sam Reich was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1984. At age 16 he dropped out of high school due to clinical depression and began pursuing a career in acting, later moving to New York City and founding the comedy group Dutch West. In 2006 the internet comedy company CollegeHumor discovered Reich and hired him as their Director of Original Content, eventually being promoting him to President of Original Content. While in this role Reich founded CollegeHumor's offshoot production company Big Breakfast and moved CollegeHumor's video team to Los Angeles, California. In 2020 he bought a struggling CollegeHumor, including its streaming service Dropout, from IAC and assumed the role of CEO. The streaming service became so successful that the CollegeHumor name was dropped entirely in favor of simply being called Dropout in 2023. Reich now oversees the content being created for Dropout, participates from time to time in various shows, and hosts his own shows Game Changer and Make Some Noise. 

Sam Reich

     So, what is Game Changer, anyway? The premise is in the tagline: "The gameshow where the game changes every show". Every episode, Reich presents three or more contestants with a new game or puzzle and gives no explanation or context before filming begins. With a grand total of 7 seasons available on Dropout and an 8th having just finished production, the games have ranged from from a lie detector controlled by the contestants' partners to a queer single-day parody of The Bachelor to an election for Honorary President of Dropout. Even when old games like "Sam Says", "Make Some Noise", and "Secret Samta" are brought back, there's always a new twist that keeps the format fresh. A number of episodes have even spun off into their own shows on Dropout, such as the musical improvisation game "Official Cast Recording" inspiring Play It By Ear and the secret social deduction game "Tell Us About Yourself" becoming Dirty Laundry. 

The premise of "One Year Later"

    Reich most often attributes the success of Game Changer and Dropout as a whole to the people who work there, cast and crew alike, and that care shows. Before beginning a new season of Game Changer begins filming he takes stock of what the cast members are comfortable doing for the show, and if a contestant is uncomfortable with the direction an episode is going in, they have the right to call a time out and stop recording to discuss problems. In 2023 Dropout began profit sharing for the first time, where anyone who had been paid any amount of money by the company- cast, crew, and even talent who auditioned that year- received a share of the total profits. Even as an outsider looking in, there is a camaraderie between the Dropout folks that make the shows a joy to watch- and even more fun when Sam inevitably sticks three unfortunate contestants in yet another psychological torture trap of a game. 

One of the aforementioned psychological torture traps

    In Culture Care, Fujimura introduces the idea of "border stalkers", people on the margins of groups that have a capacity for leadership and bringing people of different identities together. Reich has discussed that, despite initially wanting to make acting his career, he has gradually gotten further and further away from being an actor as he moved from director to producer and finally to executive. He sees his role as providing a space for all kinds of performers to come together, make each other laugh, and just have a good time. I believe that he fits the role of a border stalker quite well, and as a regular Dropout watcher myself I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.