Chester See is coming to Broadway. The YouTuber whose powerful voice and handsome look has helped him amass more than 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, has been cast in Rock of Ages, the long-running musical featuring music from the 80s.

See will play the role of Stacee Jaxx, a rock star and one of the show’s central characters. Coincidentally, the original Los Angeles production of Rock of Ages featured Chris Hardwick, another performer with a big YouTube presence, as Jaxx. In the 2012 film adaptation of the musical, Jaxx was portrayed by Tom Cruise.

Matt Weaver, the producer of Rock of Ages, explained that he chose See after being impressed by his audition. “I looked at this as an exciting opportunity to do something that wouldn’t be expected,” he said. “He’s got a real audience at YouTube, he’s got a real voice there, and I think that audience is going to travel to Broadway.”

See often shows off his range in his YouTube videos. His most popular offering, “God Damn You’re Beautiful”, has more than ten million views.

Rock of Ages is a love story set at a Hollywood rock club in 1987. It has run on Broadway since 2009, making it the 29th-longest-running show in Broadway history and the seventh-longest-running among shows currently in production. It can be seen at the Helen Hayes Theatre, where See will make his first performance on October 25th. His role will run through January 4th.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Welcome to Fund This, a new column here at Tubefilter. Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or any other similar crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments right here.

Project Name: Cindy

Asking For: $18,000 on Kickstarter

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $8,713

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 14

Description: According to the campaign video, Cindy is the Cinderella story “stood on its head and told for a 21st century audience.” It’s a darker, more realistic, 21st century take on the classic European folk tale and starts out with Cindy in a foster home, where she’s just about to be adopted by an incredibly controlling woman slash reality TV superstar. And, to make things even more interesting, 16-year-old Cindy’s handsome prince and saviour appears in the form of a 40-year-old man.

Creator Bio: This web series is directed and co-written by the creative mind of Larry Wilson, responsible for such twisted and popular tales as Beetlejuice and The Addams Family. Christi Haydon-Wilson (who also plays the fairy godmother) and Jason Hampton co-produce the series. The rest of the cast and crew is listed on the series’ Kickstarter page.

Best Perk: While many of the lower tiers offer typical rewards like shout-outs on social media, $125 can get you so much more. You’ll get all the digital perks from the previous levels (the Magical Digital bundle), as well as a Cindy-themed t-shirt. But the best part of all? Two posters signed by Wilson himself, one from Cindy and one from either Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas, or The Addams Family.

Why You Should Fund It: Cindy is a series with something to offer many different types of online video fans. Fairy tale lovers will see some of their favorite characters come to life in a new setting. Aficionados of Wilson’s previous works will notice what he calls the “Beetlejuice edges” in the series’ comedy. But if you’d just like to see the series come to life with TV-show-levels of post-production quality (as the creators promise to do if funded), that’s a legitimate reason, too.

Filed under: Articles, Fund This, Kickstarter, News by Bree Brouwer
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AwesomenessTV broke the news last week it’s launching a physical pop-up storefront for teens’ shopping needs during the upcoming holiday season. And this week the YouTube multi-channel network continues to announce more extensions of its online video brand.

Awesomeness Ink is the digital media company’s shiny new young adult publishing division. On October 14, 2014, the imprint released its first two books based on two of AwesomenessTV’s hit web series in both digital and ebook formats. The romantic mystery Runaways (penned by series creator Beth Szymkowski) and the family dram Side Effects (written by young adult author Jen Calonita) will entertain current fans of both series with new plots and character development that goes beyond what viewers have seen on screen. The novels will also serve as an introductory point for new readers previously unfamiliar with the AwesomenessTV series.

“Teen lit is a huge category and with Awesomeness Ink we are creating a platform for creators focused on the written word in the same way we have served video creators with the AwesomenessTV,” said Brett Bouttier, Chief Operating Officer at AwesomenessTV, in the release. “We are launching with Runaways and Side Effects because they are great franchises with an engaged fan base, who demand more content.”

The announcement is the latest in the recent trend of YouTuber book deals, which have been steadily on the rise over the last several months. As publishers become more attuned to the devotion the online video masses have for their favorite video stars, books have become another way for those video stars (and the publishing industry) to generate revenue outside of the video player. With the introduction of Awesomeness Ink, AwesomenessTV has claimed its territory in the ever-growing world of online video-inspired publishing.

Filed under: Articles, AwesomenessTV, News by Bree Brouwer
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Rooster Teeth is putting the record-breaking Indiegogo funds it raised to work. The Austin, Texas-based entertainment company began production on its first full-length live-action feature film, Lazer Team.

The film will tell the story of four incompetent idiots who find a powerful suit developed by the U.S. government and a race of friendly aliens discovered through the SETI project. Since the suit was originally intended for the sole Champion of Earth, the four men must now take on the role of heroes, known as the Lazer Team, to save the planet from an impending alien invasion. Lazer Team was successfully funded in July 2014 by the company’s fans with over $2.4 million raised on Indiegogo.

“We’re incredibly excited to begin principal photography on Lazer Team with such an outstanding cast and crew,” said Matt Hullum, Rooster Teeth CEO/Co-Founder and Director of Lazer Team, in the release. “We wouldn’t be able to make such a big, crazy sci-fi action comedy like this without the support of every one of our Indiegogo backers. We’re going to do our best to make sure every single dollar ends up on screen.”

The production company also announced the casting of several of the movie’s lead roles. Alan Ritchson of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire fame will play Adam, aka the Champion of Earth. Three of Rooster Teeth’s staff will play members of the Lazer Team: Burnie Burns is Hagan, Michael Jones is Zach, and Gavin Free (known also for his Slow Mo Guys channel) is Woody. The final team member Herman will be portrayed by Colton Dunn from Parks & Recreation. Rounding out the initial cast is 19-year-old Alexandria DeBerry, who will play Hagan’s daughter Mindy.

Rooster Teeth hopes to have the film ready for theatrical release in spring of 2015.

Filed under: Articles, News, Rooster Teeth by Bree Brouwer
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The man behind A Series Of Unfortunate Events is asking his fans to choose their own adventure. Lemony Snicket (the pen name of author Daniel Handler) has created a web series called You Choose The Mystery, which asks viewers to select their own path through a satirical film noir story.

You Choose The Mystery is a black-and-white series styled to look like an old film reel from the first half of the 20th century. Over a series of grainy videos, Snicket’s character investigates one mystery film cliche after another. An introductory video sets the tone, and it will be familiar to A Series of Unfortunate Events fans. As with Snicket’s best-selling series, You Choose The Mystery features a satirical, self-aware tone, an unreliable narrator, and at least one long list of seemingly unrelated items.

Snicket launched the series in order to promote All The Wrong Questions, his four-book prequel to A Series Of Unfortunate Events. The third installment, Shouldn’t You Be In School?, was released on the same day as You Choose The Mystery, and it is constantly advertised through pre-roll spots designed to resemble the news reels, studio logos, and old-school advertisements that used to play before movies.

The choose-your-own-adventure format, which is powered through YouTube’s annotations feature, has been done before, but Snicket’s trademark black humor adds a fresh twist. There are 34 videos in all, so get clicking, and don’t be surprised when the series ends on a somber note. This is Lemony Snicket, after all.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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Up-and-coming social music stars no longer have to worry about copyright infringement thanks to StarMaker Interactive. The San Francisco-based developer of music video creation apps started its own YouTube multi-channel network, complete with access to a catalog of pre-approved songs by the developer’s music label partners.

The StarMaker Network (which already boasts over 20 million users onboarded by way of its iTunes and Google Play apps) gives creators access to studio-quality effects, vocal guides, and backing tracks and allows those creators to upload their cover songs directly to YouTube. The videos can then be monetized on YouTube without risk of being flagged for copyright violations, because StarMaker has licensing deals with some of the top music labels in the industry, including Atlantic, Columbia, Hollywood, RCA, Island Def Jam, and other major music publishers. So, creators can make their own versions of popular songs from the many artists in StarMaker’s catalog, like Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, and more.

“Cover song videos are a vital entry point for new artists,” stated Nathan Sedlander, president and co-founder of StarMaker Interactive, in the release. “They’re the most shareable type of user-generated content, and thanks to YouTube’s amazing back-end tech, their proliferation has been beneficial to publishers and labels, driving both revenue and artist awareness.” And Sedlander is right. Artists from Justin Bieber to Karmin started out and got big singing someone elses work.

“By opening wider opportunities for emerging talent, we can direct even more revenue to the publishers who administer the rights of great songwriters,” Sedlander continued. “And we can create even larger activations for labels in support of their artists and for brands seeking authentic engagement with this audience.”

StarMaker Interactive seems more than fit to handle the company’s new music and online video initiative. The app-maker-turned-network has previously collaborated with Fox’s American Idol, as well as NBC’s The Voice for its The Voice: On Stage application.

“With this launch and help from our fantastic partners at YouTube, StarMaker is expanding on that success,” said Jeff Daniel, CEO and co-founder of StarMaker Interactive, in the release. “We’re injecting new talent to the platform en masse, with a state of the art tool in their pockets, a clear path through the maze of rights that have been so challenging for independent artists to navigate, and the ability to build their own careers.”

Daniel is right, too. Music rights have proved to be an incredibly difficult path for YouTubers to navigate. Multi-channel networks like Fullscreen and online video superstars like Michelle Phan had had their fair share of legal issues relating to the use of music in their videos.

Interested artists can take advantage of the network’s unique opportunities and try to become the next big social music star by signing up at join.starmakerstudios.com. For a good example of at least one individual who has found success, check out Jessie Chen’s rendition of Alicia Keys‘ “If I Ain’t Got You”. The young woman recorded her video via StarMaker’s The Voice: On Stage application and got a callback to the show and over 200,000 views for her efforts.

Filed under: Articles, News by Bree Brouwer
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Since launching a digital studio in April 2014, CNN has been working on a handful of original web series. One of those series is Street Food with Roy Choi, which has now launched its debut episode.

When CNN’s digital studio was first announced, the Wall Street Journal described one offering as “a cooking show starring a pupil of Anthony Bourdain.” Street Food appears to be that show. Choi, whose Kogi Korean BBQ food truck is a huge hit in Los Angeles, has been a guest on Parts Unknown, Bourdain’s CNN cooking/travel series. Compared to that show, Street Food is very urban; its trailer plays up the Los Angeles setting.

Each episode of Street Food features a conversation between Choi and a guest while they chow down on some fresh-looking eats. Bourdain will be a guest, as will YouTube beauty guru Michelle Phan, but the first episode features Jon Favreau, who enlisted Choi as a consultant on his film Chef.

Street Food is similar to other web series that have explored local culture through the lens of cuisine. As one of CNN’s first digital productions, it’s pretty safe; it allows the news network to dip its toes in the web video world through a format everyone with a stomach can enjoy.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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One of Japan’s biggest telecommunications companies, SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. (SIMI), just announced its acquisition of DramaFever, a streaming video-on-demand website which specializes in international television shows and movies .

Founded in 2009 by Seung Bak and Suk Park (primarily as an easy way for individuals to find and watch Korean television dramas), New York-based DramaFever quickly moved from startup to capital-infused online video business. The site raised over $12 million in funding from such media and financial giants as AMC Networks, MK Capital, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, and the SoftBank Group itself.

“In five short years since going live, DramaFever has built an impressive internet-based streaming video business operating at scale,” said Nikesh Arora, Vice Chairman of SoftBank Corp. and CEO of SIMI, in the release. “Seung Bak and Suk Park have a proven business model in a dynamic industry, and we look forward to helping them bring their highly popular video content to an even larger global audience.”

DramaFever Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Suk Park, added, “This is a triumphant day for our content partners who have demonstrated that engaging stories and characters transcend languages and borders.  It is also a great day for our viewers, who can continue to expect DramaFever to bring them the best series and movies from around the world. With the support of SoftBank, we will be further empowered to curate the content that our increasingly global audience of young, passionate viewers loves.”

Bak and Park’s SVOD site boasts a library of 700 global titles and 15,000 English-subtitled episodes, many of which are available same-day or next-day, from over 70 broadcasters from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. DramaFever even co-produces its own series and syndicates portions of its content library to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and iTunes, with a total reach of more than 20 million unique viewers a month.

Though terms of the acquisition weren’t released, the agreement positions both Softbank and DramaFever for many more opportunities to grow (and profit from) the site’s vast and growing international video empire.

Filed under: Articles, News, Studios by Bree Brouwer
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Six months after it announced a new advertising program centered around the top 5% of its channels, YouTube claims to be close to a sellout. The video platform says its Google Preferred initiative has been a huge success, one that has left only a small amount of premium ad inventory still unsold.

The logic behind Google Preferred was fairly simple: YouTube needed a way to improve CPMs on its videos, and advertisers wanted a buying experience that more closely the resembled TV. The result was a program that reserved the top 5% of content for advertisers who bought in bulk while also offering Nielsen ratings, viewership guarantees, and other elements reminiscent of TV advertising.

According to YouTube, the program has been a huge hit. The platform has made deals with agencies like Digitas, OMD, IPG, Carat, and SMG. Some of Google Preferred’s 14 categories, such as comedy, beauty, and food, are entirely sold out.

“We made a very big bet in April with the launch of Google Preferred,” Google Managing Director Torrence Boone told The Wall Street Journal. “This was a very different way for advertisers to buy. We desired to tap into a much more TV-like content pool and in spite of difficult upfront season for cable and broadcast we delivered on that. We have sold out of Google Preferred.”

The Wall Street Journal’s report on the sellout also shares the opinions of some advertising execs who are skeptical about YouTube’s bullish results. Some of them noted that it is still possible to buy ad inventory on YouTube, since there is some much content available outside of the Preferred environment. Others wondered if the Preferred program moved much money away from TV budgets. “I don’t think the marketplace was really aggressive in moving spending to YouTube,” said an unnamed ad buyer. “I wouldn’t say it moved a lot of TV money.”

None of these execs are really refuting the Google Preferred sellout; instead, they seem to be wondering if the program has had the effect YouTube desired. They may have some valid claims, but they can’t argue with blockbuster upfront deals, healthy CPMs, and a creative community that seems to be happier than it’s been in years. Clearly, YouTube is doing something right.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Google Preferred, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
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Omnia Media is a YouTube multi-channel network focused on the verticals of music, gaming, and style that boasts a talent roster with artists’ names like Wyclef Jean, Tyga, and The Weekend in addition to superstar YouTube gamers like PlayClashOfClans, TheSyndicateProject, and SeaNanners. The Culver City, California-based MCN is home to more than 1,000 YouTube channels that generate an aggregate more than 1 billion monthly views worldwide.

Channel Factory is “one of the largest native video marketing and YouTube buying platforms” that helps marketers from Fortune 500 brands to burgeoning startups better target, spend, and analyze their YouTube advertising budgets.

And with a portion of Omnia Media and Channel Factory’s powers combined, the two have brought Content Labs to market. The new initiative is meant to be a “centralized approach to branded content creation and media buying,” utilizing Omnia Media’s creative talent with Channel Factory’s YouTube targeting platform, media buying expertise, and data.

“Big brands understand that premium content creation is only half the solution,” said Tamoor Shafi, CEO of Omnia Media, in the release. “They want performance, which means optimizing earned media and engagement in addition to custom branded content from influencers with strong followings. We joined forces with Channel Factory to create Content Labs so we could deliver the complete package.”

Tony Chen, CEO of Channel Factory (who you can see speak a little bit about his company’s offerings by way of this clip from Social Media Week Los Angeles 2014), added, “We are always looking to improve how advertisers and agencies buy, optimize and amplify video marketing, so working with Omnia Media to create a singular solution makes total sense. We’re combining world-class data analysis and media buying with great content.”

Omnia Media and Channel Factory are certainly players within the online video space, but they’re not yet companies of a scale similar to the Maker Studios, Fullscreens, Collective Digital Studios, and AwesomenessTVs of the industry. In order to compete with those kinds of massive and near-massive entities, it makes sense for the two to team up and support one another, together providing specific pieces of proposals that could offer a greater appeal to a growing number of advertisers.

While Omnia Media and Channel Factory have independently worked with major brands (like Target and Samsung) and agencies (like WPP and IPG) in the past, Content Labs is just now up and running and doesn’t yet have any case studies under its belt. Stay tuned to see how the new initiative fares in the market.

Photo of SeaNanners from YouTube.

Filed under: Articles, Channel Factory, News, Studios, YouTube by Joshua Cohen
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