Hands-free camera company GoPro is a major player on YouTube and other social media platforms, and with its latest hire, it is looking to take those digital efforts even further. It has hired Zander Lurie, formerly of Guggenheim Digital Media, as its SVP of Media.

At GoPro, Lurie “will be in charge of creation, curation and distribution of the content created by GoPro users,” according to Variety. He will be at the forefront of  the “next chapter of [GoPro’s] content story,” according to a statement from company president Tony Bates.

That “content story” is already a major success. On YouTube, GoPro’s channel is hugely successful; it has 2.4 million subscribers, 608 million views, and 115 videos with a least a million views. The latest GoPro video to crack seven digits features a lioness with a camera strapped on her back:

As GoPro’s online presence has grown, so have the number of user-generated videos related to its brand. Homemade videos featuring GoPro cameras have racked up millions of views, and Corridor Digital even imagined what it would be like to strap a camera onto Superman’s forehead. These videos are included in the “content created by GoPro users” Bates speaks of.

Lurie comes to GoPro from Guggenheim, which controls brands like Adweek, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve been a GoPro user and a fan of their content for a long time,” said Lurie in a statement. “I’m thrilled to be joining GoPro, and looking forward to helping drive highly engaging content to a global audience.”

More information about GoPro’s digital media efforts can be found on the company’s website.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, GoPro, News by Sam Gutelle
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For the past two years, Defy Media‘s XY focused destination, Made Man, has supported the Movember charity with some help from Ron Swanson. This November, Made Man is doing things a little differently. It has launched the Gentleman Up campaign, which begins with a PSA video where Rob Riggle invites men to wear suits on Friday, November 7th.

During the two-and-a-half minute video, Riggle appears as both “Lazy Rob”–a couch potato who has no interest in maintaining proper hygiene–and “Gentleman Rob”, who tells viewers about the upcoming #FormalFriday campaign to support charity. On #FormalFriday, for each participant who suits up and posts a photo with the hashtag #GentlemanUp, Made Man will donate $1 to Career Gear, an organization that provides professional help to men in need.

“We want to re-energize the gentleman spirit and believe that a big part of that is elevating efforts to improve oneself and by helping others who may have lost their way and need some assistance”, said Barry Blumberg, DEFY Media’s Head of Content, in a release. “Participating in #FormalFriday is a simple, yet impactful, way to rally around an important cause and publicly show support for those men around us who might need a little help getting back on their feet– it all starts with the confidence you gain when you look the part.”

#FormalFriday is only the first part of Defy Media’s Gentleman Up festivities. Later in the month, actor Thomas Lennon will host a web series called De-Evolution of Man, and Defy Media partners like Smosh, Screen Junkies, and Greg Benson will join the movement by participating in #FormalFriday and offering support on their social media channels.

Check out the Made Man channel throughout the month to see Gentleman Up content, and feel free to wear your Sunday (or Friday) best on November 7th.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Defy Media, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Get your pajamas ready, East Coast YouTube fans: Tyler Oakley is coming your way. The YouTube celebrity with over 5.7 million subscribers and counting has added seven new locations to his Tyler Oakley’s Slumber Party tour lineup.

Announced earlier this fall, Oakley’s tour initially started with just two dates and locations. The first was in Chicago on October 4, 2014, and the second in his home state of Michigan on October 5. Both shows sold out within 72 hours, so Oakley (seeing the massive appetite his fans have for in-person interactions) decided to add on another longer leg onto his Slumber Party. New destinations now include New York City, New York; New Brunswick, New Jersey; Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachusetts; Glenside, Pennsylvania; Homestead, Pennsylvania; and Kalamazoo, Michigan.

For those wondering what Tyler Oakley’s Slumber Party entails, it’s pretty straightforward. As the name suggests, the vlogger clad in his own set of pajamas, conducting pranks, performing skits, and inviting fans on stage (who are hopefully in PJs, too, as he requested in an earlier video). The event is the first show produced by New York-based Mills Entertainment under its Fanatica banner, an initiative to create events for YouTube stars similar to the way Mills has done for reality TV celebrities (like the Cake Boss and Cesar Milan) in the past.

For an idea of what went down at Oakley’s tour, check out this video from YouTube user Melany Alicea who attended the Chicago show. Note, Oakley appears at roughly 3:20, accompanied by plenty of fan girl and guy screams.

The see-your-favorite-YouTuber-live trend didn’t start with Oakley. DigiTour, the live social media event featuring online creators, has been around since 2010 and received funds from Ryan Seacrest and Advance Publications. The show’s 2014 run (which Oakley took part in) sold more than 100,000 tickets worldwide. Additionally, Fullscreen conducted its own live event in September called INTOUR, featuring some of the MCN’s top creators. And conventions like VidCon and Playlist Live have been giving fans opportunities to meet and greet YouTuber stars (including Oakley) since 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Tickets for the seven added cities on Oakley’s tour go on sale on November 5, 2014, at tyleroakleytour.com. They range in price from $29-$49, but if you get online early enough, you may be able to snag a sweet VIP package (which includes a meet and greet with the star) starting at $85.

Photo courtesy of Mills Entertainment

Filed under: Articles, News, Tyler Oakley by Bree Brouwer
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If you’re curious about what ballerinas do all day when they’re not working on their form, look no further than AOL Originals’ city.ballet. The series’ second season debuts on November 4, 2014, on AOL On.

Executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, city.ballet. takes a documentary-style approach to its subjects: the dancers, artists, and choreographers of the prestigious New York City Ballet (NYCB). Both seasons of city.ballet. delve into the lives of these NYCB members, exploring how principal dancers work to maintain their status, what newcomers must do to work their way up the ranks, and what happens when an injury threatens a dancer’s entire shot at a career in ballet.

The premiere episode of season two interviews some of the members from Corps de Ballet, a group of 52 entry-level ballet dancers at the NYCB. These dancers are the supporting cast in all the organization’s performances, unless they can prove themselves worthy of having a more forward-facing role. Since the career of a ballet dancer is short compared to other professions, some of the Corps members, like 19-year-old Unity Phelan, aim for “keeping a level head” as they work tirelessly day after day to stand out from the crowd, vying for a shot before it’s too late for them to have a successful standout career.

The sophomore season of city.ballet begins as the general population starts to become more intrigued with ballerinas (or at least NYCB star soloist Misty Copelands‘ incredible athleticism). If you want to see a behind-the-scenes of what the growing interest is all about, you can binge-watch all twelve episodes of the second season on AOL On. You can also visit city.ballet.’s site at cityballet.com for more interviews and bonus content.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News, Web Series by Bree Brouwer
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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: One and Done

Asking For: $40,000 on Kickstarter

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $34,761

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 3

Description: One and Done is a comedy that hopes to tell a story about a group of middle-aged men trying to stay young. The series stars Matt Letscher as a husband and father who hopes to recapture his former athletic glory by reassembling his old high school basketball team, which is known as “The Gospel” because its members are named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Juan.

According to One and Done‘s pitch video, each episode will take place during The Gospel’s practice sessions, where each member of the group will discuss the problems in his life. In that sense, the series sounds a lot like The League–a sports series that’s not really about sports. A patient wife and an antagonistic dermatologist round out the cast of characters, and Letscher also promises “moles,” “hamstring issues,” and “ill-fitting athletic wear”

Creator Bio: Letscher is an actor who has appeared in dozens of TV shows and films. On the silver screen, he most recently appeared as one of the main cast members of The Carrie Diaries, The CW’s Sex and the City prequel. Film fans may be more likely to recognize him as Amy Adams’ husband in Her. One and Done appears to be partially based off his own experience growing up in Michigan.

Best Perk: Backers who contribute $75 will receive a basketball emblazoned with the One and Done logo. Bring it to your driveway and use it to recapture your own high school glory.

Why You Should Fund It: Letscher isn’t asking for help based on a pitch alone. He has already completed an entire pilot for One and Done, which can be viewed on the show’s Vimeo channel. The 15-minute episode gives viewers an idea of what they can expect, and the result seems to be an evenly-paced comedy with high-quality production and a solid script.

Plus, Letscher and his team are this close to reaching their goal (and they have outlined exactly what they will use that money for), but time is running out. If One and Done seems like it’s up your alley (or your driveway, if you will), you only have a couple more days to throw some funding its way.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fund This, Kickstarter, News by Sam Gutelle
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Vimeo may be based in New York, but it’s aiming to appeal to a global audience. In an effort to gain more international traction and views, the online video site has added subtitling and translation features, Japanese language support, and the ability to purchase from Vimeo with currencies beyond the US dollar.

Bloomberg notes over 70% of Vimeo’s audience is outside the U.S., so the video site has introduced subtitles, caption, and translation options for its international audience. The subtitle and caption system is free for users through their own video settings page, or Vimeo creators can pay for professional captioning and subtitles through the service’s translators. And, according to The Next Web, creators who opt for the professional service can choose from a variety of options, from basic captions to full translations (up to 18 languages are allowed per video).

Vimeo also translated its own site to support Japanese. Previously, the online video destination was only available in English, French, German, and Spanish. Bloomberg reports Vimeo plans to add support for Russian, Korean, and Portuguese sometime in 2015.

“The launch of Japanese language on the site kicks off an aggressive roadmap we have to be fully localized in select territories in 2015,” said Dae Mellencamp, president of Vimeo, to The Next Web. “Given Japan’s vibrant pool of creators, this is an important territory for us and we’re looking forward to the creative output our efforts will have with this endemic community.”

But quite possibly Vimeo’s biggest update is its support for more global currencies for its Vimeo on Demand platform, which initially launched in early 2013. On Demand now accepts payments in both US dollars and Euros.

“Having seen individual Vimeo On Demand titles sell on our platform in over 100 countries in US Dollars alone, we’re very bullish on the sizable impact accepting euros will have for video sellers worldwide,” said Kerry Trainor, CEO of Vimeo, to The Next Web.

TNW also reports Vimeo Plus and Pro subscribers can now pay for the online video site’s services with the US Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Canadian and Australian Dollar, Japanese Yen, Russian Ruble, Swiss Franc, New Taiwan Dollar, Swedish Krona, and Danish Krone.

All these new features and updates only point to Vimeo’s larger goal of keeping up-to-date with the non-localized nature of online video and the vast opportunities for creators involved in the industry (much like Netflix is realizing as it aggressively pursues international opportunities). With Vimeo’s recent initiatives to distribute high-profile YouTubers’ content and even start a subscription service, the online video site wants to offer international users the same ability to make money as those in North America.

“We want to be the open platform for that premium video experience where people can earn more money than they can in an advertising-supported world,” Trainor added. “This is for anyone who wants to sell at any length in any format and any genre.”

With these updates, Vimeo should start seeing higher revenue streaming in from the 70% of its non-North American users, and more international creators will get the financial rewards due for their video efforts. It’s a win-win for everyone around the world.

Filed under: Articles, News, Vimeo by Bree Brouwer
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With the holidays coming up, you can count on the team from Epic Meal Empire to show you how the cooking should be done. The calories-laden TV show returns to A&E’s FYI Network from its brief hiatus to continue its first season at 10PM EST on November 14, 2014, with an hour-long Thanksgiving special.

In the newest episodes, viewers will get even more over-the-top cooking recipes and antics, starting with a Thanksgiving meal (not the Canadian kind) of massive proportions created exclusively for Los Angeles community members who have nowhere to go for the holiday. The guests will be treated to traditional holiday classics (like mashed potatoes and turkey) prepared in a decidedly untraditional fashion (like stuffed between two roasted pigs in a boat on top of a sea of gravy that the show’s star Harley Morenstein collectively calls the “The HMS Swinecraft”).

Stemming from the wildly successful Epic Meal Time YouTube channel (which currently boasts over 6.6 million subscribers), the first season of Epic Meal Empire debuted on July 26 on FYI. And of course, Morenstein and his crew continue to pump out installments for their EMT YouTube channel every Tuesday, even while the TV show is up and airing. Check out one of their latest Thanksgiving-themed installments for a ‘Pumpkin Spice Pizza Cake‘:

If you start salivating like Pavlov’s dog when you hear Morenstein’s voice or watch his antics on any medium, note that you, too, can be an Epic Chef. In addition to its video efforts, Epic Meal Time has a recently updated cookbook, which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to become a Sauce Boss.

Filed under: Articles, FYI, News, Web Series by Bree Brouwer
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During the 2014 Senate race, most political candidates ignored YouTube in favor of traditional TV ads. Even so, some members of the government agency responsible for regulating campaign finances believe online video ads need more oversight. Ann Ravel, the Vice Chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), recently issued a statement urging regulators to subject online political ads to the same standards applied to political ads on TV.

Ravel specifically cited a case involving several ads from the 2012 election cycle, which were run by a group called Checks and Balances for Economic Growth. Those ads, which attacked Democrats, did not include all the necessary disclaimers at the end of each video. Checks and Balances for Economic Growth responded by stating it was exempt from those regulations since it had only run the ads on YouTube and did not broadcast them on TV.

This video, from what seems to be Check and Balances’ official YouTube home, appears to be one of the ads in question. It accuses Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown of lying about the “war on coal”. Brown won re-election in 2012.

Ravel’s statement has drawn criticism from opponents, including some of her Republican colleagues at the FEC. FEC Chairman Lee E. Goodman, for instance, believes that regulating Internet videos would require a massive amount of government oversight. He likened Ravel’s proposal to the sort of action he’d expect from “a Chinese censorship board.”

If politicians and their supporters plan to use YouTube as a regular part of their campaign strategy, the regulations Ravel proposes are probably unavoidable. So far, though, politicians haven’t shown much interest in web video advertising.  Instead, they have continued to rely on TV, where the Washington Post estimates one million ads have been run this election cycle.

As ReelSEO explains, platforms like YouTube are poor fits for political ads, because online viewers don’t  tend to overlap with the audience of undecided voters, who are most affected by political ads. In addition, most political ads trigger negative emotions, but content that inspires viewers is more likely to get shared online.

Until politicians take a bigger interest in YouTube, it will be hard for many people to see online video campaign finance reform as a big issue. In the meantime, YouTube will still be a top platform for spreading delightful memes born from political videos.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Politics by Sam Gutelle
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Subscribers of Mountain Dew‘s YouTube channel may have noticed something unusual happened to the thumbnails in their subscriber feed starting on November 3, 2014. The online video destination of the PepsiCo-owned softdrink brand uploaded several action-packed videos promoting the opportunity to earn in game credits on specially marked bottles of Dew (and bags of Doritos, which is also owned by PepsiCo), as part of its brand partnership with the very recently released video game title Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

However, the drink that once tickled your innards didn’t limit the brand campaign to a single video. Mountain Dew and Call of Duty executed a YouTube channel takeover unlike any we’ve seen to date. The beverage replaced all the thumbnails on its channel page, creating a Call of Duty mosaic featuring one of the in-game soldiers prepped for battle.

Mountain Dew, of course, isn’t the first major brand to redesign its channel page for fun and marketing. Nintendo set the bar very high way back in 2008, with its ‘Wario: Shake it’ integration. The campaign literally shook the game’s channel page to mimic in-game action and caused Nintendo’s home on YouTube to fall apart in a very cool way. The Expendables, Samsung, Tipp-Ex, and Cadbury are among other entities that followed suit and released similar efforts to varying degrees of viewer enjoyment and success. However, the Mountain Dew initiative is the first to utilize YouTube’s pre-existing layout (instead of a heavily customized player or landing page) to turn its channel from a regular-looking YouTube page into very cleverly branded YouTube page takeover.

As for Call of Duty, the Mountain Dew campaign is just one of the very many initiatives you can currently find on YouTube in promotion of the Advanced Warfare release. The franchise is, after all, one of the best-selling of all-time, so it shouldn’t be hard to spot other videos (both branded and user-generated) on the world’s largest video sharing site (and beyond, too).

Filed under: Articles, Branded Entertainment, News, YouTube by Joshua Cohen
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In 2012, Adi Shankar served as the executive producer for Dredd, a stylish adaptation of the long-running comic series of the same name. Despite generally positive reviews, Dredd struggled at the box office, therefore dashing hopes for any potential sequels. Even so, Dredd has picked up a significant cult following and has sold extremely well on home video. Clearly, there are many fans of the film who are clamoring for more, and Shankar is giving them what they want with a new web series based off the Dredd franchise.

Shankar, in addition to his day job as a Hollywood producer, is also an independent filmmaker who creates “bootleg” fan films based off popular franchises. In 2012, he scored a hit with “Dirty Laundry“, a Punisher fan film starring Thomas Jane. A year later, he released “Truth In Journalism“, which imagined Venom through a lo-fi, black-and-white lens. “The concept of the “Bootleg Universe” is about viewing our icons through a new lens,” Shankar told Tubefilter.

For the next entry in the bootleg universe, Shankar has turned to Dredd. He has released Judge Dredd: Superfiend, a six-part web series that presents Dredd “as a hyper violent 90’s style children’s cartoon.” As Shankar explains, he made Superfiend for the Dredd devotees who loved the film in spite of its commercial failures. “It’s a thank you to the fans,” he stated. “End of story.”

When I asked Shankar what he hoped to achieve from Superfiend, his answer was a lot longer.

This is work that hasn’t been produced and I think it should be. Other than that, I refuse to measure myself by the same metrics or by the imaginary ladder our society has ingrained in us.

Here’s what I do know: Money is finite, while having a genuine impact on culture is infinite, as the ripple effect of that impact will permeate through our species from one generation to the next. The generation that is coming of age now is in a place where they have the power to shape the direction and the narrative of the language of the Internet.

It is this generation that must be weary of the faulty metrics of success that will be a detriment to creativity and innovation, as third parties attempt to define what success in the digital world means.

View count, by way of example, is a silly metric. If it were legitimate then we should all opt to replicate “Gangnam Style” because it is untouchable sitting at well over two billion views. In the film world, Paul Blart: Mall Cop made almost $150 million domestically while The Hurt Locker made $17 [million]. Yet is there even a question as to which movie made the greater cultural impact?

I feel compelled to make this long winded point because the audience that reads your site needs to understand that they and they alone not only hold the key to unlocking the visual narrative of the future, but they also have the power to define what “achievement” in the digital age means.

That’s a lot to unpack, but the takeaway is pretty simple: Don’t let view counts or box office numbers signify which artworks are culturally significant. Dredd‘s fans have championed the film no matter its commercial viability. Superfiend is Shankar’s way of expressing gratitude.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Netflix loves breaking entertainment industry standards, even its own. The streaming video-on-demand service will release the first five episodes of DreamWorks Animation’s (DWA) All Hail King Julien on December 19, 2014, with additional episodes released in 2015.

The staggered release differs from Netflix’s typical practice of producing original programming and debuting it all in one binge-watchable fell swoop. However, Netflix and DWA have noted animation takes longer to create, so subsequent release dates for new material is simply part of the equation. The two companies previously released Turbo FAST in the same manner.

Announced earlier this year, All Hail King Julien will center around the popular lemur from DWA’s Madagascar franchise, and feature the voice talents of Henry Winkler, Danny Jacobs, Andy Richter, Kevin Michael Richardson, and India de Beaufort. The series will be available to Netflix subscribers in most parts of the world covered by the agreement DWA and Netflix made last summer (with the exception of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).

“All Hail King Julien is really a showcase for our talented artists to bring the Netflix audience the great storytelling, compelling characters and fantastic design that is the hallmark of DreamWorks Animation,” said Margie Cohn, head of TV for DreamWorks Animation, in the release.

In addition to the lemur-focused series, DWA will be creating ten new, exclusive series for Netflix by the end of 2016 (including one centered around Puss In Boots and another based on the Veggie Tales universe).

Filed under: Articles, Netflix, News, Production Companies by Bree Brouwer
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For the third time, Paramount‘s digital studio is looking to strike gold with a reality TV parody. The first two attempts were both excellent; now, it’s Beef‘s turn. Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: SVU‘s Elliot Stabler, among many other roles) is the star of a courtroom comedy that will combine heated arguments, guest stars, and cold cuts.

If Burning Love is Paramount Digital’s spoof of The Bachelor, and The Hotwives of Orlando is its take on The Real Housewives, then Beef is the studio’s attempt to skewer Judge Judy. Meloni stars as Lou, a butcher who doles out justice from behind his deli counter. Want to air your grievances in front of him? Take a number. Once you reach the stand, be careful not to lose your head, or Lou will order you to cool down in the meat locker.

Burning Love, The Hotwives of Orlando, and Beef also share the same production company–Abominable Pictures–as well as executive producer Jonathan Stern.

As with Paramount Digital’s other reality TV parodies, Beef will be full of celebrity cameos. Burning Love guests like Michael Ian Black and Joe Lo Truglio will have roles, as will notable comedy actors like Michael Cera and Lizzy Caplan. Several of these guests can be seen in the series’ trailer.

Beef looks like it will live up to the quality of its predecessors, but if you want to watch it, you won’t be able to find it on Hulu or Yahoo–at least not initially. Instead, the easiest way to view the series is to download it from VOD services like iTunes, where it will be available on November 11th.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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