Above Average is no stranger to really amazing comedy pieces. The online video branch of Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels’ production company Broadway Video is continuing the laugh-fest by releasing Alec Baldwin’s new relationship web series Alec Baldwin’s Love Ride.

In Love Ride, Baldwin stars as an “internationally-recognized relationship expert.” The 30 Rock actor invites couples into the back of his taxi cab in New York City. Aided by behind-the-scenes love advisor and Saturday Night Live sketch writer Paula Pell, Baldwin leads a quiz-style discussion about “sex, take-out food, binge-viewing Broad City,” and other elements that hold people’s relationships together. The first couple to share a ride with Baldwin is Corey and Francesca. Take a look:

“In my life, I’ve always wanted to help people avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made,” says Baldwin to Corey and Francesca, a rather honest admission for an otherwise amusing and light-hearted web series. He asks the married couple to say the date that they met (neither of them end up saying even the same month), and also pokes fun of them getting frozen yogurt when they need to do something impulsive and “cut loose.”

Love Ride is the brainchild of Baldwin, who co-produces the series with Mallory Schwartz. The first two episodes currently reside on Above Average’s website as well as its YouTube channel. New episodes will be released each week.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News by Bree Brouwer
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Smosh‘s annual Food Battle is coming soon, and this year, it will be accompanied by its own game. The YouTube channel created by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla has released Food Battle: The Game, an action RPG now available for iOS and Android.

In the Food Battle game, players control digital versions of Hecox and Padilla as they swing celery swords, drop burrito bombs, and do battle with donuts. The game is based on Smosh’s long-running series, which pits Hecox and Padilla against each other in a series of silly “challenges” related to specific food items. The 2014 edition arrives on YouTube on November 21st, and a trailer for it was just released on the Smosh channel, which has more than 19.2 million subscribers.

We first heard about Food Battle: The Game in July 2013, when Smosh launched a $250,000 Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for its development. The campaign struggled to meet its mark, but it achieved its goal right at the wire thanks in part to a special live stream hosted by Hecox and Padilla. With funding secured, the comedy duo turned to Roadhouse Interactive, which worked with Smosh and partner network DEFY Media to build the Food Battle game.

This is the second game attached to the Smosh brand; the channel’s previous effort was Smosh Super Head Esploder X, which reached the App Store’s Most Downloaded list shortly after its release. This time, Hecox and Padilla worked to make a bigger and more involved game for their fans. “We’re heavily involved in every single aspect of the development,” Padilla told Game Informer.

Smosh fans will be eager to give the Food Battle game a try; it’s available for free from the App Store.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Smosh by Sam Gutelle
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Robbie Bagley and his family have discovered the financial opportunities through making YouTube content. The Utah family earns more than $7,000 a month from their Disney-themed videos after their version of Frozen’s “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” garnered over 86 million views on YouTube.

It all started when Robbie saw Disney’s animated hit movie based on the fairy tale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. He told KSL news station in Utah, “I thought my sister Mia pretty much looks exactly like that Anna girl.” (Spoiler Alert: She kinda does.)

After seeing how many views his and his sister’s initial video received, Robbie realized he should probably look into monetizing his programming. A few of the Bagley children had actually started their own YouTube channel Working with Lemons while in high school back 2008, but they never had a viral hit on their hands so they never had to think about generating serious revenue, much less having to deal with copyright issues for cover songs.

“We weren’t even sure if we were going to get paid, because there are a lot of difficulties that come with copyrights,” said Robbie. “It was terrifying.” However, Bagley successfully negotiated with the Mouse House to secure the rights to make his family’s Disney-themed videos as long as he gave the international multi-media corporation a cut of the revenue.

The family now has over 200,000 subscribers on their channel and earns a pretty penny from their work. They rake in anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000 per month (and that’s even after Disney takes its cut) from an average of 18 million or so views every 30 days.

Those view counts really aren’t a surprise considering the massive popularity of Disney-themed videos on YouTube. Back in March of this year, YouTube marketing and advertising software company Pixability found videos based on Frozen’s “Let It Go” had collectively garnered over 477 million views. Similarly, one-person a cappella Disney medley videos tend to attract millions of views, as do parodies and spoofs (Paint’s “After Ever After” songs are some of the best examples around).

The Bagley family’s content and business is managed by Maker Studios’ James Koo, who said, “I think (Bagley) has the hit nail on the head with the stuff he is trying to do. It feels like a family affair — playing with your siblings, but on a more epic scale.”

Bagley’s little sister Mia, who starred in the family’s viral Frozen video, has some potential for off-YouTube fame, too. She’s twice been offered a role on Broadway as Cindy Lou Who in the How the Grinch Stole Christmas musical, but she’s turned down both offers to make videos with her family.

The Bagley’s next Disney-themed video is (of course) their rendition of “Let It Go,” set for release sometime this holiday season. Based on the popularity of the single, we’re very curious to see how much the Bagley’s video will bump up their revenue the month of its release.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Disney, News by Bree Brouwer
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Samsung hopes to convince holiday shoppers its smartphones and tablets have more to offer than Apple’s. The South Korean tech giant has launched the short-form Milk Video service only available on its Galaxy devices.

Samsung’s Milk service was created exclusively for mobile platforms, so you won’t find it on your desktop, laptop, gaming consoles, or connected TV. The video app will show trending videos and recommend personalized suggestions based on its users’ viewing, sharing, and following behaviors. Milk will only be available in the U.S. at its launch, but could expand to other countries in the future.

Part of the tech company’s goal with the app’s release (in addition to providing more bang for consumers’ buck than Apple) is to give its mobile customers one video destination instead of having to search across multiple apps for their entertainment. “There wasn’t (one) single place to go to find video that was fun to discover,” said Kevin Swint, Samsung’s VP of Content and Services, to Variety. “We hope to guide users to the best online video content out there.” Swint should know what he’s talking about, as he used to work for Apple itself as its director of iTunes movies stores.

Milk boasts 18 content partners who have signed with Samsung to distribute their content via the app. The entertainment companies include Condé Nast Entertainment, Maker Studios, Funny or Die, Vevo, Red Bull, Vice, Fandango, AwesomenessTV, BuzzFeed, Cracked, College Humor, Artists Den, @Hollywood, DanceOn, Machinima, Refinery29, TasteMade, and The Onion. It will also include videos from publicly-available sites like YouTube.

“We’re partnering with some of the best brands in new media to deliver great content across our consumers’ passion points: music, comedy, lifestyle and entertainment,” said John Pleasants, EVP of Samsung Media Solutions Center America, to Variety.

Some of that great content will be new and exclusive. Funny or Die will debut two series in 2015 on Milk Video called The Q and Dumb Gentleman’s Handbook. Also set for release next year are clips from Red Bull’s Signature Series sporting events, as well as a yet-undefined weekly series from Vice.

And if consumers are still wavering between getting a Galaxy device vs. an Apple one (despite the iPhone 6’s reputation for bending), the South Korean electronics company threw in a couple of bonuses to sweeten the deal. While Milk Video is only available on Galaxy devices, users will still be able to share videos to Facebook, Twitter, or email. Additionally, Samsung will hold back on running ads on Milk’s licensed content (syndicated content will still show ads).

“It goes back to the goal of adding value to owning a Samsung device,” Swint said. And value seems to be Samsung’s latest strategy to improve its revenue. The company’s latest versions of their Galaxy phones have been directly competing with (and losing to) Apple’s similarly-sized iPhone 6 and 6+ devices without offering any sort of noticeable increase in quality or value. Milk Video could be one way they’re trying to remedy that problem.

Milk Video is available on Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S 4 mini, Galaxy S III mini and Galaxy S 5. If you own one of these (or plan to by the time the holidays are over), you can download the Milk app from Google Play.

Filed under: Articles, Branded Entertainment, News by Bree Brouwer
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In 2015, VidCon is looking to offer more events catered to online video creators and industry execs. In order to meet that goal, the big online video convention has hired former Discovery Digital Networks GM Jim Louderback, who is overseeing an expansion of the event’s Industry Day.

As Variety explains, “Industry Day” will now be a misnomer, since the portion of VidCon dedicated to online video professionals will now be spread across two days. As in previous years, VidCon will begin on a Thursday, July 25th, and will run through the 27th. On the first day, the industry-related panels will begin. The next day, when fans descend upon the Anaheim Convention Center to meet their favorite YouTubers, the industry panels will move upstairs, where representatives from networks, marketing agencies, technology startups, and other YouTube-related companies will continue their presentations “above the din.”

According to Louderback’s plan, YouTube creators will have their own series of panels separate from the industry track. In previous years, YouTubers presented alongside executives during industry day, but this caused fans to show up to industry events, creating an ill-matched audience.  “It’s really hard to come up with a coherent set of content that appeals to both groups,” explained Louderback. Therefore, a separate “creator track” will cater to fans and aspiring video makers looking for tips.

VidCon–founded by Hank and John Green in 2010–is also making some changes to the “community track” that serves as its bread and butter. Specific stages will divide YouTubers by categories like beauty, gaming, vlogging and education, and attendees will apply for passes that will ensure each fan gets to meet his or her favorite YouTubers.

Louderback took over as GM of Discovery Digital Networks after Revision3–the online video company he founded–was acquired by Discovery in 2012. Two years later, he left the company, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

Tickets for VidCon 2015 can be purchased from the convention’s website.  If you’re interested in attending, the basic community track ticket costs $100, the creator track admission will run you $150, and the all-access industry track pass costs $450.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, VidCon by Sam Gutelle
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BroadbandTV is coming to America. The large multi-channel network, which is based in Vancouver, has announced a second office, which will open in Midtown Manhattan.

By opening its new office, BroadbandTV–which claims 2.5 billion impressions across its network of more than 25,000 partners–moves closer to some of its most prominent partners. For example, Midtown Manhattan is also home to FremantleMedia North America, which recently teamed up with BroadbandTV through its Tiny Riot studio. YouTube has also opened a new production space in New York City, which is located a bit farther downtown in Chelsea Market.

“We’re already the third largest multi-channel network globally and serve tens of thousands of content owners and creators in the U.S.,” said Shahrzad Rafati, Founder & CEO of BroadbandTV, in a release. “The New York offices will further allow us to strengthen our partnerships with leading brands and advertisers as we continue to target opportunities surrounding the shift of ad spends to the digital space.”

The New York office is only the first part of a multi-continent expansion for BroadbandTV. The network–which previous turned to international companies for venture capital–also hopes to expand into Europe and South America.

Filed under: Articles, BroadbandTV, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Nielsen is breaking into the subscription video-on-demand arena. The company known for its traditional TV ratings system will measure data from services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The goal of Nielsen’s initiative is to help its larger media clients understand how their viewership stacks up on SVOD platforms vs. traditional television and satellite services. Such statistics are normally very hard to come by (Netflix is especially notorious for keeping its data under wraps). Independent organizations have also rarely had any luck in obtaining solid information on how streaming content performs.

“Our clients will be able to look at their programs and understand: Is putting content on Netflix impacting the viewership on linear and traditional VOD?” Brian Fuhrer, Senior VP of Nielsen, told the Wall Street Journal, who originally reported on the story.

While Nielsen’s announcement is a big step forward in obtaining data from the secretive streaming industry, there’s one major catch. For the time being, Nielsen will only allow its media clients to view the measurement data for their own content and no one else’s. This means a company such as CBS, for example, will only be able to see viewership comparisons from its shows on TV and SVOD, and won’t be able to compare these stats to other companies’ titles (including Netflix’s roster of wildly popular original series).

Regardless, Nielsen’s new measurement data will be useful for large media companies in determining whether or not their content is worth licensing to SVOD services. While the ratings company won’t yet collect information from mobile devices, Nielsen will use audio tracks to determine what viewers are watching on the services.

Nielsen is definitely pushing to understand the digital era of TV viewership and how it affects its clients. The ratings company already already measures viewership on Hulu, and more recently partnered with Adobe to launch the Nielsen Digital Content Ratings service in 2015.

And considering how many traditional TV media networks are breaking into SVOD service themselves, it only seems wise for Nielsen to try to follow suit.

Filed under: Articles, News, Nielsen by Bree Brouwer
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As it turns out, Talking Dead has not cornered the market on The Walking Dead recaps. Funny or Die has released The Walking Fred, which tells the story of AMC’s hit zombie series from a zombie’s point-of-view.

The host of The Walking Fred is a walker (That’s Walking Dead-ese for “zombie”) named Fred, and his recaps have a tendency to skip over the “boring human stuff” and instead highlight all of the show’s action sequences. Fred gets particularly giddy whenever he appears on screen, whether he’s getting his brains blown out, dashing himself against the hood of a car, or just hanging out with his fellow walkers in the middle of the street.

The Walking Fred is directed by Vincent Masciale, who has experience lampooning pop culture touchstones on Funny or Die. For instance, he recently directed a Halloween-themed Game of Thrones parody.

According to Variety, actual cast members from The Walking Dead will guest star in future episodes of the web series. If you’re curious to see who shows up, you can keep track of The Walking Fred over at Funny or Die.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Funny Or Die, News, Web Series 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: Player Piano

Asking For: $60,000 on Indiegogo 

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $1,075

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 42

Description: Player Piano is a web series that combines pop culture, classical music, and intricate set design. In each episode, pianist Sonya Belousova arranges an iconic anthem from a TV show, movie, or video game, and director Tom Grey surrounds her performance with an elaborate production based on that franchise.

The series began as Cosplay Piano, a web series on Stan Lee’s World of Heroes YouTube channel, where four videos combined to draw 1.5 million views. Four months ago, Belousova and Grey jumped off that success by launching their own channel, where they have release three new episodes. The latest installment features the main theme from Tetris.

Belousova and Grey want to make more videos, so they’ve turned to Indiegogo, where they hope to raise the money the need to continue their productions. They laid out their plan in an adorable pitch video, which was shot at YouTube Space LA and tells its story through cue cards. On the cards, Grey and Belousova explain that their productions sometimes cost tens of thousands of dollars. “That may seem like a lot,” read the cards, “but it’s a shoestring compared to most productions.”

Should they get the funds they need, Grey and Belousova will launch at least five new videos. “We can make any kind of music,” explain Grey and Belousova, “from arrangements of soundtrack themes, to popular songs and pieces, and heavy metal, gangsta rap, mariachi, [and] gypsy jazz, to original compositions.”

Creator Bio: In addition to Cosplay Piano, Grey has directed several other series on World of Heroes, including an offbeat news series called Mask & Cape. Belousova is a world-class pianist who doesn’t always play in costume; here she is performing Shostakovich at a concert hall in Moscow.

Best Perk: As part of its Indiegogo campaign, Player Piano is giving away the custom-built pianos used in its Tetris and Akira videos. If you’ve ever wanted a bright red, neon-lit instrument in your house, entrance into the Akira sweepstakes is available at the $15 level.

Why You Should Fund It: Belousova’s performances have all the energy, verve, and technical proficiency of a Piano Guys video, and Grey’s productions are inventive enough to make Lindsey Stirling proud. Player Piano only lacks one thing those channels possess–it doesn’t have a big subscriber count. Player Piano is going to be a very popular YouTube channel very soon, but in order to get there, it needs a push. The bombastic Tetris performance should be enough to win over any potential donor. Give it a watch, and you’ll be convinced.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fund This, Indiegogo, News, Player Piano by Sam Gutelle
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Sawyer Hartman wants to try his hand at something a little scarier than his normal creations. The YouTuber and filmmaker who boasts over 1.7 million subscribers is making an anthology horror web series.

According to StreamDaily, Hartman wants to create six episodes at about 20 minutes each for the first season of his currently unnamed program. He’ll release the first season episodically by way of his YouTube channel, and later combine all six installments into a two-hour feature. He hopes to have the first season take place in a lonely farm house, with possible future seasons set in other horror movie staples like a remote hotel and/or hospital.

Hartman plans to fund everything himself with the goal of proving the American Horror Story-style anthology format can work in the digital realm before seeking funds for further seasons.

“I’m looking at a first entire season (to have a budget of) around $150,000, and that’s why I chose a farm house, because I’ll just secure the location for a month, have cast and crew sleeping on location, and we’ll go there with everything written and storyboarded and just bang it out,” Hartman said. “We really want the middle of Oklahoma, so we have not only the supernatural aspect of it, but we also have nature and tornadoes and a bunch of other natural things we can add to it.”

With a long history of creative endeavors, Hartman is no stranger to taking on new projects. He released a short film in conjunction with New Form Digital Studio called Parallax in October. Before that he worked on Welcome to Tokyo, which starred fellow YouTuber Vincent Cyr. More recently, Hartman launched a line of clothing for his fans at Scene@AwesomenessTV pop-up store in Los Angeles.

Hartman certainly has the followers and ability to make his horror series a hit. We look forward to seeing how the project pans out.

Filed under: Articles, News, Sawyer Hartman by Bree Brouwer
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The 2015 edition of IAB‘s Digital Content Newfronts is still months away, but we already know at least one newcomer who will be joining in on the action. According to Adweek, Facebook will present to digital media advertisers at the event, signaling a potential move into original content.

As Adweek explains, companies that present at Newfronts usually share their upcoming content slate in order to find advertisers among the present marketing executives and agency reps. Last year, all 22 companies that took part in the Newfronts presented at least one original program to attendees.

If Facebook follows suit, it would signal a bold move into original content from a company that already looks primed to steal some of YouTube’s audience. For the past year, we’ve known about Facebook’s plan to use its large user base, deep pockets, and massive treasure trove of data to become a player in original video, and the site also seems to be in talks with several prominent online video networks. Most recently, we learned how Facebook is thriving by driving shares in spite of its videos inferior view counts (compared to YouTube).

Despite all of that growth, Facebook still hasn’t discussed plans for original content, but if it has some shows in the works, the 2015 Newfronts would be the perfect place to share them. We’ll be able to confirm Facebook’s participation when IAB debuts the official Newfronts schedule; for the 2014 event, that step occurred in February.

Adweek reached out to Facebook, but the social media giant declined to comment.

Filed under: Articles, Facebook, Featured, NewFronts, News by Sam Gutelle
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One of the most recent events added to the online video industry’s calendar, Playlist Live Tri-State, is just around the corner. The three-day gathering takes place November 21st through November 23rd at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. The event will bring together online video fans, creators, and industry workers from the northeastern states and the globe and will include meetups, panels, presentations, parties, signings, concerts, and more of the regularly scheduled trappings of a social media fan-oriented event.

If you’re attending Playlist Live and were hoping to see some of your favorite YouTubers, you could well be in luck. Many of the online video site’s top creators will be in attendance. Here’s a quick round-up of several YouTube personalities, beauty vloggers, comedians, and musicians set to appear at the event:

• Alisha Marie
• Bart Baker
• Brittani Louise Taylor
• Charles Trippy
• Connor Franta
• EleventhGorgeous
• GOLDEN
• Hannah Hart
• Jacksfilms
• Jenna Marbles
• Jennxpenn
• Lucas & Jenny
• Makeupbymandy24
• Olga Kay
• Prank vs Prank
• Rebecca Black
• Shira Lazar
• Sprinkle of Glitter
• Strawburry17
• Timothy DeLaGhetto
• Tyler Oakley

If you have Playlist tickets and want to make sure you see your favorite personality for his or her official Meetup, make sure you register. In an effort to ease the length of meet-and-great lines and make the entire celebrity autograph and selfie experience more manageable and enjoyable for creators and fans alike, Playlist has introduced a shiny new way to handle Meetups. Here’s the short of it:

1. Playlist Live will now group multiple creators together for meetups.
2. You will pre-register for meetups online at a date to be announced in October. If you have a Line Pass, don’t worry — your selection date will be prior to Standard Pass holders.
3. You will login with your order number and email.
4. You will then select a meetup group for Saturday and a meetup group for Sunday. Selection is on a first-come-first-serve basis.
5. Once registered, you are confirmed to meet those creators at the event. You will receive a confirmation email of your selection.
6. When you pick up your badge at registration, you will receive a wristband for each meetup. Playlist Live staff will put them on you. These will get you into your designated meetup on Saturday and Sunday.
7. At your designated time each day, head to your selected meetup and ENJOY!

For a more detailed explanation, head over to Playlist Live’s Meetup page. The website is also home to an updated list of special guests, but the Playlist Live mobile application (available on iTunes and on your Android device by way of Google Play) is your most up-to-date resource for all your Playlist Live scheduling questions and needs. Check it out for a full round-up of events. Here are a select few we think you should most definitely attend:

Thursday 11/20 – Playlist Live Tri-State Kick-Off Show: Best Buy Theater

6:00 PM – Kick-Off Show with Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan, Jenna Marbles, Ricky Dillon, Settle Down Kids, Rebecca Black, Andrew Lowe, Lexxi Saal, Andrea Russett, Jenn McAllister, Trevor Moran, Meg DeAngelis, Amanda Steele, Mikey Murphy, Like Korns, Jessi Smiles, Nick Tangorra, and Meghan Tonjes.

Friday 11/21 – Business Day: Hilton Meadowlands

10:00 AM – Keynote Address with Brendan Gahan of Epicsignal

10:45 AM – Making Your Channel Into A Business with Michael Bienstock of Semaphore Financial, Olga Kay, Hannah Hart, and Michael Buckley.

1:45 PM – A New Wave of Talent: Working With The Next Generation with Al Roker, Andrew Graham of Big Frame, Sarah Weichel, Jacob Schwirtz of Endemol Beyond, Jeremy Cabalona of Vine, and Jordan Worona of Fullscreen.

2:45PM – Creators and Brands: Lessons in Working Together with Tubefilter’s very own Drew Baldwin, Ryan Lee of Vine, Brittani Louise Taylor, Fran Solomita of Mozaic Branding, Eamon Brennan of Collab, and Hey Nadine.

3:45 PM – The Mulit-Channel Panel: What Can An MCN Do For You? with Tubefilter’s very own Joshua Cohen, John Carle of Collective Digital Studio, Jackie Koppell of AwesomenessTV, Jacob Shwirtz of Endemol Beyond, Jake Krengel of Frederator Networks, James McFadden of Collab, and Jordan Worona of Fullscreen.

5:30 PM – Business Day Mixer Begins

Saturday 11/22 – Meadowlands Expo Center

10:40 AM – I Came Out On YouTube with ElloSteph, Hannah Hart, Tyler Oakley, Davey Wavey, LEzBeOnTalk, and Troye Sivan.

12:50 PM – Q&A with Tyler Oakley

6:00 PM – Concert with Meghan Tonjes, Dave Days, Madilyn Bailey, Rebecca Black, Golden, and Spandy Andy.

10:00PM – Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution Pre-Party

Sunday 11/23 – Meadowlands Expo Center

10:10 AM – Growing Up On YouTube with Bryon Ashley of Big Frame, Trevor Moran, Teala Dunn, Andrew Lowe, Alexis Zall, and Jonah Green.

10:30 AM – The Positive Side of Pranking with ItsJillstrif, PublicPrank, JoshPalerLink, AngryPicnic, and AverageBroTV.

10:50 AM – I Went Viral with Shira Lazar, Spandy Andy, GloZell, and Chris Thompson.

11:30 AM – Women On YouTube with Hannah Hart, Louise Pentland, Jenna Marbles, Meghan Tonjes, and ItsJillStrif.

Make sure to follow Playlist Live’s website and Twitter account for more updates and announcements. And as you wait for the event to arrive, you can check out this recap video from the 2013 version:

Filed under: Articles, News, Playlist Live by Bree Brouwer
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