We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here. 

One of our favorite indie web series of 2014 was Business Work, which applied punny comedy to the workplace. The series featured in this week’s Indie Spotlight brings us back into the office, and like Business Work, it thrives on absurd situations. Alex Herrald and Kristopher Knight are the creative forces behind Business Time, a seven-episode series now available in its entirety.

The main characters of Business Time are Gene and Gene, a pair of office workers with abutting cubicles. In each episode, they banter back and forth while spewing vague business jargon at each other. What kind of businessmen are Gene and Gene? One of them has a framed photo of Ben Bernanke on his desk. The other one gets turned out by Excel spreadsheets. They both enjoy comments about the weather. Gene and Gene, you could say, are all business.

Eventually, the episodes manage to get a little weird, as good comedy is wont to do. In a Splitsider interview, Herrald notes Tim and Eric as an influence, and the sort of bizarre humor presented by that duo is certainly on display here.

Business Time doesn’t get too crazy, though; in the end, it appeals to a fairly wide audience. I only home that, if there is a season two, Herrald and Knight find some way to work in a Flight of the Concords reference.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• Beauty Shots. A trio of ladies get piss drunk and attempt to apply makeup in this boozy web series.
• A Black Man Acting. Actor Curtiss Cook delivers monologues that touch on social issues for people of color.
• Lilac. This audacious pilot about a bad-ass ten-year-old recently picked up a couple awards.
• Issues. Star Richelle Meiss leads the way in this comedy about an awkward young woman.

Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Indie Spotlight, News by Sam Gutelle
No Comments »

The Decemberists recently had to deal with some decidedly less-than-artistic lyrics. The indie folk rock band who just released their seventh album on January 20, 2015 appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and sung some rather ridiculous YouTube comments.

Kimmel starts the segment by explaining how The Decemberists write “interesting, very intelligent songs about uncommon subjects,” and then jokes they’re working on an album centered around YouTube. The band proceeds to play selections from this fake project, covering every kind of comment you expect to see on Google’s online video site, from shallow to vicious to self-promoting. They conclude by singing a comment which calls the 2005 MIT commencement speech “boring” five times in a row.

Despite younger audiences loving the online video site, YouTube comments have never had a very good reputation. The anonymity afforded the site’s users before 2013 allowed them to write any trolling, hateful, or even completely unrelated comment they wanted to. Google tried to rectify this by forcing users to connect their Google+ accounts (which require you to use your real name) to YouTube at the end of 2013.

In the end, Google received lots of negative feedback about the change, even getting backlash from Vlogbrothers’ Hank Green who said most YouTube users work for years to build up their personal accounts and don’t want to see them disappear. Some YouTubers (like PewDiePie) have toyed with turning off comments altogether, while other creators see the flame-bait responses as perfect opportunities for comedy and for showing just how overblown many of the commenter’s arguments can be.

The Decemberists and Kimmel were just the most recent people who decided to use the insanity of YouTube comments to their advantage, and we’re sure glad they did.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News by Bree Brouwer
No Comments »

Vice News prides itself on its intimate, personal reporting style, and the publication’s latest venture brings that intimacy to a new level. Spike Jonze and Chris Milk are the filmmakers behind Vice News VR: Millions March, a news feature available on virtual reality (VR) devices.

Jonze and Milk premiered the VR film at Sundance. Millions March is hosted by Alice Speri, a Vice News correspondent who attended the large-scale protests in New York City that followed grand jury decisions in the cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Speri captured footage with a 360-degree camera, and her completed feature was uploaded to an app designed by VRSE, a VR development company founded by Milk.

Viewers are able to download VRSE’s app via the iTunes Store and Google Play. The first VR device to support this app is Google’s own Cardboard, but viewers are also able to view Millions March on newer mobile devices–albeit without the incredible VR experience.

For many forward-thinking content creators, VR is the an exciting new platform for online video distribution. YouTube, for example, also plans to support videos uploaded from 360-degree cameras.

“My hope is that VR is the tool we need to stir more compassion for one another,” Milk said in a statement. “I think VR holds the potential to fundamentally change journalism.”

Jonze co-helmed the project thanks to his role as Vice’s creative director. The filmmaker best known for works like Being John Malkovich and Her previously collaborated with Vice on the YouTube Music Awards.

Beyond Millions March, Vice plans to develop other VR projects alongside VRSE.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, VICE by Sam Gutelle
No Comments »

GoPro may be known for its users’ videos based on individual sports like surfing or mountain biking, but the brand’s new partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL) could bring the high-definition compact cameras into the leagues of the more established pros. The two companies have teamed up to use GoPro camera footage during live broadcasts of professional hockey matches.

According to TechCrunch, the NHL is interested in attracting a younger viewership to its hockey games. GoPro’s connection to this audience through action sports and a healthy online video presence was apparently a good fit for the League, which plans to have on-ice players wear the cameras to provide real-time, point-of-view footage during the live broadcasts. The NHL will begin using GoPro devices and its corresponding Live Broadcast Solution during the the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend from January 24 to 25. If all goes well, expect to see the cameras in professional hockey games a lot more often.

TechCrunch notes that while professional sports organizations like the NFL have already been using remote-controlled wire-flown cameras during games, many of the groups are looking to modernize their filming options. For example, ESPN recently announced plans to use footage from drones during broadcasts of the Winter X Games occurring this week. And GoPro already tested its Live Broadcast Solution program during the Games’ Snowmobile Speed & Style competition on January 22.

GoPro is already a leader in the action camera industry, so the decision to team up with the NHL to provide player-perspective footage only makes sense. The brand isn’t too shabby at marketing itself, either. We recently included GoPro on our list of top ten digital-savvy YouTube brands for 2014 because of the company’s online video expertise using awe-inspiring clips, which routinely get millions of shares and views.

It’s likely this partnership with the NHL will only tout GoPro’s name to the larger sports industry and could lead to initiatives with other major leagues. The deal will also help establish GoPro as the go-to camera brand for up-close-and-personal sports footage, whether recorded or live, individual or team-based, amateur or pro.

Filed under: Articles, GoPro, News by Bree Brouwer
No Comments »

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon isn’t the only TV show on which Colleen Ballinger (who plays the stand-offish YouTube star, and kinda friend of Jerry Seinfeld, Miranda Sings) has recently made an appearance. The YouTuber boasting 3.4 million subscribers across three channels was a guest host on ABC’s The View on January 22, 2015.

Ballinger joined The View’s Nicole Wallace, Rosie O’Donnell, and fellow guest host Michelle Williams in discussing some of the most talked-about news stories of the day. The four ladies start off by defending or criticizing the New England Patriots due to the team reportedly using deflated balls during the NFL playoffs, and move into topics like first kisses and cyber-bullying. At one point, Ballinger inadvertently brought up how she and her fiancé argue about how to pronounce the word eggs, and the conversation degrades into all four women trying to figure out the “right” way to say the word.

After the episode finished filming, Ballinger went backstage to answer questions viewers submitted to her on Instagram during the show. Some were comical, like whether or not Miranda gets jealous of Ballinger’s fame, and some were more serious, like how often the YouTuber becomes stressed due to the demands on her time. Check out the four-minute video below for all of Ballinger’s answers:

Ballinger also took over The View’s Instagram account for a while and posted several pictures of herself and the other ladies preparing to appear on the show.

Getting excited! What do you think we will chat about today on #TheView?

A photo posted by The View (@abctheview) on Jan 22, 2015 at 7:38am PST

Legs for dayz @realmichellew | #theview #ViewShoeCam #MichelleWilliams

Uma foto publicada por The View (@abctheview) em Jan 22, 2015 at 9:37 PST

You can check out Ballinger’s episode of The View on ABC.com if you can verify you have a paid TV subscription (like through Comcast). Otherwise, a fan-based YouTube channel dedicated to The View has posted the full episode for your viewing pleasure.

Filed under: Articles, MirandaSings, News by Bree Brouwer
No Comments »

YouTube’s Music Key service has been a lightning rod for controversy, and a recent Tumblr post from an independent musician has brought a particular issue back into the spotlight. Cellist and composer Zoe Keating has taken to her personal blog, where she wrote a post lamenting the aggressive terms musicians must now agree to if they wish to continue monetizing content on YouTube.

Keating is known for her openness regarding the financial particulars of her dealings with streaming services, and in her new post, she lays out the rules YouTube sets forth in its new agreement. The new terms require Keating to put her catalog on YouTube Music Key, monetize her songs, release songs on YouTube as they arrive on other platforms, and upload them in high resolution. The agreement lasts for five years, and if Keating does not agree to it, she can no longer monetize her music on YouTube.

These seem like very aggressive terms, and Keating comments that she “can’t think of another streaming service that makes such demands.” While Keating doesn’t have many videos on her YouTube channel, she actively uses Content ID to monetize third-party uploads that feature her music. Should she decline YouTube’s new terms, she would lose the ability to do that.

However, if she accepts YouTube’s terms, she loses another key benefit of her career as an independent musician–her ability to upload her music wherever she wants, whenever she wants:

“It’s one thing for individuals to upload all my music for free listening (it doesn’t bother me). It’s another thing entirely for a major corporation to force me to. I was encouraged to participate and now, after I’m invested, I’m being pressured into something I don’t want to do.”

Independent musicians began lodging these complaints before YouTube Music Key’s launch, but Keating’s blog post shows us exactly how much YouTube is asking of its musical community. YouTube Music Key is a nice product, but assuming Keating’s assertions are accurate, it’s hard not to feel as if the creative people who make Music Key a worthwhile service are getting a raw deal.

Tubefilter has reached out to YouTube for comment.

UPDATE: YouTube has offered a short statement related to this matter:

“Any artist who agrees to our basic Terms of Service will always be able to share videos on YouTube.”

Photo credit: Jared Kelly via Zoe Keating’s website

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, YouTube, YouTube Music Key by Sam Gutelle
No Comments »

On January 22nd, Hank Green, GloZell Green, and Bethany Mota represented YouTube during a live streaming interview with President Barack Obama.

During the 46-minute event, the three content creators fired an assortment of questions at the President while engaging with viewers from around the world. Ultimately, the interview scored more than 88,000 concurrent viewers, generated more than 705 million impressions on for the #YouTubeAsksObama hashtag on Twitter, and drew a varied response from the media.

The three interviewers each focused on the topics most relevant to them. Green about North Korea and about the feasibility of the President’s political goals, GloZell asked him to discuss the relationship between minority communities and the police, and the 19-year-old Mota spent some time grilling him on the cost of a college education. The interview ended with the selfie pictured above, which YouTube quickly posted on its Twitter feed.

BEST. SELFIE. EVER. #YouTubeAsksObama pic.twitter.com/BQDqLhFDUX

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 22, 2015

YouTube’s latest foray into the White House drew plenty of responses from the media. Many outlets focused on GloZell, who called Michelle Obama the President’s “first wife” and said Fidel Castro “puts the ‘dick’ in dictator.” Both CNN and Mashable dubbed the spectacle “weird,” while The Washington Post commented that “it definitely felt different than most high-profile presidential interviews.” Mediaite, on the other hand, praised the three YouTubers for their “serious and thought-provoking questions.” Vox went completely off the map to talk about the ASCII Illuminati symbols in the comments. I’m pretty sure those commenters were just trolling, Vox. And Fox News’ response was classic Fox News.

NOW BREAKING ON @FOXNEWS: BIZARRE INTERVIEW CONTAINS THOUGHTFUL QUESTIONS, RESPECT, INTEGRITY. pic.twitter.com/NOI6KujxiY

— Hank Green (@hankgreen) January 23, 2015

The interview was definitely a little weird, but not aggressively so. In comparison to YouTube’s previous attempts to capture a more traditional TV audience, such as its Comedy Week live show and its Music Awards, the Presidential interview gave off a much more polished, professional vibe. Some of the questions addressed topics like drone strikes and the Boko Haram attacks that often don’t get the coverage they deserve.

Green, GloZell, and Mota received a rare privilege, and they made sure not to squander it. Their time with the President was as informative as a political interview can be while still appealing to the YouTube audience. The three interviewers all brought their big personalities to the table without overdoing it. For those of us who want the YouTube community to command respect among traditional media consumers, #YouTubeAsksObama was a surefire win.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
No Comments »

Fullscreen is financing digital programming with top-tier talent on mediums outside of the world’s largest video sharing site. The YouTube multi-channel network and digital entertainment company with over 60,000 online video creators generating over 5 billion global views per month has announced its Fullscreen Films initiative, a production-based branch of the MCN focused solely on creating feature-length films starring some of today’s most popular digital stars.

Three films are already in production under the Fullscreen Films banner. The first is Rooster Teeth’s Lazer Team. The Austin-based production company was acquired by Fullscreen in November 2014 for an undisclosed sum, but initially raised funds for the film on its own via a wildly-successful Indiegogo (which raked in a record-breaking $2,480,421). It’s likely Fullscreen’s new initiative will help finalize production plans as well as work on distribution options for Rooster Teeth’s first-ever feature-length flick.

Next on Fullscreen’s film slate is a documentary previously announced in June 2014 that features YouTube supergroup Our2ndLife. Though the group has just disbanded its channel, Fullscreen is apparently still moving ahead with the doc titled #O2LForever (which is quite the nostalgic title, considering the circumstances, but should be a delight for the group’s 2.8 million YouTube subscribers and wider fanbase).

Finally, the MCN’s new Films branch will produce The Outfield, a piece starring Viners Cameron Dallas and Nash Grier. The Outfield goes into production this week and will tell the story of a group of varsity high school baseball players who must learn to make difficult, growing-up choice both on and off the field. Dallas has previous acting experience thanks to AwesomenessTV’s feature-length film Expelled, but Grier will make his film acting debut in The Outfield.

It’s also worthwhile noting that Fullscreen Films is working with talent in and outside of its YouTube MCN. Rooster Teeth is part of the Fullscreen family and all the young gentlemen in O2L are signed to the network, but Dallas and Grier are partnered with AwesomenessTV.

“Fullscreen has always been deeply committed to empowering online creators. It’s in our DNA,” said George Strompolos, Founder and CEO of Fullscreen, in the release. “Fullscreen Films takes our mission to the next level as we look to create several ambitious feature films with many of today’s brightest creative voices. This is what audiences have told us they want and Fullscreen is prepared to deliver.”

“Fullscreen is committed to giving creators the opportunity to express themselves and tell stories that matter to them and their audiences,” added Fullscreen Chief Content Officer, Michael Goldfine, who was picked up by the company in October 2014 specifically to embark on longer-form projects (a format with which he saw a lot of success by way of Camp Takota). “Often, those stories are most authentically told as full-length movies, whether they capture a significant moment in pop culture, like O2L, or reach the hearts of passionate fandoms like Lazer Team and The Outfield. I couldn’t be more excited to kick off our original content pursuits with movies, though there’s much more exciting stuff to come.”

There’s no word yet on when or where the first of  Fullscreen’s films will be released, but the company said in a statement they will be available “across all screens”. That could mean pay-to-view-and-rent SVOD options like Vimeo On Demand (which is working with another major YouTube MCN) or VHX, Fullscreen’s very own stealth SVOD platform, or even movie theaters.

Fullscreen noted the company will have “more exciting” news in the near future. Announcing a film division is pretty darn exciting, so we’re curious to see what’s next. Stay tuned.

Filed under: Articles, Fullscreen, News by Bree Brouwer
No Comments »

Snapchat doesn’t want to be left on the sidelines while everyone else is making its own original content. The app known for its fleeting, self-terminating picture messages is reportedly working on its own original programming plans.

Digiday reports Snapchat will launch its own video and text-based content along with those of its advertising partners on its Discover platform by end of January 2015. Initially, the seen-it-and-delete-it messaging app developed this ad-supported feature to attract marketers who wanted to post their own branded visual, audio, and textual content. And the tactic apparently worked, as Snapchat secured partners such as CNN, ESPN, and Vice back in November 2014.

Now, however, Snapchat seems to want to throw its own content into the mix on Discover. Digiday notes the ephemeral messaging company has hired “a host of journalists, videographers and animators” who will be part of a media division led by Nick Bell, a former senior VP from News Corp. Some of the new hires Digiday identified via LinkedIn (but could not coax a comment from) were The Verge reporter Ellis Hamburger, blogger Nicole James, MTV and VH1 producer Greg Wacks, and videographer Dom Smith.

And Snapchat may be uniquely placed to successfully generate media where other content distribution/platform companies have failed. Last year, Snapchat introduced its Stories feature, which the app company uses to curate snaps taken by its users into one 24-hour presentation. Snapchat tried out Stories during the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, and repeated the process for New Year’s Eve in New York City.

“Snapchat is on to something that will be incredibly meaningful for its audience and super helpful for reaching people who aren’t consuming content on TV, newspapers and magazines,” KC Estenson, former head of digital at CNN, told Digiday.

There’s no official release date for Discover as of yet. But when it arrives, you can be sure plenty of people will be checking in to see what original (and most likely short-lived) content Snapchat has created for its global user base.

Filed under: Articles, News, Snapchat by Bree Brouwer
No Comments »

FremantleMedia is best known for its work on TV, but the international production company continues to stake a larger claim in online video. It has acquired a majority stake in Divimove, one of the leading multi-channel networks (MCNs) in Europe.

The size of FremantleMedia’s investment was not disclosed, but the London-based company now controls 51% of the Berlin-based MCN. This deal continues an existing relationship between the two companies; FremantleMedia previously invested in Divimove back in 2013.

“Divimove‘s amazing growth is a result of an exceptional team and a great roster of content creators,” said Keith Hindle, FremantleMedia’s CEO of Digital and Branded Entertainment, in a release. “Divimove works with really exciting emerging talent across multiple markets, which fits our global TV production business well, and we look forward to working with them even more.”

Divimove’s partner network spans more than 1,700 channels across Europe, which together claim 80 million subscribers and more than 900 million views. The most significant YouTuber within Divimove’s network is Elrubius, the Spaniard who gained more new subscribers in 2014 than all but eight other channels. In recent months, Divimove has improved its offerings in a number of key categories. It launched a program called Brandboost that pairs marketers with relevant YouTube creators, and it also opened a talent management division headed by former Warner Music exec Michael Brycz.

Beyond Divimove, FremantleMedia has also partnered with North American MCNs like StyleHaul, BroadbandTV, and Vice Media, and its TV credits include American Idol. It is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann‘s RTL Group; Bertelsmann, like Divimove, is based in Germany.

Filed under: Articles, DIVIMOVE, Featured, News, Studios by Sam Gutelle
No Comments »

Welcome to our second annual installment of the yearly Tubefilter Top 250 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels chart.

With 2015 now firmly underway, we’ve collected and organized all the data from the year prior so you can see which online video channels amassed the the largest audiences and fan bases in 2014. The names won’t be unfamiliar to any regular reader of our Tubefilter Charts, though you will probably make some new discoveries as you scroll down the list.

And Spoiler Alert: Very impressive stats below.

Chart Toppers

In 2014, the most subscribed channel on YouTube belonged to a twentysomething Swedish gamer whose parents named him Felix Kjellberg, but who’s better known online as PewDiePie. Kjellberg’s ever-growing collection of Let’s Play videos accompanied by the occasional personal vlog and charitable campaign amassed almost 14 million subscribers last year, bringing the total count of his Bro Army to well above 33 million.

In a far distant second, but still with a very impressive subscriber figure is Canadian-based online video gamer VanossGaming. The self-proclaimed maker of “funny gaming videos” added nearly 6.6 million subscribers in the 12 months of 2014. HolaSoyGerman is next up in a close third place. The YouTube home of Chilean comedian and online video blogger Germán Alejandro Garmendia Arnis tacked on 6.3 million new subscribers over the course of the year, brining the channel’s total to well above 20 million.

Up next is Katy Perry. The only pop star in the Top 5 roared her way up to the #4 spot by adding 5.8 million subscribers to her YouTube channel in 2014. And rounding out the Top 5 is Vegetta777. The online video catalog of the Spanish gamer and “boy lover of unicorns who lives with a murderous elf in his room” (that’s a rough translation from his channel’s about page, by the way) ended the year up more than 4.8 million subscribers.

Top Gainers

All the channels in the Top 250 Most Subscribed of 2014 obviously had very good years, but there’s are a few channels in particular that had a better year that most.

The honor of one of our Top Gainers goes to Grace Helbig.

The YouTube star who’s about to be a television star parted ways with My Damn Channel and her old YouTube destination to launch ItsGrace at the very beginning of 2014. Helbig’s new online video home was quick to rack up a lot of subscribers and 12 months later ended the year just shy of 1.9 million of them.

And the honor of one of our other Top Gainers goes to The Fine Bros‘ shiny new React channel.

The fraternal filming duo of Benny and Rafi Fine launched a new YouTube destination for their famous React franchise in July of 2014. And in less than six months, the Fine’s substantial subscribers base on their original YouTube home reacted nicely to the new outpost. Fans flocked to the new channel to the tune of more than 2.8 million subscribers during the calendar year.

Channel Distribution

The Top 250 Most Subscribed YouTube channels in 2014 amassed in aggregate a total of 511,591,667 new subscribers. Here’s a look at the distribution of a few of those channels broken down by the most-represented YouTube Multi-Channel Networks on the chart:

• VEVO: 36 channels in the Top 250 Most Subscribed, with Katy Perry as the top-ranking channel of the network at #4.
• Maker Studios: 30 channels in the Top 250, with PewDiePie at #1.
• Fullscreen: 21 channels in the Top 250, with TheFineBros at #13.
• Collective Digital Studio: 16 channels in the Top 250, with Rhett & Link’s Good Mythical Morning at #12.
• Machinima: 15 channels in the Top 250, with VanossGaming at #2.
• StyleHaul: 12 channels in the Top 250, with Zoella’s Zoella280390 at #23.
• DEFY Media: 5 channels in the Top 250, with Smosh at #11.
• BroadBandTV: 4 channels in the Top 250, with fernanfloo at #93.
• AwesomenessTV, Big Frame, XMediaDigital: 3 channels each in the Top 250, with AwesomenessTV’s Nash Grier at #24, Big Frame’s Tyler Oakley at #40 and XMediaDigital’s MashaMedvedTV at #166.
• BuzzFeed, Jetpak, OmniaMediaCo, QuizGroup, Rightster, Rooster Teeth, WMG: 2 channels each in the Top 250, with BuzzFeed’s BuzzFeed Video at #47, Jetpak’s TheSyndicateProject at #105, Omnia’s miniminter at #184, QuizGroup’s eeoneguy at #150, Rightster’s Rémi Gaillard at #194, Rooster Teeth’s TheSlowMoGuys at #128, and WMG’s Jason Derulo at #80.

And here’s a look into the distribution of 2014’s Top 250 by country of origin:

• The United States: 142 channels in the Top 250.
• Great Britain: 29 channels in the Top 250.
• Brazil, Spain: 12 channels each in the Top 250.
• Canada, France, Russia: 7 channels each in the Top 250.
• Australia: 6 channels in the Top 250.
• India, Mexico: 4 channels each in the Top 250.
• Chile, Germany, Ireland, Sweden: 2 channels each in the Top 250.
• Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, El Salvador, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine: 1 channel each in the Top 250.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all of our news at Tubefilter by following us on Twitter, becoming a fan on Facebook, and watching our videos on YouTube.

The data for Tubefilter’s 2014 Top 250 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels chart was provided by SocialBlade. Social Blade tracks and stores YouTube progress of millions of channels. With this site, you can check various things such as views, subscribers, future predictions, and much more! Compare your stats with other YouTubers and see how you stand up against their progress.

Filed under: Articles, News, Statistics, YouTube, Youtube Chart by Joshua Cohen
No Comments »