Joan Lunden has created a new online video destination specifically for breast cancer patients and their supporters. The former host of ABC’s Good Morning America launched the video subscription site Alive with Joan, using the Tapp subscription television platform.
Lunden, who is a breast cancer survivor herself, decided to make Alive with Joan a year after her triple-negative diagnosis. The $9.95-per-month subscription site includes information relevant to breast cancer patients, including how to break the news to friends and family and how to shop for wigs. Lunden said 15% of the revenue from Alive will be donated to breast cancer research.
Lunden said YouTube approached her about making a channel on its site which would cover breast cancer topics. However, she said she wanted a more dedicated site where cancer patients felt comfortable sharing their stories and connecting with each other.
“I want to create a community for women who feel like they’re going through this alone,” Lunden explained to Variety. “There are 3.5 million (breast-cancer) survivors in the U.S. When you get to that stage, you need hope – you need community.”
“Joan has been a source of education and inspiration for millions of people living with a breast cancer diagnosis, and we’re honored to be a part of this groundbreaking channel,” Susan G. Komen President and CEO Judy Salerno said.
You can sign up for Lunden’s breast cancer subscription service on Alive’s site.
Hulu, you may have heard, recently pulled off one of its biggest coups yet by acquiring the streaming rights to all nine seasons of Seinfeld for a rumored sum of $180 million. With the rights secured, Hulu then had to focus on its next task: How can it make a nearly-20-year-old sitcom new again? To that end, it has teamed up with ad agency Magnetic Collaborative to recreate Seinfeld’s apartment set as an interactive exhibit.
The Seinfeld apartment can be found at 451 W 14th Street in Manhattan, and it will open on June 24th, the same day as Seinfeld’s arrival on Hulu. Through the following Sunday, June 28th, fans will be able to walk through the iconic set and participate in a number of themed activities. For example, guests will be invited to pull off their own clattering entrance, just as Kramer does in the show. Consider this video a study guide:
Hulu’s promotional plans for Seinfeld are not limited to the apartment. In addition, the streaming video platform will spend the week prior to the 24th counting down the seven best episodes of the series. Each day, one of those episodes will become available to Hulu users. Stay tuned to Hulu’s Seinfeld homepage to see which episodes make the cut. If “The Hamptons” doesn’t earn a spot on the list, we riot.
Jalopnik is kicking its YouTube presence into high gear. The Gawker Media blog, which discusses cars and the culture surrounding them, has announced the launch of its YouTube channel.
At launch, Jalopnik’s YouTube presence will be spread across four different series. In Jalopnik Does Neat Stuff With Cool Cars, the blog’s staff will take their favorite vehicles out on test drives. More practical advice will be offered in What Car Should You Buy?, while Truck Yeah! will center on (you guessed it) trucks. Anything that doesn’t fit into those series will fall into Blip!, which will pop up any time Jalopnik has news to share.
The Jalopnik YouTube channel joins a crowded field of automotive hubs on the world’s biggest video site, but the Gawker blog believes it still has its own niche to fill. “I don’t buy the cynical and easily disproven zero sum belief some in the industry have that says people will only watch one video about the new Miata or read one review of the new Mustang.,” writes Matt Hardigree in an introductory blog post. “That’s bullshit. If you believe that you’ve already admitted defeat.”
The launch of Jalopnik’s YouTube channel is not just significant for car enthusiasts. At the same time, it signals Gawker Media’s ongoing online video plans, which it hyped up at the yearly Code/Media Conference in February. Will Gawker’s other properties–a group that includes sports blog Deadspin, gaming blog Kotaku, and tech blog Gizmodo–ramp up their own YouTube channels? For now, let’s just enjoy the neat stuff and cool cars.
In a release reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Kjellberg’s This Book Loves You is described as an illustrated piece of “indispensable advice and inspirational quotes.” Kjellberg, who is part of the Maker Studios network, certainly has plenty of people who will want to read this advice. The 25-year-old YouTuber is one of the most prominent internet figures of this time, boasting over 37 million subscribers and more than 9 billion total video views.
“This book is a great chance for me to reach my audience in a new way,” said Kjellberg. “The original idea actually came from my fans via Twitter, so I really think they’re going to love it. I’m excited to finally share it and it’s been great to collaborate with Penguin to make this a reality.”
Kjellberg certainly isn’t the first YouTube celebrity to get a book deal. The Swedish gamer will join the ranks of other video creators (including Tyler Oakley) who have upcoming book releases with publishers. Some YouTube stars already have released their works, like Zoella, Grace Helbig, Connor Franta, Shane Dawson, and iJustine.
You can currently pre-order Kjellberg’s This Book Loves You through Amazon.com.
Additionally, TwitchCon has announced the panel schedule for its September 25-26, 2015 dates. Taking place at San Francisco’s Moscone West, panels will include topics such as building Twitch communities, copyright issues in gaming live streams, and building a successful streaming career. Twitch is also throwing an after-party, hosted by none other than Darude (yes, that Darude), for lucky fans who can get their hands on limited-time tickets.
You can see the full panel schedule and complete lineup of guests on TwitchCon’s new website. Tickets to the event and after-party are still available, but you may want to move quickly considering how popular and influential Twitch is among the gaming community.
MTV has a new series sure to give viewers a unique perspective on the city of Miami, Florida. The television network’s niche digital content studio, dubbe (MTV (other), released the web series No Seasons on June 11, 2015.
Hosted by local filmmaker and artist Julian Yuri Rodriguez, No Seasons takes viewers into the crazy and weird underbelly of Miami with narrative storytelling and dramatic reenactments. A release calls the series a “a journey full of parties, tattoos, love liaisons, and a monkey – not necessarily in that order. ‘All eight episodes of No Seasons are based on Rodriguez’s actual experiences within this eccentric culture.
MTV’s No Seasons was created by Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva. The duo head up the Borscht Corp, which consists of Miami-based artists whose work has appeared in various museums and cultural festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, Slamdance, Guggenheim Museums, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success. Read previous installments of YouTube Millionaires here.
On Bat in the Sun, schoolyard arguments are brought to life. The action-packed YouTube channel run by Aaron Schoene and his father Sean is best known for Super Power Beat Down, a series that pits iconic pop culture characters against one another in ferocious battles. Episodes of SPBD take on a cinematic quality and delight the one million fans who have subscribed to Bat in the Sun so far. We spoke to Aaron Schoenke about his online video efforts:
TF: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you want to say to your fans?
BITS: It’s feels great, we here at BITS are super proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished, and of course we want to tell all our fans, thank you!
TF: Where does the name “Bat in the Sun” come from?
BITS: My father, Sean Schoenke, who is also co-owner of Bat in the Sun, came up with the name. Bats are night creatures, but there are few brave bats that come out at dusk, these are the leader bats, the daring bats, setting the driving force for the rest of the bats. They are bats in the sun!
TF: Your Super Power Beat Down series has garnered you millions of views. What does the creative process behind one of these episodes look like?
BITS: We first have to find the two characters that will fit together nicely, that will ensure an awesome battle. It also depends on what kind of battle we want to do; an epic space adventure like Batman vs Darth Vader or a 90’s ninja throw back like Green Ranger vs Ryu.
Next comes casting, which is one of the most important steps. The fans want their characters represented perfectly and for us, our actors/stuntmen not only have to resemble the characters, but also represent their fighting style. We have two amazing fight coordinators, Shaun Piccininio and Alvin Hsing, who are tasked with the job of bring these characters’ fighting styles to life.
When designing the costumes, we have to make sure they not only look perfectly like the characters, but are also damn durable, because we beat the crap out of these suits! We work with a ton of really talented costume creators like ReevzFX, Snakepit Studios, Aniki, Alien FX, to name just a few!
Then after a some pretty long days of shooting, we are off into post production, where we spend the next 2-3 months working on the completing the episode. We have an amazingly talented visual effects artist, Nikolay Zamkovoy, who creates anything from Wolverine’s claws to Batman’s jet. My father, Sean Schoenke, does the sound design and composes the original music to fit each character’s specific feel and sound in the episodes, which leaves me to do all the video editing. So really us three are tasked to creatively finished off the episode and make it be all we hoped it can be!
TF: Which SPBD episode is your personal favorite and why?
BITS: It would have to be Batman vs Darth Vader, the things we were able to accomplish were incredible, and while we love all our episodes, this one holds a special place in our hearts. Batman is my favorite character, and Kevin Porter, who plays Batman, just knocks it out of the park! At 6’5” and 235 pounds he is the living embodiment of the Dark Knight! Personally, though, I like the alternate ending featuring Superman the best!
TF: TIME magazine said Hollywood could learn from what you do. If you could speak to a room full of Hollywood executives, what would you tell them?
BITS: Just to really get in tune with these characters, while I understand its very important to bring something new to the screen with these characters, make sure not to lose the essence of what has made them great and allowed them endure 50 to 70 years of fandom love.
TF: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
BITS: Personally, I’d love to direct a movie starring my childhood hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger! That would be a blast!
TF: What video or series would be your ultimate dream to create (or have you already created it)?
BITS: A superhero with message, something using these characters in a profound way, to inspire us all, make us think. These characters are like Greek Gods, who made people think, taught them lessons, and showed them how power corrupts.
TF: What’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
BITS: We have a bunch more Beat Downs coming out, with a bunch of new characters which we are really excited for, as well as an original series starring Jason David Frank, so definitely stayed tuned!
Otter Media has parted ways with a top executive. Virasb Vahidi, the CEO of the online video company owned by the Chernin Group and AT&T, has resigned after barely a year on the job.
Vahidi joined Otter in September 2014, after previous executive positions at American Airlines and AT&T. The now former CEO told company employees in a memo that since his hire, “it has become clear to [Chernin Group CEO Peter Chernin] and me that the role of the CEO is different than we had originally envisioned.” An Otter Media rep confirmed to Re/code, who originally broke the news, Vahidi has exited the company, and there are no immediate plans to replace him.
Vahidi’s departure follows on the heels of some big news from AT&T competitor Verizon, who just acquired AOL and all its online video properties. Hopefully, Vahidi’s departure doesn’t negatively affect Chernin and AT&T’s Otter Media, so the venture can continue to hold its place in the online video industry.
If you want to make it onto YouTube’s monthly Ad Leaderboard, develop an additive mobile game or make a video with many references to Internet culture. Those were the two biggest themes within the latest edition of YouTube’s monthly ranking, which noted a Clash of Clans commercial as the top branded video released on the site in May.
Clash of Clans, in which cartoonish armies do battle with one another, occupied the top three spots of the May Ad Leaderboard. The most popular of these commercials features the game’s hog riders mobilizing for action. That spot has received more than 34 million views in its first month on YouTube. While these videos are no doubt aided by placements as pre-roll ads (the YouTube Ad Leaderboard counts paid and unpaid views equally), they have also generated plenty of positive feedback.
Clash of Clans developer Supercell is no stranger to the YouTube Ad Leaderboard, having topped it in February with its Super Bowl commercial featuring Liam Neeson. Another Supercell title, Boom Beach, also found its way onto the May Ad Leaderboard with two popular spots of its own.
Welcome to the Fund This column! Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on 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 righthere.
Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): £1,130 ($1,751.22)
Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 21
Description: A web series called Cheeky Pulp could be about a lot of different subjects. It could follow irreverent citrus farmers or impudent paper mill employees. In this case, though, Cheeky Pulp centers on a school for super-powered individuals whose students are brought together by an aspiring comic book author, and if that’s not a wonderful premise, I don’t know what is.
Lazulite Films, the studio behind Cheeky Pulp, is run by two student filmmakers who “want to make something fun and exciting this summer.” In order to realize that dream, they’ve turned to Indiegogo, where they are hoping to raise money to fund what appears to be a typical British school story blended with supernatural elements and an artistic vibe.
In their pitch video, co-creators Ashley Harris and Chris Saunders lay out their vision while introducing viewers to a few of their characters. The students, as you might expect, are a ragtag bunch.
Creator Bio: Lazulite’s previous work has occasionally satirized common superhero tropes. The studio’s short film “Villainy” follows a wannabe supervillain trying to impress his peers. Sound familiar?
Best Perk: Contributors who offer up at least £10 can appear as a superhero on a poster in the series. No word on whether you get to choose your own powers.
Why You Should Fund It: The idea of a superhero school has been done many times before, but Lazulite’s spin on the genre has an intriguing weirdness to it that cannot be ignored. It may sound cliche, but the stars of Cheeky Pulp are not your average superheroes. For example, one of the main characters has the astounding power to “shit bricks,” as if he just saw a startling image on the Internet.
Cheeky Pulp seems to be filled with ingenuity and heart, and by blending multiple genres together, it can appeal to a wide audience. It needs just a few thousand more quid to get the green light.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
The worldwide ERB show will kick off on August 16, 2015, in West Hollywood, California. Ahlquist and Shukoff will travel to various U.S. cities such as Denver, Austin, and Memphis, as they move east through the country. Then, starting in mid-September, the YouTube duo will fly overseas to perform in the UK before traveling to Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, France, and other European countries.
Ahlquist and Shukoff started the ERB YouTube channel back in 2010, and since then have managed to rack up over 12 million subscribers and more than 1.6 billion video views. The ERB web series is now in its fourth season, which was on a brief hiatus in December 2014 before Ahlquist and Shukoff started releasing new content again. The most recent ERB video (already boasting 2.3 million views) pits history’s most well-known illusionist Harry Houdini against magician David Copperfield.
You can see a complete ERB tour schedule and purchase tickets for all available dates on nicepeter.com.
If you have a big, catchy melody on your mind, consider submitting it to Fiverr. The online marketplace, which connects freelancers to available jobs, has launched a contest called “The Big Hook” through which it hopes find a grabby musical anthem.
The Big Hook asks contests to submit a 30-second hook via a dedicated page on the Fiverr website. Once all of the hooks are collected, a public vote will narrow the selection down to the top 50 choices. From there, Fiverr will turn to six judges, who will choose a grand prize winner and two runners up.
Fiverr’s panel includes a number of judges who have established themselves on YouTube. Anthony Vincent, the man behind Ten Second Songs, will help select a winner, as will multi-instrumentalist Andrew Huang, pop artist Louisa Wendorff, and singer-songwriter Hannah Trigwell. The final two participating musicians are Christian Lopez and Whitney Coleman. All six judges appear in a YouTube video promoting The Big Hook:
The grand prize winner will receive a trip to Nashville, where he or she will participate in a “songwriting bootcamp.” The second and third-place hook writers will settle for cash prizes.
The Big Hook will support Fiverr’s Music & Audio section, where users can post jobs for freelance session musicians, singers, voice-over artists, and sound mixers. Fiverr will continue to promote this category through a collaboration with Kutiman, who used the Music & Audio section to find musicians for a new project that will arrive on his YouTube channel later in June.
The submission deadline for The Big Hook is June 24th. Fiverr will announce the winner in July.
