As it continues to build up and tinker with its Vimeo On Demand platform, Vimeo is looking to give its creative partners more control over their pay-to-view content. The video site’s two newest features both affect Vimeo On Demand projects before they go live: Users can now set up “coming soon” pages weeks in advance, and they can distribute special access codes to VIP viewers.

The coming soon pages allow users to begin to generate buzz for their work before releasing any videos. “If you’re ready to upload your videos and start making sales, you can release your stuff right away,” reads a Vimeo blog post discussing the new features. “But if you’re still in the early stages of production, or raising money for your project, or want to launch an early marketing campaign, you can publish just your page now, and release your videos later. That way, you’ll be able to direct traffic back to the same page where, one day soon, your video will be for sale.”

The VIP codes, on the other hand, cater to content creators whose projects were financed by crowdfunding campaigns. Many of those creators have promised free downloads or early access to their backers, and with the VIP codes, they can deliver on that promise without changing their selling plans. Vimeo’s blog post also notes that you can give a VIP copy of your work to your mom, if you’d like.

The two new features are not the last updates Vimeo plans to make to its selling platform. Its blog post also notes that “more tools for marketing and selling your videos are coming soon for you.”

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Vimeo by Sam Gutelle
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Joyus is getting into the original video content game. The video-shopping startup launched 12 new original series based on fashion, beauty, and lifestyle genres to help boost its brands’ sales.

Founded in 2011 and based in San Jose, California, Joyus is an ecommerce site that works with around 800 brands (like L’Oreal and SuperGa) to create video content about those brands’ products. The video is meant as a marketing tool used to get consumers to buy the featured product or some of the other 8,000 or so other items on Joyus’ site. While Variety notes the privately-owned company doesn’t reveal financial figures, Joyus splits roughly 50% of its sales revenue with brand partners and also gives a cut of revenue to partners that distribute its videos.

With its slate of originals, Joyus is aiming to drive overall company sales (not necessarily tied to any specific brands or products) through video programming and awareness. One series produced by Time Inc., for example, is called People Stuff We Love and shows viewers celebrity-favorite items at reasonable prices, picked by Joyus staff alongside People Magazine features editor Zoe Ruderman.

“We’re combining content and commerce,” said Joyus founder and CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy. The executive also noted video “continues to be our hero,” as the visual format on Joyus usually results in three to five times the sales-transaction rates compared to non-video content.

Here’s a list of the remaining 11 series Joyus created for its site:

Street Styl’d: Style expert Marcellas Reynolds makes on-the-spot fashion tweaks to women he meets strolling around L.A.

60 Second Style Swap: Presents three great fashion looks one minute.

The Arsenal: A spotlight on essential items that every woman must have in her closet.

All Figured Out: Shopping videos featuring fashion with slimming styles.

Mobile Marcy: Home-organization expert Marcy McKenna offers tips on overhauling your closet, setting a table or organizing your office.

The Fix: Shopping videos that provide fast fixes, ranging from reducing clutter in the kitchen to reducing accessory overload.

Smart Beauty: A Consumer Reports-style series covering questions, concerns and benefits on all things beauty.

Beauty Hush Hush: Covering less-sexy beauty regimens like hair removal, callused feet and rough skin.

Beauty Bootcamp: Beauty trainers coach viewers with a daily dose of demos, ideas and tips.

Fit & Fabulous: Fitness series providing tips on workouts, athletic wear and more.

OMJ (Oh My Joyus!): Shopping videos geared around special product offers available for only 72 hours.

You can catch all shows on Joyus’ website. The copmany, which raised $24 million in funding back in June 2015, is backed by Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, Time Warner (hence the Time Inc.-produced original series noted above), Accel Partners, Interwest, and Marker.

Filed under: Articles, Joyus, News by Bree Brouwer
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A new series from JASH has added to YouTube’s deep reserve of videos led by funny children. The comedy network formed in 2013 by a fivesome of comedy notables has launched Baby Talk, which is based off a Meltdown live show of the same name.

In Baby Talk, hosts Dan Levy and Jensen Karp invite three celebrity guests to riff on the musings of a silly child. This premise may sound familiar, but that’s the whole point. “It’s an original show that seems very similar to Kids Says The Darndest Things,” says Levy in the series’ trailer, “because…it is very similar to Kids Say The Darndest Things.”

The goal of the web series version is to take Baby Talk to as weird a place as it can possible go. The featured children are “our strangest kids from the live show,” says Karp. In the first episode, Neal Brennan, Blake Griffin, and John Mulaney chat with a youngster who loves his leather jacket. The feel is very loose and relaxed, and the guest comedians have plenty of room to work.

In total, the first season of Baby Talk will run for nine episodes.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, JASH, News by Sam Gutelle
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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 right here.

Project Name: Snatoms

Asking For: $42,000 on Kickstarter

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $59,061, though stretch goals will soon seek higher targets.

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 41

Description: Usually, our Fund This column profiles hopeful content creators looking to get a new series or short film off the ground. This time, though, we’re highlighting a science project. Derek Muller, the host of the Veritasium, is seeking funds for Snatoms, a brand of molecular modeling kits that he believes can replace the ball-and-stick models that have been used for 150 years.

Snatoms feature a simple, intuitive design. Balls of varying sizes–each one representing a different element–are filled with magnets and then cut to create multiple flat surfaces. By magnetically attaching, say, two hydrogen balls onto the surfaces of one oxygen ball, a Snatoms user can create a water molecule that comes together with a series of satisfying snaps.

Muller has been working on his Snatoms designs for several years, and with his Kickstarter campaign, he hopes to mass-produce them for use in classrooms and labs. For more details, check out his pitch video:

Creator Bio: On his YouTube channel, Muller entertains more than three million subscribers with education videos that usually trend toward scientific topics. Some of his best lessons, such as his real-time demonstration of the Coriolis effect, have made our headlines.

Best Perk: Backers who kick in at least $42 (Hitchhiker’s Guide reference?) receive a Snatoms kit. Each kit comes with 6 carbon atoms, 6 oxygen atoms, and 12 hydrogen atoms, which combine to form a glucose molecule.

Why You Should Fund It: Muller believes Snatoms surpass traditional molecular models because they are easier to assemble and take apart. Also, as he relates in his pitch video, his models more accurately convey the mechanics of molecular bonds. For that reason, Snatoms have the potential to be an indispensable classroom aid that can help out visual learners.

Snatoms has already achieved its initial target, but stretch goals will soon follow. “I look forward to hitting stretch targets with you and really changing the way we teach chemistry,” wrote Muller. “I really appreciate all of the suggestions too. I think you guys have really great ideas, so let me know what you want to see in this Kickstarter and I will do my best to make it happen.”

There’s only one problem with Snatoms: If they catch on, Muller will have to explain how the magnets within them function. As we all know, that would be an impossible task.

Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.

Filed under: Channels, Fund This, Kickstarter by Sam Gutelle
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Facebook has a new way for mobile users to stay up-to-date with news from their favorite content publishers. The social networking site and burgeoning (and questionable) online video powerhouse has launched a new iOS app called Notify, which will (aptly) help notify mobile users of new content from over 70 different publishing partners.

According to a company blog post, Facebook started Notify to help deliver “timely notifications about the things that matter to you.” Mobile users can install Notify and select from a variety of categories like entertainment and business. Within those categories are what Facebook is calling “stations,” which host content from publishing partners like Hulu, BuzzFeed, CNN, Time, Vogue, VICE, Wired, Entertainment Weekly, and ABC. For example, Fandango runs a station called “Hot New Trailers,” while the Weather Channel has its own “Daily AM Forecast” station.

When new content is published by Notify’s publishing partners through the app’s variety of stations, users receive a push notification on the lock screen of their iPhones. Users can then share said notification, save it for later viewing, or swipe/tap on the notification to view the complete article, video, or update within the app’s own browser. Notify users can unsubscribe from stations at any time, and the app will recommend new stations based on a user’s Facebook profile.

Here’s a video Facebook posted to Vimeo that’s a good primer on all the Notify basics.

While Facebook is just diving into what it calls the “evolving medium” of notifications, mobile push notifications certainly aren’t a new concept in the app world. Beachfront Media has known for a while that push notifications help drive video or article views up to two to three times their normal rates the day after a notification is sent. Vine has boasted notifications for almost a year now, and YouTube updated its app in the summer of 2015 to allow users to receive push notifications from their subscribed channels and creators.

You can download Notify now in the iTunes App Store and learn more about the app on its dedicated website.

Filed under: Articles, Facebook, News by Bree Brouwer
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In a few days, The Amazing Race will begin filming its 28th season, but this time around, the long-running CBS competition is adding a twist to its formula. It has announced a cast filled entirely with digital media stars and their associates

The 22 people who will compete in season 28 of The Amazing Race are a popular group. On each of the cast’s 11 teams, there is YouTube, Vine, or Instagram content creator, and each one is paired up with a friend or family member. Notable names within the field include Tyler Oakley, who is so hot right now; Burnie Burns, the founder of Rooster Teeth; and Zach King, a special effects wizard who will have to negotiate real-life obstacles.

The season 28 cast members will not be the first digital media stars to compete on The Amazing Race. That distinction goes to YouTube celebrities Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camarena, who finished fifth in season 22 and returned as two of All-Stars who appeared in season 24. Other reality shows, such as Dancing with the Stars, have also cast digital media creators in hopes of attracting the viewership of those creators’ dedicated fans.

The Amazing Race will send off its season 28 contestants shortly, and their respective journeys are likely to last into December. The winning team will receive a million-dollar prize, but we won’t know who earns that honor until 2016, when the season airs. In the meantime, new episodes from the show’s 27th go-around are airing each Friday.

Here, via TVLine, is a full list of The Amazing Race’s season 28 participants:

ERIN WHITE ROBINSON and JOSLYN DAVIS
Pop culture hosts for YouTube’s Clevver, best friends (photo above)

TYLER OAKLEY and KOREY KUHL
YouTube stars/”Psychobabble” podcasters, best friends

BURNIE BURNS and ASHLEY JENKINS
Owner and host of YouTube’s Rooster Teeth gaming site, dating

COLE and SHERI LABRANT
“Teen heartthrob Viner” and his mother

ZACH and RACHEL KING
Magic Viner and wife

MATT STEFFANINA and DANA BORRIELLO
YouTube star and girlfriend/fellow dance instructor

JESSICA VERSTEEG and BRITTANY OLDEHOFF
Instagram models, best friends

MARTY COBB and HAGAN PARKMAN
Viral video star and daughter

BLAIR and SCOTT FOWLER
YouTube star (beauty/lifestyle) and father

KURT GIBSON and BRODIE SMITH
Pro Frisbee stars, best friends

CAMERON and DARIUS BENSON
Vine stars (parkour, unicycling, juggling), brothers

Filed under: Articles, CBS, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Shia LaBeouf is no stranger in the media, often showing up in headlines for questionable or controversial situations. This time, the 29-year-old actor is making waves online for a decidedly less problematic and far more artsy event. In a project LaBeouf is calling #AllMyMovies, the actor is live streaming himself now through November 12, 2015, as he watches every movie he starred in over the course of his career.

Created in collaboration with performance artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö and artist Luke Turner, LaBeouf is consecutively screening all his filmography for 24 hours straight in reverse chronological order from the Angelika Film Center in New York City. The #AllMyMovies campaign started on November 10 at 12:00 PM EST with the film Man Down, and the endeavor will end 6:53 PM EST on November 12 after a screening of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Fans can watch LaBeouf react to his old films in real-time via the digital arts website NewHive, and local NYC fans are invited to sit with LaBeouf at the Angelika free of charge.

Here’s a complete schedule of LaBeouf’s #AllMyMovies film schedule, thanks to poet and novelist Nick Orsini:

head over to the angelika to watch shia watch your favorite #shialabeouf movie pic.twitter.com/pdVG0gACV2

— Nick Orsini (@NickOrsini) November 10, 2015

LaBeouf, whose career was launched thanks to the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, is well-known to fans for his starring lead in the Transformers franchise and supporting roles in films like I, Robot, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Lawless. In early 2015, LaBeouf made headlines again after performing with young dancer Maddie Ziegler in the hit music video for Sia’s “Elastic Heart.” Fans questioned the pedophilia-like overtones in the music video, but ultimately the clip helped bump Sia’s YouTube channel to the #1 spot on the top 50 most-viewed channels for the week of January 16.

You can catch LaBeouf’s live stream through November 12 at 6:53 PM EST on newhive.com/allmymovies or in the player below.

Filed under: Articles, Industry, News by Bree Brouwer
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For all its upcoming feature films, its deals with Hollywood notables, and its enticing new programs, the most important Amazon Studios original is still Transparent, which cemented the online retailer’s place in the streaming video world by earning critical acclaim and a solid awards haul. On December 11th, Transparent will return, and in a new teaser, viewers receive their first look at the dramedy’s second season.

The teaser features Transparent’s central family, led by transgender patriarch Maura (Jeffrey Tambor), as it poses for a wedding photo. We don’t know whose wedding it is, but the clip features plenty of familial squabbles, so Transparent fans can be assured the Pfeffermans are as dysfunctional as ever.

Transparent’s tone may not change much, but creator Jill Soloway has plenty of new wrinkles in store for season two. Anjelica Huston and Cherry Jones will join the cast, and the interpersonal relationships of the show’s characters will become even more entangled. Here’s what Soloway had to say about the new batch of episodes:

“Season two is wild! Now that the bubble wrap is off, it’s time for the whole family to transition. Our Pfeffermans realize they must give up their disguises, unspoken arrangements and secrets. By exploring their shared history and legacy, they come to understand that you can’t go forward without knowing where you come from. Ultimately, everyone will open their hearts, advertise their desires, and test those notoriously wobbly boundaries as each Pfefferman tries their hardest to come out — as themselves.”

Transparent’s second season was initially primed for a December 4th release, but Amazon decided to push it back a week, leading to its current release date. When viewers inevitably binge through the new episodes, they will be happy to hear more Transparent is on the way; the show has already been renewed for a third season.

Filed under: Amazon Studios, Articles, Featured, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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Netflix has made another big feature film acquisition, and this time, it is joining forces with one of Korea’s brightest filmmakers. Bong Joon-ho, whose post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer emerged as a surprise hit last year, will direct Okja, a movie that will be produced by Brad Pitt‘s Plan B Entertainment and financed by Netflix.

Okja, like Snowpiercer will feature a cast of both Korean and American actors. The protagonist will be a Korean girl who befriends a strange animal. Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Bill Nighy, Kelly Macdonald, and Tilda Swinton (who also showed up in Snowpiercer) are all slated to appear.

Netflix is making a sizable investment in Okja, which has a budget in the $50 million range. They are also giving Joon-ho creative freedom, which the director cited as one of the streaming video platform’s strongest selling points. “It really is a fantastic opportunity for me as a filmmaker,” he said. “For Okja, I needed a bigger budget than I had for Snowpiercer and also complete creative freedom. Netflix offered me the two conditions that are difficult to have in hand simultaneously.”

In return, Netflix gets another opportunity to cater to the Asian audiences it has recently coveted. Several of its other projects, including Marco Polo and a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, appeal to viewers in the Far East.

While no formal release date for Okja has been announced, it will begin filming late in 2016 and will arrive the following year, according to Deadline. As it did with Beasts of No Nation, Netflix will likely distribute Okja online at the same time as the film’s theatrical release.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Netflix, News by Sam Gutelle
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Are you a creator working on an education-oriented online video project? The Vlogbrothers want to hear from you. The YouTube duo of brothers Hank and John Green have opened up their Vlogbrothers Sponsorship program to new applicants around the globe who want to enlighten the world.

The Vlogbrothers Sponsorship program is an ingenious initiative that’s funded by the Greens, YouTube, and viewers like you. Until recently, Hank and John had no ads running on their Vlogbrothers YouTube channel (presumably because the Greens gain a good chunk of revenue from Patreon, their other YouTube channels, merchandise, and other enterprises). But then Hank asked the Greens’ online community (aka Nerdfighteria) if the YouTube star and his brother should enable pre-roll ads, and if so, where the money from the ad revenue should go. The community decided the Vlogbrothers should give half of their YouTube channel’s pre-roll ad revenue to The Foundation to Decrease World Suck (the organization that helped the Greens raise $1.2 million in 2014 for the Project For Awesome fundraising campaign). Nerdfighteria decided the other half of the revenue should fund the Vlogbrothers’ Sponsorship program.

(In essence, that means the Vlogbrothers don’t take home any cash from their channel, and are just trying to make the world a better place, which is another reason to love them if you don’t already.)

John Green’s assistant then recently posted a tweet to his account on October 30, 2015 about the sponsorship opportunity with a link to an online application. (FYI, his assistant posted the tweet because Green’s on a bit of a Twitter hiatus while he’s getting some writing done.) The Vlogbrothers are accepting applications from anyone around the world who’s working on an “an online educational/informational/super awesome project.” Because of the high volume of applications received, the YouTube brothers noted they won’t provide feedback on submissions, but will keep all applications indefinitely. The lucky creators selected into the sponsorship program will have to provide financial and tax forms like a W-9 (or an equivalent form, in the case of a non-U.S. resident) in order to move forward with the sponsorship.

In a follow-up tweet, Green’s assistant gave examples of previous Vlogbrothers Sponsorship recipients, including the anti-violence/harassment non-profit Uplift and Kelly Kend, who created the Yeah Maybe, No documentary about consent and sexual violence from a male perspective. Another sponsorship recipient, Dianna Cowern, is known in the online video space for her Physics Girl YouTube channel. Cowern just joined the PBS Digital Studios network in August 2015.

If you’d like to apply to the Vlogbrothers’ sponsorship opportunity, visit this Google Docs form and fill in your information to be considered.

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore under Creative Commons license

Filed under: Articles, News, Vlogbrothers by Bree Brouwer
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E! is normally known for its linear television programming, but the cable network is expanding into online content. Starting November 15, 2015, E! will release eight new digital series across genres like entertainment, fashion, and lifestyle. Additionally, the pop culture and entertainment cable network will re-launch its E! News YouTube channel in December 2015.

According to a release, E!’s new series will help contribute to the growing success of the network’s digital platforms, which currently boast 35 million unique monthly visits (a 20% growth year-over-year). E!’s new slate of original digital content includes The Royal Hangover, a post-show livestream set for a November 15 release and based on the network’s hit TV series The Royals. E! will also debut its first-ever scripted comedy dubbed Hashtaggers, an eight-episode series about a dysfunctional group of celebrity ghost tweeters whose tweets generate scandalous consequences across the entertainment industry.

Here’s a complete list of all the new E! digital series:

Glam Squad (working title): Produced by Rec Room, Glam Squad takes a comedic look at what it means to be in the inner, INNER circle in Hollywood.

TV Scoop companion series (working title): E! Online’s TV Scoop team will cover the best, most popular buzz-worthy moments around television’s biggest shows in addition to providing a new fresh take on the conversation springing up in social media.

Ranked: Launching in December, Ranked is E! Online’s unique spin on the ‘Top 10 List’ countdown. This is the definitive list of all things in pop culture.  If there’s a debate in the zeitgeist, we’ll settle it.

Fashion Bloggers (working title): Produced by Rec Room, Fashion Bloggers follows emerging superstars in the fashion world that make their living as Instagram influencers, street style photographers, and Tumblr celebrities, carving out their place amongst the couture elite.

Three to Be: In this weekly digital series E!’s style experts will show viewers how it takes just three stylish pieces to be the celebrity you want to be.

Random Fandom: This series takes viewers deep into the world of loving someone or something so much there’s an actual name for it. This digital anthology documents the best, craziest, and most committed fan communities from entertainment’s past, present, and future.

All of E!’s new digital series will be available on the brand’s YouTube channel, which will re-launch in December and have more original content available than before. The eight new E! series will also be available via E! Online, the E! Online app, and popular social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The digital series will be formatted specifically for an optimal viewing experience for each platform’s audiences.

“With this new slate, we are developing and producing more original digital video content than ever before, and it has been exciting to collaborate with the creative community as we bring to life original programming that hits E!’s pop culture sweet spot,” said John Najarian, EVP and GM of E! News and Digital. “By modifying the content to reflect the unique characteristics of each platform, we are delivering these shows directly to viewers through the digital channel they prefer and reinforcing our position as a truly multi-platform brand for our young adult audience. Plus, E! is a uniquely nimble on-air network with topical programming that allows us the opportunity to extend our digital franchises to our TV audience in a variety of ways.”

E! is already familiar with the power behind online video and its influencers in ways both good and bad. In August 2014, the cable network announced it would launch a linear talk show with host and YouTube star Grace Helbig, The Grace Helbig Show debuted on April 3, 2015. But since then, E! has throw some questionable shade at Helbig and other YouTube stars. The cable network posted an article questioning the celebrity status of stars like PewDiePie, Joey Graceffa, and other honorees of the 2015 Teen Choice Awards. The cable network also posted a tweet that seemed to insult Helbig’s talk show, which caused YouTube superstars like Connor Franta and Hank Green to call out E! on its lack of support and understanding of the online video world.

You can catch all the new E! digital series on the cable network’s dedicated YouTube channel.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News by Bree Brouwer
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Facebook’s Q3 2015 earnings report contained big news about the company’s video operation: It has now surpassed eight billion video views per day, doubling the four billion daily views it counted in April. The news of Facebook’s growth has turned heads within the online video industry, but it has also reignited an ongoing debate about the social media giant’s questionable practices. In a new video, educational YouTube channel Kurzgesagt decried the rampant “freebooting” that allows Facebook to rack up as many views as it does.

“Freebooting,” for the uninitiated, occurs when Facebook users copy videos and re-upload them without receiving permission from the original video owner. On YouTube, the speed and reach of the Content ID system prevents freebooters from seeing much success. Facebook, however, has no such system in place, and since the social media site promotes its own video player over YouTube’s, freebooters are making enormous ad revenue with videos swiped from other creators.

For Kurzgesagt, this practice is blatant thievery. “A whole group of people have built their online presence around stealing other people’s work,” says the channel’s narrator, Steve Taylor, in the new video. Most of Kurzgesagt’s points mirror those of Hank Green, who took Facebook to task in an August 2015 blog post, but the German company also extends the conversation by explaining how hard it is for creators to get freebooted videos removed and instructing viewers on the best steps they can take to combat the issue.

Freebooting is not a new issue–Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos brought it up in June, for example–but Kurzgesagt’s ire seems to revolve around the time it is taking Facebook to fight its pirates. While the social media site is testing solutions to its freebooting problem, Taylor notes these solutions are “mainly being tested with big media companies…as creators, we don’t like we’re being asked or taken into consideration by the giant that is Facebook.”

While Facebook takes its sweet time to sort out its freebooters, ad revenue continues to land in the wrong hands. Kurzgesagt’s video notes how, when Facebook finally accepts a copyright claim, most of a freebooted video’s views have already been cashed in. “Facebook announced they want to change,” says Taylor, “but it’s hard to take them seriously when it still takes days for a stolen viral video to be taken down, and Facebook does not share the profits made from it.”

While Facebook, media companies, and creators work toward a resolution, there are a few things Kurzgesagt says us viewers can do: Share original YouTube links on Facebook, notify content creators when we find freebooted versions their videos, and support creators on Patreon when possible. Also, when Facebook touts a big growth in its daily views, take that number with about eight million grains of salt.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Facebook, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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