Nash Grier is working to create content way longer than the popular six-second Vines that made him famous. The 17-year-old Vine star (who boasts over 12.2 million followers on that platform alone) and social media force of nature will produce a currently-untitled autobiographical documentary, as well as a corresponding behind-the-scenes television series about the documentary’s production.

Grier’s upcoming documentary project will show how the 17-year-old rose to social media fame in only a few years’ time. The companion TV series will show how his life changes during the documentary’s production. The Hollywood Reporter notes the entertainment personality will simultaneously film both projects. Grier, who’s repped by both WME and 26 MGMT, will produce the documentary and TV series through his NSHT LLC production company alongside the original content branch of the WME-owned agency IMG.

Grier has quite a lot on his schedule as of late. In addition to these new productions, he’s set to make his acting debut in the upcoming Fullscreen film The Outfield, scheduled for digital release on iTunes on November 10, 2015. Grier also just teamed up with his brother and fellow Vine star Hayes to become ambassadors for healthy-eating organization FNV and launch a t-shirt design contest to help benefit the brand. Finally, the social media superstar is working as the creative director for DigiTour Media, where he’ll help develop original series for distribution on the company’s various channels.

Grier has started production on his autobiographical documentary and the behind-the-scenes television series, which will wrap some time in the spring of 2016.

Filed under: Articles, Celebrity, News by Bree Brouwer
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VidCon 2015 wrapped up only a few short months ago in late July, but the event’s leadership team is already hard at work planning next year’s event for online video creators, industry stakeholders, and a number of attendees that will surely be greater than the 21,000 seen at its latest iteration. As such, VidCon has just announced the dates for its 7th annual conference in Anaheim, California, and outlined new events and stages, including a dedicated gaming content programming schedule.

The 7th annual VidCon will take place from June 23-25, 2016 at the event’s usual location, the Anaheim Convention Center. The online video conference will host separate tracks (like it did in 2015) to better serve the different types of attendees. The Industry Track, aimed at professionals in the business of online video, will boast sessions composed of keynotes and fireside chats. The Creator Track will help creative talent learn how to grow their channels and make better content, while the Community Track will provide fans with engaging experiences such as live concerts, Q&A sessions, meet-and-greets, and games.

In addition to the regularly-scheduled programming, VidCon 2016 will host new content and stages found at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel adjacent to the convention center. One of these new stages will be dedicated to gaming content and will highlight what a press release calls “the scale and influence of online video gamers.” Open to all attendees, the gaming content will include panels, booths, and discussions with top YouTube and digital video gamers, as well as live gameplays and tournaments.

“VidCon’s goal has always been to support and celebrate online video in all its forms,” said Hank Green, co­founder and CEO of VidCon, in a release. “We’re excited to further acknowledge the power of the gaming community by expanding into the Marriott and reserving a huge chunk of the convention center to showcase those creators.”

Tickets for VidCon 2016 are now on sale on the event’s website. If you buy now, you’ll get a discounted ticket rate.

Filed under: Articles, News, VidCon by Bree Brouwer
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A travel vlogger has completed his journey from the Arctic Circle to the world’s southernmost city, and along the way, he didn’t spend a cent–at least not in the physical sense. Steve Booker teamed up with PayPal for a worldwide journey, and during his travels, he was required to manage all his expenses through the online payment service.

Booker, who posts videos of his daily life and his travels on his YouTube channel, began his most recent journey on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located within the Arctic Circle. From there, he slowly made his way south, hitting cities like Moscow, Barcelona, and Cape Town on the route to Ushuaia, an Argentine locale found at the tip of Tierra del Fuego. For all the activities on his trip–he visited a Back to the Future installation, rented a bike, and took a gyrocopter ride, to name a few–he paid with PayPal, foregoing cash entirely.

Booker will discuss his trip in a video he will post to his primary YouTube channel, but in the meantime, he has released eight vlogs about the adventure, each one chronicling a different step of his journey. Here’s the first one, filmed from London’s Gatwick Airport:

The #PoleToPole campaign is a brilliant idea from PayPal’s point-of-view. If Booker can travel the entire world without spending any physical cash, the campaign implies, surely you can use online payments within your daily routines. I’m willing to bet there were some hiccups (can you imagine explaining the concept of digital money transfers to someone who doesn’t speak much English?) but by the time he reached his final destination, Booker seemed to be in great spirits.

Filed under: Articles, Branded Entertainment, Featured, News, Steve Booker by Sam Gutelle
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Felix Kjellberg has a new accolade to add to his already-impressive portfolio. The 24-year-old Swedish YouTube star known as PewDiePie (aka the YouTuber who holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for most subscribers of all time at over 40 million) is a #1 New York Times best-selling author for his work This Book Loves You.

Kjellberg, whose channel was the first in the world to hit ten billion all-time video views, initially announced This Book Loves You back in June 2015. Published by Penguin House imprint Razorbill, the illustrated book was originally described in a release as a piece of “indispensable advice and inspirational quotes.” Thanks to PewDiePie’s hordes of worldwide fans, it’s little surprise This Book Loves You helped the YouTube gamer reach #1 on the NYT best sellers list.

But part of the book’s sales success and Kjellberg’s recent placement in the pantheon of YouTube-stars-turned-best-selling-authors is owed to the This Book Loves You book tour and its accompanying fanfare. The Swedish gamer started his tour across the pond in London, England on October 18, 2015, before stopping in Leeds, Manchester, New York, and Los Angeles. Kjellberg concluded the This Book Loves You tour on November 1 in San Francisco, California.

Fans around the world lined up to meet the YouTube celebrity and have him sign their copies of his book. Business Insider interviewed some of Kjellberg’s New York City fans as they waited in a line that wrapped around the corner block and into a nearby park:

Kjellberg is not the only YouTube celebrity to reach top spots on the New York Times bestselling charts. In 2014, Grace Helbig’s Grace’s Guide hit #1 on the NYT’s “Best Sellers Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous” list. More recently, Connor Franta’s memoir reached the #8 spot on the Print Paperback Best Sellers listing, beating out the book penned by fellow YouTube star Shane Dawson.

You can purchase Kjellberg’s book This Book Loves You through various retailers listed on the book’s official website.

Filed under: Articles, News, PewDiePie by Bree Brouwer
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A social media star best known for her half-a-million-strong Instagram following has made big headlines with a deeply honest admission. Essena O’Neill, an 18-year-old Australian who also created videos on her YouTube channel, tearfully announced her decision to step away from a social media presence she finds suffocating. In the process, she is raising big questions about nature of our digital interactions with the content creators we admire.

The heart of O’Neill’s social presence was her Instagram page, where she posted a lot of photos of herself in all orders of attractive poses. Her popularity led her to a modeling career with an Australian agency. In a video on her YouTube channel, however, she reveals all the apparent brilliance of her Instagram posts to be fool’s gold. “Everything I was doing was edited and contrived,” she says, “everything I did was for views, likes, and followers.”

While she appeared to live a perfect life filled with glamorous white dresses and idyllic beachside picnics, O’Neill harbored feelings of depression and sadness related to a life she found to be empty. She has retroactively edited her Instagram captions to reflect how she actually felt on the days her photos were taken. “The only thing that made me feel good that day was this photo,” she said of a particular picture. “How deeply depressing. Having a toned body is not all we as human beings are capable of.”

How can we, as social media content creators and members of the media, properly respond to O’Neill? She’s not the first person to shine light on the damage caused by social media and the inherent distance it creates between creators and consumers, but her case is particularly hard to ignore. It’s a cry for us to consider the lives behind the cameras, even as we glorify the ones in front of them. What O’Neill has said feels very real, and there are undoubtedly many other content creators who share her feelings, but are not courageous enough to express themselves as she has.

One thing we can do is mark O’Neill as a brave, thoughtful person whose voice deserves to be heard. Luckily, she has given us an avenue to do just that–she has launched a blog called Let’s Be Game Changers, where she hopes to, in her own words, “do something, anything, something radical, something a little different. I want to use my imagination, my individual mind, my unique take on this world. I want to research more into stuff that truly matters. Read more, listen more, ask more.”

Filed under: Channels by Sam Gutelle
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Nash and Hayes Grier have a new way to encourage people to eat healthier. The two brothers, who both rose to digital fame thanks to their Vine videos, announced at Stream Con NYC they’ve become ambassadors for FNV, an organization which promotes eating more fruits and vegetables.

Founded in 2013, the FNV brand is spearheaded by the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of U.S. children and young adults. PHA works with the private sector, celebrity ambassadors, and PHA Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama (who’s revealed her love of fruits and vegetables in past digital initiatives) to spread their healthy-eating message. Nash and Hayes Grier, who collectively boast 16.1 million followers across both their Vine accounts, join other #TeamFNV ambassadors and celebrity figures such as Kristen Bell (Frozen), Jessica Alba (Sin City), musician Nick Jonas, and San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

As part of their new partnership with FNV, the Grier brothers have launched the Team Grier FNV Design Contest. Starting November 2, fans can submit FNV-themed t-shirt ideas to TeamGrierFNV.com. When the contest ends on November 13, the Grier brothers will each choose a fan’s design and turn both into physical t-shirts. The digital media stars will also reward the two lucky winners with a Twitter follow and a personalized video from either Nash or Hayes. The selected shirts will be sold exclusively online at RevealProject.com throughout the rest of 2015, and all proceeds will go to PHA.

“We are really excited to team up with FNV,” Nash said in a release. “Fruits and veggies are delicious, and we all should be eating more of them. So it’s an easy thing to get behind.”

“I’m happy to be involved with Team FNV to promote fruits and veggies,” added Hayes. “I eat as many as I can – they fuel me throughout the day and help keep me performing at my best.”

“Brands sponsor athletes and celebrities because they can help them sell a product,” explained PHA Chief Marketing Officer Drew Nannis. “FNV uses all that marketing power for something we all actually need: more fruits and veggies. Hayes and Nash get that, and we’re excited they’ve joined more than 50 other celebrities on Team FNV.”

In addition to their work with FNV, Nash and Hayes Grier have other projects keeping them busy. Nash is working with DigiTour Media as the event company’s creative director. The Vine star is also making his acting debut in Fullscreen’s upcoming film The Outfield. As for Hayes, the younger Grier just signed with CAA and joined the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars.

You can learn more about FNV by visiting the brand’s website. T-shirt designs for the Team Grier FNV Design Contest can be submitted at teamgrierfnv.com.

Filed under: Articles, Celebrity, Channels, News by Bree Brouwer
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After going viral on YouTube, interviewing the President, and appearing on the Nickelodeon TV show Game Shakers, GloZell Green has a new plan. She will launch a digital animation channel with an educational bent.

GloZell discussed her new channel during an interview with People Magazine at Stream Con NYC. While rocking a green-rimmed wheelchair she is using to nurse a broken foot, she explained her plan to voice a variety of animated characters. The channel will have a musical component, which will make use of GloZell’s own education; she has a degree in musical theater from the University of Florida.

Here’s the announcement video, which also includes news of GloZell’s favorite emoji:

No word yet on when exactly the new channel will launch, but GloZell said it will arrive sometime next year. In the meantime, viewers can check out her primary channel, where she has amassed nearly four million subscribers and more than 670 million views.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, GloZell, News by Sam Gutelle
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Less than a week after YouTube officially launched a $9.99-per-month premium service called YouTube Red, a similarly-priced platform has begun its own trek into the world of original video programming. Tidal, the year-old streaming service owned by rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, has released its first original series, a stand-up comedy program called No Small Talk.

No Small Talk, which will premiere its first five episodes on November 3rd, will be hosted by DJ Cipha Sounds, who will play the emcee role across a series of stand-up routines from various comedians. The series’ trailer can be found on the Tidal homepage, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, the first episode will be posted there as well, as a way to entice potential viewers to pay for the $9.99 monthly subscription they’ll need to watch the whole series.

While No Small Talk will be Tidal’s first original series, it will soon be joined by the second season of Money & Violence, a web series that initially premiered on YouTube. The new episodes will arrive on Tidal in January.

Tidal has always featured an assortment of music videos, so a foray into original content makes sense. The only question is whether Tidal’s originals will catch on, given the lingering questions that have dogged the platform since its launch and its high-profile acquisition by its current owner. Tidal certainly has a nice base on which to build its video library (it has more than half a million subscribers), but with quality content, it has the potential to further build that base.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Tidal by Sam Gutelle
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With so much new content arriving each minute on YouTube, how can creators who are just getting started hope to make a mark? What can they do to stand out in an industry already saturated with thousands of full-time video producers? These questions were central topics of discussion during a Sunday panel at Stream Con NYC, where creators Aidan Alexander and Jeffrey Chang (aka JeffreyFever) gave tips to YouTube aspirants.

Alexander and Chang are both “new to YouTube” in their own ways. Alexander, a 15-year-old actor, has posted regularly on YouTube for the past 18 months and has gained more than 170,000 subscribers. Chang’s channel, on the other hand, is more than four years old, but Chang has only maintained a regular schedule of vlogs and sketches within the past year-and-a-half. Like Alexander, he has seen some success, with more than 200,000 subscribers.

By the time Alexander and Chang began to build their channels, YouTube was already a busy community, seemingly dominated by its most popular and best established personalities. Those “OG YouTubers,” as Chang called them, served as a study guide. “It takes a lot of work,” he said. Each aspiring creator must “understand the game and educate yourself…focus on the craft, but at the same time, understand YouTube.”

On a similar note, Alexander urged young creators to participate within the communities of the creators they admire. He believes “actively engaging with other fans” can bring attention to creators who may not be able to land collaborations with more popular peers.

It’s not enough, however, to simply learn from other videos. According to Alexander and Chang, YouTube newcomers must churn out content, even if the results are poor. “Your first video is probably not going to blow up,” said Alexander. “You need to post that video, and even if it completely flops, you need to post another one, and another one, because eventually you’ll post one that hits.” He also recommended a rigid posting schedule and noted Sunday morning as his ideal time to share a new video.

Chang took that philosophy one step further: He believes the odds of a viewer subscribing to a channel with only a few videos are low. Instead, he stressed the importance of patience, of building up a library with dozens of videos, and of waiting for the right moment to “blow up.” A bigger library, even if its individual videos have not garnered much attention, is important. It allows viewers to “have fun throughout the whole evening, checking out your channel,” he said.

Alexander and Chang have managed to succeed online, even during a time when there are so many people vying for a piece of the pie. The future, however, will only bring more changes, so Alexander urged new YouTubers to get started right away. “If you’re planning on starting your channel,” he said, “I would do it now.”

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Stream Con NYC by Sam Gutelle
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Instagram is hugely popular for its image-sharing capabilities (to the tune of more than 80,000,000 photos shared globally each and every day), but now the Facebook-owned app has a new feature to highlight video content. Instagram, which debuted 15-second videos back in June 2013, launched a curated video channel on October 31, 2015. And its first subject matter was appropo for the time of year.

Instagram’s first ever featured video channel consisted of Halloween clips hand-selected by a team at Facebook and videos received by way of direct submissions from users’ posts using the hashtag #IGHalloween. Instagram users could access the video channel from the “Explore” section of the app beginning on the afternoon of October 31. In this way, Instagram’s new video channel resembles the curated Live Stories section on short-term messaging app Snapchat, or even Twitter’s new Moments feature which shows users the top trending stories at a glance.

The new dedicated video channel on Instagram seems to be operating on a pop-up basis. The channel isn’t available on the app’s “Explore” section as of this writing, but Wired reports Instagram will look at future events (e.g. Thanksgiving, World Series, Election Day) and stories around which it can curate relative and entertaining content. Instagram hasn’t yet opened up the video channels to advertisers. However, that could change if the app’s users warm up to the new content feature, especially considering the platform just introduced 30-second ads for marketers.

Instagram currently boasts over 400 million active monthly users.

Filed under: Articles, Instagram, News by Bree Brouwer
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Since taking over her current position as the CEO of YouTube in February 2014, Susan Wojcicki has taken outspoken stances on a number of sociopolitical issues. Her support of federally-mandated paid maternity leave for all new mothers in the US has made headlines.

One of the other topics she discusses vociferously is the presence of women in the tech industry, and by promoting a new documentary, she is looking to inspire women to get coding. Until November 5th, YouTube has made Codegirl–a documentary about female coders–available for free.

Codegirl is directed by Lesley Chilcott, who is best known for teaming with Davis Guggenheim on award-winning documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting For Superman, and It Might Get Loud. This time, Chilcott focuses on an international coding competition from Technovation, through which 5,000 girls were given an opportunity to design a new app and win $10,000. Codegirl follows a handful of the contestants as they progress through the competition.

By distributing Codegirl, YouTube (and, by extension, Google) is continuing its crusade in support of women in tech. Its Made with Code initiative is intended to support women who are passionate about programming and technology. “Our goal is to inspire as many students as possible during this special five-day free viewing period before it hits theaters,” wrote Wojcicki in a blog post introducing Codegirl. “With your help, we’ll be able to inspire more girls around the world to pursue their passions in tech.” If you’re on board with Wojcicki’s mission, you can check out Codegirl on its official YouTube channel.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
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Fullscreen has a new executive to head up marketing efforts. The YouTube multi-channel network has hired Jason Klarman as the brand’s first-ever Chief Marketing Officer.

Klarman, who will report to Fullscreen founder and CEO George Strompolos, will be responsible for the network’s overall marketing strategies and operations, helming marketing for areas such as brand development, live events, and merchandising. The new Fullscreen CMO brings plenty of marketing and leadership experience to the new media company thanks to his time as president of  marketing consulting firm Hashtag Media Ideas. Klarman was also previously worked as president of Oxygen Media, where he grew the brand’s female-centric audience by more than 50%. Prior to Oxygen, Klarman held various vice president roles at Bravo Media, TRIO, and Fox News.

“Jason has a track record of connecting brands with passionate audiences who push the culture forward,” said Strompolos in a release. “He’s defined brands at the forefront of the media business, and as Fullscreen evolves into a consumer-facing media company, there’s no one more qualified at the helm.”

“Fullscreen is transforming the way content is created, consumed, and monetized,” added Klarman. “I couldn’t be more excited to join the team as it navigates this incredibly exciting, transformative time in the media business.”

Klarman joins Fullscreen as the brand works to expand its services and offerings to audiences around the world. In mid-September 2015, the network announced its plans to release its own subscription video service at some point in the future, where it will house both creator content as well as original content (such as the upcoming film The Outfield). Fullscreen also recently opened up a creator program alongside the CBC to help create new opportunities for Canadian video creators.

Fullscreen currently claims 5 billion video views per month and reaches more than 600 million total YouTube subscribers across all talent channels.

Filed under: Articles, Fullscreen, News by Bree Brouwer
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