In launching its brand-new YouTube Red service, YouTube made all its content partners agree to make their videos available to paid subscribers. For most channels, this has not been an issue; YouTube Red, which costs $9.99 per month, serves as a new revenue stream for creators, and economically speaking, its gains should outstrip any lost ad revenue.
While most content partners have agreed to YouTube’s terms, sports blog Deadspin noticed one significant holdout–at least for now. Thanks to rights issues and other related legal matters, most of the channels within ESPN’s YouTube network have been turned private.
ESPN is owned by Disney, but the rest of the Mouse House’s properties are on board with YouTube Red. It is only ESPN, which must abide by a number of contracts with sports leagues and distribution partners, that is not included in the deal. As a result, just two ESPN YouTube channels–those of the X-Games and Nacion ESPN–are active. The rest, including the YouTube homes of Grantland, First Take, and the NBA on ESPN, are dark. In total, at least 11 channels are affected by the change.
We’re not expecting many other holdouts to go dark alongside ESPN. Three months before the launch of Red, YouTube said it had 90% of its creative community signed on with the new service. As Red launched, YouTube content boss Robert Kyncl upped that percentage to 99% (with watch time serving as his metric of choice).
At the same time, its not clear when ESPN’s channels will rejoin YouTube. We reached out to a YouTube spokesperson, who confirmed that ESPN videos are not part of the Disney/YouTube deal because of rights issues.
While they may not be available on YouTube, ESPN videos can still be found on the Worldwide Leader in Sports’ own websites. Grantland, for example, has directed potential viewers here.
Despite bringing in lower-than-expected returns in the third quarter of 2015, Netflix still has plenty of intriguing projects on the horizon, including several new original series. The next series to make its debut will be Master of None, a comedy starring Aziz Ansari that will premiere on November 6th.
Master of None stars Ansari as Dev, a semi-autobiographical romantic who lives in New York City. In the show’s recently released trailer, we can get a feel for the sort of topics Dev and his friends will explore. The central theme is love, which is a favorite topic of Ansari’s; the stand-up comic and former Parks and Recreation cast member recently authored a book called Modern Romance, in which he opines on the nature of dating in the 21st century.
Other themes discussed in the trailer include race–with particular attention paid to Dev’s (and Ansari’s) South Asian ancestry–and food, which is well known as one of Ansari’s biggest passions.
Master of None continues a longstanding relationship between Ansari and Netflix. The comic previously released two enjoyable stand-up specials exclusively on the streaming video platform. His series will be a much bigger commitment, but don’t expect the quality to sag; Ansari is a seasoned performer, and the trailer for Master of None includes plenty of laughs.
Television advertising has received a blow from the digital industry. According to AOL’s newest State of the Video Industry report for 2015, ad buyers are shifting about 10% of their overall television advertising budgets to digital platforms.
AOL surveyed about 300 agencies, brands, and publishers across the U.S., nine out of ten of which took money away from TV budgets to afford more digital advertising opportunities. Advertisers specifically saw promise in mobile video advertising, which saw an 18% increase in spending since 2014. Overall, AOL noted digital video ad spend has continued to grow over the last six years. 2015 is boasting a 42% increase over 2014’s figures to hit a total $7.46 billion projected spend. That figure should increase to a whopping $13 billion by 2019.
As part of this increased focus on digital advertising, brands and agencies are starting to put emphasis on branded content initiatives. Almost half (46%) of all the companies AOL surveyed for State of the Video Industry said they have created some kind of branded content. Plus, more than half of surveyed brands in the report claimed they would increase their branded content video budgets approximately 10% within the next year.
“Brands and agencies are looking to digital to address the need for device-agnostic video consumption, as well as explore alternatives to the cost of TV advertising, which has increased 29% since 2012,” AOL wrote in its report.
Despite these impressive stats for digital video advertising, brands did note a few problems with investing in the medium. In addition to concerns about access to premium quality content, brands and agencies are most concerned with the ability to properly measure their digital video advertising efforts. To help assuage marketers’ fears, ComScore recently released its cross-platform analytics tool Xmedia, and Nielsen and Adobe are working on technology of their own which will allow brands to measure digital audiences.
You can download AOL’s 2015 State of the Video Industry report here.
For the third year in a row, prominent members of the online video community are headed to Toronto to meet up with their fans and share some of their work. The Canadian metropolis will once again play host to the Buffer Festival, an online video gathering meant to resemble a traditional film festival.
Buffer Festival, which was launched in 2013 by vlogger Corey Vidal, works a little differently most of the other events on the online video calendar. Its schedule is filled with 90-minute screenings, each one representing a different genre on YouTube. At a Saturday afternoon Science and Education screening, for example, relevant creators like Jake Roper of Vsauce3 and Matthew Santoro will present topical videos from around the Internet.
As Vidal told the Toronto Sun, this “film festival” feel is all part of the plan. “We want to be taking YouTube really seriously,” he said. “It’s not a fan convention, it’s not a conference and it’s not like Fan Expo. It’s more like [the Toronto International Film Festival].”
Of course, just because Buffer Festival doesn’t operate like VidCon or Playlist Live doesn’t mean it won’t feature some of the same events. Each screening will be preceded by meetups between YouTube creators and their fans, and a “Creator Day” on Friday, October 23rd will give aspiring YouTubers a chance to learn from the site’s top performers.
In Casual, Watkins and Dewey play Valerie and Alex, a pair of siblings who must team up to raise Valerie’s child after she files for divorce from her husband. Upon its release, the show’s ten-episode first season was greeted with mostly positive reviews, with its nuanced characters drawing particular praise. New episodes are still rolling out each week on Hulu, but the streaming platform has already decided to green-light a new batch of them.
“Casual really struck a chord,” said Craig Erwich, SVP and Head of Content at Hulu, in a press release. “We couldn’t be prouder of the quality, and we’re thrilled to see it be recognized for the success that it is.”
Even before its premiere, Casual was a strong bet to receive a second season. After all, Reitman is one of Hulu’s most high-profile collaborators to date, and Casual is one of the original series the streaming platform promoted with a recent ad campaign. The show’s quality makes the decision even easier, and Casual figures to become a centerpiece of Hulu’s expanding original programming library, where it will soon be joined by star-powered shows like 11/22/63 and The Way.
The premiere date for season two of Casual has not yet been announced.
Instagram has a new application that will give users another method by which to create incredibly short-form videos. The photo-sharing app owned by Facebook has introduced a stand-alone platform dubbed Boomerang, which allows users to create one-second looping clips.
In a company blog post, Instagram wrote the new Boomerang app lets users “turn everyday moments into something fun and unexpected.” Those things fun and unexpected manifest themselves after Boomerang users press one button, which prompts the application to take ten rapid photos in quick succession and then lace them together into a one-second video. Sounds a lot like an animated GIF, right? Well, kinda, but not really. See the difference between Boomerang one-second clips and their progenitor is that GIFs play on an endless loop, while Boomerang videos play forward and then backward in a never-ending cycle. It’s like the there-and-back-again motion of the classic Australian weapon. (And now you see how they came up with the name!)
Boomerang is just one of the most recent stand-alone apps Instagram has released in the last few months. Hyperlapse is available for iOS users and helps them create high-quality time-lapse videos. There’s also Layout, which makes it easier for both iOS and Android users to put together a collage of photos.
Halloween is fast approaching, and Eli Roth–the actor and filmmaker known his work on gory films like Hostel–is looking to celebrate in style. Roth’s CryptTV platform has launched #15SecondScare contest, which will award a $10,000 prize to the creator who posts the scariest 15-second clip on Instagram.
The rules are simple: Film a horror video that runs for 15 seconds or less, upload it to Instagram, and tag it with #15SecondScare and @CryptTV. From there, it will be submitted before the contest’s panel of judges, and they’re a powerful bunch. Roth’s friend and collaborator Quentin Tarantino will deliver his input, as will Key and Peele’s Jordan Peele, musical artist Deadmau5, actress Vanessa Hudgens, Enter the Void director Gaspar Noé, noted horror producer Jason Blum, and, of course, Roth himself. The best short of the bunch will win a development deal with CryptTV, which Roth launched in 2014 as a video-sharing service for scare junkies.
A few early submissions have already started rolling in. If you’d like to join the fun, you have a few days to devise your short; the winner will be announced on Halloween. A full list of contest rules can be found from the CryptTV website.
Hayes Grier is now working with a talent agency to help him navigate his career. The 15-year-old burgeoning entertainment talent and brother of fellow social media superstar Nash Grier (both of whom rose to prominence on Vine) has signed with entertainment and sports talent firm Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
Grier, who currently boasts over 4.1 million followers on Vine, will get representation in all areas under his CAA deal. The agency will work to create various business opportunities for Grier in areas like film, television, digital distribution, publishing, endorsements, and personal appearances. The teen Vine personality is currently a part of AwesomenessTV’s partner network, and is managed by 26 Entertainment.
Like his brother Nash (who’s set to appear in Fullscreen’s newest film The Outfield), the younger Grier has expanded his reach outside of Vine’s platform. The 15-year-old is one of the participating dancers on season 21 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and holds the title of youngest-ever male contestant on the show. Grier has also the co-founder of The Challenged App, an iOS mobile app which lets brands or individuals start socially-minded challenges and compete to win prizes and benefit charities.
Grier claims more than 12 million followers across all his social accounts.
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.
Some people obtain YouTube success by creating videos that inspire dramatic emotional reactions among viewers. For Jinx, however, the secret sauce is the reactions themselves. Jinx is one of the most prominent figures within the YouTube subgenre of “reaction videos.” He reacts to funny compilations, Vines, viral videos, and anything else that catches his attention. It’s a career that’s working well for him: Jinx, who is partnered with BroadbandTV, now has more than one million subscribers. Here’s our chat with him;
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you have to say to your fans?
Jinx: Having one million subscribers honestly feels absolutely amazing, however the overall feeling is motivation. Motivation to make it to places and reach goals I have only dreamed of. To all my fans, I would like to say thank you, your support is greatly appreciated.
TF: How did you get into the “reaction” game? Were there other, similar “reactors” who inspired you?
J: I started doing reactions simply to get my opinion across onEpic Rap Battles of History. I was tired of arguing in the comments so I decided to react to the videos, saying who I thought won and why. After a while I had gained a small following and they were all asking me to react to other things and because they were supporting me, I felt I had to give them what they asked for, thus the reactions to everything else began! The REACT channel was the only reaction channel I knew of when I first started but I really just wanted to give my opinion on Epic Rap Battles. It was never my intention to become a reaction channel.
TF: Where do you find the videos you react to?
J: The majority of videos that I react to I find on YouTube but occasionally I receive videos from fans on Facebook and Twitter.
TF: What makes for a good reaction?
J: Anything that is extremely entertaining or engaging. Also anything that I can give a good rant on or provide advice to others. Some videos are not that good, and you won’t get a great reaction out of me if it’s not. I like to keep my reactions genuine, so if it’s not very entertaining, I won’t act like it is.
TF: Do you think you have to “act out” in order to produce worthwhile reactions, or do you think the Jinx in your videos matches your real-life personality?
J: I feel like some videos do need a good “act-out” however I’m not the reaction channel you want to watch if you’re looking for someone to fake a reaction. There have been numerous videos where I’ve sat nearly completely quiet simply because they weren’t entertaining, and with those videos, I state clearly at the end that I didn’t enjoy them. I just like to keep it honest, so the Jinx in my videos is certainly my actual personality.
TF: You’re known for “try not to laugh” videos. What’s the funniest video you’ve ever watched?
J: The funniest video I’ve ever watched? Even I can’t answer that one! I will say a few honorable mentions would be the “Deez Nuts Vines“, “Racist Mario“, “Dope Island Vines” and “Dumbest Vines Ever” to name a few.
TF: I noticed you just released a short film on your secondary channel. What was the creative process behind that?
J: The Heist was inspired by GTA 5 Heist which I thought we could replicate but on a smaller scale. Instead of a bank, it could be a house. We then added some comedy from the movie Friday and a viral video. We included a short thrilling scene inspired from the movie Belly (didn’t do it as well!) but we were satisfied. Finally, we tied it all together with some Jinx Flavor!
TF: If you weren’t reacting to videos, what would you be doing?
J: If I was not reacting to videos on YouTube, I would be doing everything I’m currently doing on my second channel (music, short films, top 10s, talk show, vlogs, gaming). I just feel like I was a born entertainer. There have been so many times in my life where I stopped trying to act, rap, direct or entertain in general, but every time I did, I ended up coming back just as fast and just as motivated to make it.
TF: What’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
J: I feel that I do a lot of fun stuff on my second channel. I noticed early that a lot of the people that enjoy my reactions don’t really want to see anything else I’m doing which is why I made a second channel for people that are interested in what I can do, people that will support my dreams & goals.
For the reaction channel, we have a fun new thing we’ve started called “Jinx Change The Game” (#JCTG). Here, I react to videos from smaller channels (doesn’t matter how small) and help expose them to a larger audience, giving them a chance to get a jumpstart on YouTube. I’m basically acting like a promo channel. I’ll do what I can to help fellow YouTubers and fans because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t even be doing this interview right now. I’d still be that guy searching for an audience to entertain in any way I can.
Over the past few years, the online video world has seen an influx of live streaming apps and all of their accompanying hype. Periscope, which launched in early 2014, was acquired a year later by Twitter and currently boasts 10 million users. And Meerkat, which debuted in February 2015, has reportedly seen the amount of time users spend with the app double each month since its launch. StreamUp is a new upstart that’s looking to be a “Netflix of live video.” YouNow, however, is its own beast.
Founded in 2011 by CEO Adi Sideman, YouNow is a live streaming app with a built-in social chat function and creator monetization capabilities through users’ purchases of virtual goods and gifts. And users are loving what they see, enough to rapidly propel YouNow’s business forward in the last few months alone. The broadcasting app recently closed a $15 million funding round. YouNow also hired Gregory Strompolos, a former Fullscreen executive, as the app’s new Director of Business Development.
Sideman, who is one of the many featured industry speakers set to appear at Stream Con NYC from October 30-31, 2015, is bullish on the future of real-time platforms. Here’s what he had to say about YouNow’s recent success and what the app company has planned for the future.
Tubefilter: How did YouNow get started? What were the original goals/intentions behind the venture?
Adi Sideman: I have long been involved in user generated video — even before the Internet. I created hundreds of web and mobile apps, and four companies. In 2011, I founded YouNow as a live-video social network that enables audiences and performers to connect in real time. It was an organic evolution to user-generated live video.
TF: YouNow has gained rapid popularity since it first launched. What do you attribute this success to? (Can you also provide some basic metrics about where you are at right now and your growth?)
AS: YouNow took off in the summer of 2014, when we offered a better mobile experience and adjusted some of the social features. We currently have around 100 million user sessions a month, 150,000 active broadcasts per day, and 50,000 hours of content created each day. 70 percent of users interact on YouNow by liking/sharing/commenting or gifting.
YouNow’s growth reflects the evolution of social media, video and mobile, and their transition to real-time — from text on blogs to real time text on Twitter and messaging apps, from photos uploaded as albums to Facebook to real time photos on Instagram and Snapchat, and now from videos uploaded to YouTube to real-time video on Twitch, YouNow, and other apps. Social video engagement is an inevitable behavior as consumers demand more real-time communication and a tactile feedback loop.
TF: Where did the idea for monetizing through virtual goods come from? How has this worked out for creators on YouNow?
AS: It was very organic. We had an earned currency, and our audience was requesting to purchase more of it. At the same time, we wanted our broadcasters to earn. So it was a natural next step to connect the two into an organic revenue stream.
Creators are delighted with the opportunities to earn on YouNow. Many creators earn a living on YouNow. In fact, we hear that many of them earn more on YouNow than on YouTube. The virtual goods also enhance the experience of the users who buy them. It helps them gain status, as well as provoke feedback and recognition from their favorite broadcasters.
TF: How will YouNow keep building a name for itself in the ever-growing world of live streaming platforms? And in the face of monsters like YouTube?
AS: The entire Internet is evolving not only to video platforms but to real-time platforms. So there is room for many different flavors of live video. We have only seen increased usage and engagement as the market gets educated about this new format and as other services join us in the space.
We are proud to have made a strong impression with the creator, teen, and millennial crowds who are especially loyal and passionate about us. In fact, YouNow users spend an average of ~50 minutes per day on the service. And 70% of those on the platform actually interact in some way. We are both a network and a community, and that is unique.
TF: What’s the best thing happening with YouNow right now and what are your goals for 2016?
AS: We are excited to see millions of users adopting the platform and YouNow’s own stars growing organically on the network, gaining traction and influencer status. Creators are using YouNow to engage their audiences and drive to action. Young stars, such as Connor Franta, use YouNow to raise serious money for charity. Recently, YouTubers Caspar Lee and Joe Sugg did a broadcast to promote their new comedy DVD. During the broadcast, they sold over 8,000 DVDs as pre-orders, which drove their DVD to #1 on Amazon and iTunes.
Media companies, like Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and Refinery29, are using the platform to connect with users on a more intimate level. We will certainly be seeing more of this. New features like Guest Broadcasting give creators and media companies another tool that helps them further connect and engage the audience, enabling them to participate in the content.
Guest broadcasting allows an audience member to immediately be featured alongside a broadcaster on screen. The broadcaster and the guest can both interact in front of the entire viewing audience. Guest broadcasting empowers creators to invite collaborators or their fans to join them onscreen, musicians can collaborate across continents, and dance battles, cook-offs and drawing contests can unfold seamlessly. Guest broadcasting also enables fans to meet their YouNow idols face-to-face.
Looking ahead, our goal is to lower the bar for on-camera participation. We have some great new social features coming up, enabling audiences to participate and interact with each other, even more than they do today.
TF: What kinds of creators have seen success on YouNow? Why?
AS: The successful creators are interactive, they embrace the new format, and they interact with their audience back and forth in real time. They build and nurture their audiences by regularly broadcasting — whether it’s music, talk, art, beauty, fashion, etc. And they openly appreciate their fans. We have a mix of homegrown talent, like musicians Emma McGann and Hailey Knox, artists like Snowmarite, and entertainer Zach Clayton. There are also many top YouTubers like Dan Howell (who has 1M fans on YouNow) and Phil Lester, as well as Top Viners like the Dolan Twins and King Bach who see great success on the platform.
TF: Years from now, what legacy would YouNow like to leave in the live streaming world? What do you want it to be known for?
AS: We will always be proud to have been the early innovators. It’s exciting to see YouNow talent being discovered, leveraging their YouNow success to break singles into the top of the charts, being selected for reality TV roles, etc. It’s a revolution. People can find an audience without having to stand in line for gatekeepers — they have direct and immediate access to an audience. And the audience curates the network, deciding what gets discovered. Together, the audience and the creators are collaborating within a completely fresh entertainment format that is participatory and interactive and new. And the fact that we have created that – that is rewarding.
Ricky Dillon has had quite the career. The 23-year-old YouTube star got his start on YouTube in 2010 on his channel PICKLEandBANANA, which now boasts over 2.6 million subscribers. Dillon then went onto become a founding member of the original YouTube supergroup Our 2nd Life (O2L), subsequently touring the country with his five other O2L buddies in the summer of 2014 (and shooting a documentary feature) before disbanding in February 2015.
But the end of O2L was clearly not the end of Dillon’s digital efforts. After posting cover songs to his YouTube channel on and off since its inception, Dillon released his debut single “Ordinary” in 2014, and launched an EP of five songs in January 2015. The vlogger’s musical skills have now blossomed into a full-length album set for release in late 2015. And that’s in addition to a few short films Dillon has been working on that will make their way to fans in the coming months.
Dillon will appear at Stream Con NYC in just over a week on October 30 and 31. We sat down with the budding musician and digital star to discuss his album, short film, and goals for the future of his video and musical content.
Tubefilter: What’s been your favorite part of being a YouTuber?
Ricky Dillon: Making a positive difference in so many young lives. I grew up with a lot of personal struggles, such as bullying and harassment and way too many insecurities, and it’s the most rewarding and humbling feeling to me now that I’m able to be a positive influence on people that are currently dealing with personal struggles of their own. I just love to make people feel good and smile.
TF: Your manager told us you’ve got a Halloween-themed short film coming out soon. What can you tell us about the film’s story line and production? Is this part of this year’s YouTube Space Halloween contest or was this your own initiative?
RD: Not sure what the Halloween contest is, haha! I wish I would’ve known about that or I would’ve entered! But no this is just something I decided to do on my own! I love making my silly videos in my bedroom and my goofy comedy skits, but I truly love and find so much passion when I do much bigger projects. I’ve done so many huge music videos now, but I’ve never done a non-music video that’s been as big.
This is my first video that’s a huge full crew and everything. It’s going to be by far one of the biggest things I’ve ever made; I’m already so proud of it. I don’t want to give too much away but it’s a killer/slasher short horror film that takes place in an abandoned theme park. It’s got some scary parts in it for sure, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s called The Storybook Killer and will be released on my channel October 25th. this is something I really want to start doing more – more short films. I absolutely love acting and want to keep experimenting with it. But it’s also been so fun to be apart of the creating and producing process.
TF: Do you think you’ll make more short films in the future?
RD: Heck, yeah! Like I just said, I definitely want to start making this a regular thing. Obviously I can’t make them all the time because they take a lot of time and work, but definitely every couple of months I want to. I just want to kick my channel and content up a notch.
TF: When you first started YouTube, what were your goals for your singing career? Were they tied together somehow, like was YouTube just a platform to build your brand before you moved into more musical endeavors?
RD: A singing career goal was non-existent for me, actually, when I started YouTube. I don’t think I even had any goals when I first started; I just did it for fun and didn’t even know it could turn into what it is today.
As for singing though, I grew up always fantasizing and dreaming of being like a pop star, haha. I would always imagine myself in music videos and create scenarios in my head. I always loved to sing too, but was very shy about it and rarely ever sang around others. But I always loved music and grew up around it constantly. I was in band for about 10 years and played the trumpet, so I learned everything you need to know about music from that and I grew a huge passion and love for music and performing.
Then when my YouTube channel started to grow and I saw other YouTubers give music a shot (such as Shane Dawson and Joey Graceffa), they inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and try it out. I was so nervous about and worried I wouldn’t be good enough, but my viewers were so supportive and incredible and wanted more! So they gave me the strength and courage to continue and pursue this secret dream I’ve basically had my whole life. Ever since, I’ve worked so hard on my music and worked hard to improve and I’m so happy and proud of myself and absolutely love everything about making music.
TF: Tell us about your upcoming album. How long have you been planning it and working on the songs? What can fans expect to hear?
RD: I am SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. I started making the album back in March, and at the time it was only going to be another EP, so around five songs. But we just kept making more and more and before I knew it, I had about eight songs so I just decided to work on a few more to make it an album. It’s 11 songs and I absolutely love every single one. I’ve spent so, so, so much time on each one individually. So much work and passion has gone into each one. I’ve been much more involved in the entire process this time around. A lot of my old songs that are already released, I was still so new so I wasn’t able to do a lot of the work, but with my new songs I either wrote the songs or co-wrote them and have been involved in the entire process so much more than before.
Some of them really mean a lot to me, such as one song that’s about how I struggled and overcame bullying and another on how I overcame my insecurities and personal battles. It’s two things I’ve really always wanted to express but never knew how — with music it’s the perfect way for me to and I hope these songs are able to help and inspire people out there that may be struggling as well.
That being said I definitely have plenty of fun, boppin’ songs as well! A lot of really fun songs that make you want to get up and dance and sing along! I also have three features on the album — Trevor Moran, my best friend Shelby Waddell, and someone who I don’t want to announce just yet. It’s exciting, though. ;D Overall, I think my fans can expect to hear my growth as an artist and a singer. It’s crazy for me to listen to my first song “Ordinary” and then listen to this new music — the difference is crazy. I’m truly proud of myself and I’m so passionate about all of this.
TF: What are your hopes for this album?
RD: My hopes for this album are for people to just have a good time listening to it, honestly. I want my music to be something people can jam out to with friends when they’re having a good time, songs that can sing in the shower and the car, and songs they can go to when they need someone. I may not be there in person but if they ever need someone, I want them to know they can play my music and I’ll indirectly be there for them — they’re not alone. Overall, I want it to be a feel-good album people just enjoy and get inspired by to love life a little more. It’s a new and amazing way I’ve been able to express myself, more than I’ve ever been able to do before.
TF: What do you have in the works for 2016?
RD: I’m so excited for 2016. My album comes out literally at the very, very end of 2015 so 2016 will kick off with all of my new music, so I’ll definitely be releasing a lot of music videos. Being a YouTuber, I naturally vision a music video already for literally every song on the album so I’m going to making so many, haha — they’ll be spread out, though.
Also in 2016, I’ll be going on tour with Trevor Moran! we’ve been trying to plan this out for well over a year but we’re finally finally getting things worked out. We had some setbacks but I think we’re finally just about there and I can not wait to get back on tour again. I miss it so much. So Trevor and T will both have new music out that we’ll be performing, including our duet from my album. It’s gonna be so much fun. Besides that, nothing planned yet — definitely more short films and I hope to pursue some more acting ventures that are outside of my channel. We’ll see. ;] I’m so excited for the future.
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.
Description: With winter approaching, it’s time to let it snow. 10,000 Days, a post-apocalyptic web series set during a new ice age, takes place 10,000 days (that’s a little more than 27 years) after a cataclysmic comet strike sends the Earth spiraling into ruin.
I first heard about 10,000 Days in 2012, when creator Eric Small released the first season of his show. In his first tour around the wintry landscape he created, Small painted a picture of two warring families battling each other for control. Thrilling action sequence balanced out an intricate plot full of dialogue.
Now, 10,000 Days is back, and Small has a big vision for his second season. He plans to introduce new characters, and he has shared some intense-looking concept art for scenes he plans to film. Here’s the dish, straight from Small himself:
Creator Bio: Small, who initially planned 10,000 Days as a feature film, has experience in the traditional media world. He was one of the executive producers of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, which ran for eight seasons on Showtime.
Best Perk: Backers who kick in at least $40 will receive an e-book that includes animated storyboards from the 10,000 Days pilot. Did I mention this show has cool concept art?
Why You Should Fund It: When I first wrote about 10,000 Days, I complemented the show’s cool, ambitious design, which Small was able to pull off despite working with a small budget. Here, he’s going for something bigger, and he seems to be bringing an immense vision to the table, one that matches the budget he is hoping to receive. Between its intricate characters, its carefully fleshed-out world, and its engaging story, 10,000 Days is a web series that has a lot to offer. If you want to take a closer look yourself, you can watch the first season on JTS.tv, though you’ll need a paid subscription to do so.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
