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: Bond Meets World, Season 1

Asking For: £3,400 on Indiegogo

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): £343

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 28

Description: In Bond Meets World, viewers are introduced to the famous special agent and spy James Bond (code name 007), who’s now a cranky, middle-aged man dealing with everyday life outside of his MI6 career. For example, the animated series shows the Sean Connery-esque-era Bond becoming increasingly annoyed with his internet service provider’s customer service, visiting the doctor to discuss the sexual diseases he’s not carrying, and getting stopped at the grocery store because the automated check-out thinks he has an “unexpected item” in the bagging area. As the campaign’s official fundraising page says, prepare to see Bond deal with “his most challenging mission” of life.

Creator Bio: Bond Meets World is written and produced by Dominic Philpot, a creator who’s worked with various UK-based production companies and even on some projects with the BBC. The series’ animator, Eleonora Asparuhova, has a Master of Arts degree in animation from the University of Salford. Finally, Bond Meets World boasts some impressive voice cast members, ranging from an award-winning broadcaster (Ian Danter) to a comedy writer for The Wagon TV (Nathan Foad).

Best Perk: For fans who have £100 (roughly $153), Philpot and his production crew will let you “meet” the show’s James Bond. You’ll be able to come up with a concept for an exclusive illustration where Bond and an animated version of yourself interact (though not in a graphic or offensive manner). Plus, you get executive producer credits across the entire web series.

Why You Should Fund It: The concept of Bond Meets World is nothing new; fans of spies, superheroes, and other people with thrilling lives often like to see what happens to these characters outside of or after their important job duties. Disney’s The Incredibles comes to mind here, as do portions of Avengers: The Age of Ultron involving Hawkeye’s life outside of S.H.I.E.L.D.

But for 007 fans who want to see a different side of their favorite spy and relive some of the nostalgia of Connery’s suave voice, Bond Meets World is a no-brainer. The dry British humor in the pilot episode works exceptionally well to emphasize 007’s frustrations with his everyday situations. The animation is slick, and the voice acting entertaining. Getting five (or more) episodes of Bond Meets World would be a treat for Bond and web series fans alike. .

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

Filed under: Articles, Fund This, Indiegogo, News by Bree Brouwer
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The man who has produced some the Internet’s most impressive short films is joining forces with a leading multi-channel network. Adi Shankar, a Hollywood film producer whose Bootleg Universe shorts have received millions of views online, has inked a three-film deal with Maker Studios.

According to The Wrap, where news of the deal was first reported, Maker will finance all three projects, with Shankar serving as director. While Shankar’s best known works have been adaptations of preexisting IPs, his first project with Maker will be based off an original idea. It will be an animated superhero saga set in the developing world, and it is tentatively set for a 2016 release.

Shankar’s Bootleg Universe applies his dark, gritty style to the worlds of popular franchises like James Bond and The Punisher. The most popular of these short films, 2015’s Power/Rangers, became a viral smash hit on YouTube, scoring more than 15 million views and earning star James Van Der Beek a Streamy Award win.

“Shankar is the Quentin Tarantino of the digital generation, so it was only natural that he would land at Maker Studios where he would have access to the best talent in the world, with the greatest creative latitude,” said Maker Studios head of talent partnerships Darren Yan in a press release.

While he creates more projects online, Shankar will also continue to work in Hollywood, where he was executive producer for the 2012 film Dredd 3D. His directorial debut, Gods and Secrets, is due out in 2016.

In total, the three projects Shankar will create for Maker Studios will be spread out across a two-year period.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, Maker Studios, News by Sam Gutelle
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Tubefilter and dick clark productions are taking the Streamy Awards overseas. The two companies have teamed with digital media company Culture Machine to host the first international Streamys for Indian and South Asian audiences.

This new, localized version of the Streamys will reach viewers and online video fans in the Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Nepal areas. The Streamys announcement was made at the global entertainment industry event MIPCOM in France. There, Tubefilter and dick clark will continue to discuss bringing the Streamys to even more territories around the world.  

“Online video and digital entertainment is indeed a global phenomenon that has brought us closer than ever before, but the world still remains a mosaic of many diverse cultures and the creative communities that surround them,“ said Streamy Awards creator and Tubefilter co-founder Drew Baldwin in a release. “From the beginning, the Streamy Awards have always strived to showcase digital entertainment to broader audiences, and our partnership with Culture Machine marks an important first step in our mission to celebrate excellence in online video, no matter in what part of the world it is made.”

“The prestigious Streamy Awards are a perfect fit with Culture Machine’s vision of creating entertainment for the Internet generation,” added Sameer Pitalwalla, CEO and Co-Founder of Culture Machine. “The South Asian market is amongst the top three Internet markets in the world, and our partnership with Tubefilter and dick clark productions is a step towards providing a platform that recognizes achievements for those pushing the boundaries of entertainment on the Interwebs.”

The fifth annual Streamy Awards were recently held on September 17, 2015 in Los Angeles. The show, hosted by YouTube celebrities Grace Helbig and Tyler Oakley, was broadcast live for the first time ever on television thanks to a partnership with VH1. You can learn more about the Streamys by visiting the award show’s official site.

Full Disclosure: Tubefilter produces the Streamy Awards, and Tubefilter’s own Drew Baldwin and Josh Cohen are also creators of the Streamys.

Filed under: Articles, News, Production Companies, The Streamy Awards by Bree Brouwer
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Rejoice, old-school web video fans: Super Deluxe is coming back. The online video destination, which was folded into Adult Swim more than seven years ago, will return in some capacity, according to a new report from Variety.

The original Super Deluxe was launched in early 2007 and featured contributions from a variety of comedy notables, including Maria Bamford, Bob Odenkirk, Tim Heidecker, and Eric Wareheim. The result was an eclectic collection of short videos, web series, and animations, and Super Deluxe generated positive press–including some from us.

Unfortunately, Super Deluxe struggled to attract name recognition, and so Turner merged it with Adult Swim. It was relegated to a barely-active portal within the Adult Swim website, and we thought that would be the last we heard from Super Deluxe.

We thought wrong, because Turner is bringing Super Deluxe back. According to Variety, Turner started staffing the revived venture last year, and it has named former CBS Films execs Wolfgang Hammer and Winnie Kemp as two of the primary Super Deluxe execs. The goal now is to find “emotionally meaningful” comedy content, though Variety notes Turner’s interest in “action and adventure” videos as well, suggesting a wider scope than Super Deluxe’s first iteration.

How will the new Super Deluxe fit into an online video industry that is much more crowded than it was in 2007? Variety suggests the answer lies in Turner’s ability to use Super Deluxe as an “incubator” of sorts, where lesser-known creators can gain exposure before jumping to TV and other platforms. There is a precedent for this: One of the shows on the original Super Deluxe, Brad Neely’s China, IL, ultimately ended up on Adult Swim, where it ran until 2015 and became a cult favorite.

The original Super Deluxe had a knack for distributing worthwhile comedy programming, so while the Internet is very different than it was eight years ago, we’re glad to see Turner’s comedy hub make its return. We eagerly await additional details.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Superdeluxe by Sam Gutelle
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Louise Pentland (aka Sprinkle of Glitter) is no stranger to pink-hued clothing, accessories, and frosted tips. But now the British vlogger’s full head of flowing hair is the light shade of red, and it’s for a very important, personal reason. Pentland revealed in a video on October 5, 2015 she’s started a fundraising campaign for cancer research and consequently dyed her hair pink to raise awareness for the cause.

As the prominent YouTube personality describes in her video, October is breast cancer awareness month in many parts of the world, and pink is its signature color. So, the 30-year-old video blogger and book author seized the opportunity to bring attention to the initiative because her mother, Diana Jane died of the disease when Pentland was just seven years old. Through lots of painful tears, Pentland relates how she can no longer remember the little things her mother used to do nor the sound of her voice, and how no one should have to live with that experience and without a parent. Pentland believes her large, empathetic, and active audience can help make “quite a difference” in raising awareness and funds for cancer research.

“Cancer scares me. I don’t want my daughter to have to live the same life I do,” Pentland explains in her video. “I don’t want to miss her growing up. I want a cure. Finding this cure costs money and so I hope we can raise as much as possible to make this come true as soon as possible.”

Pentland’s Just Giving fundraising page for the organization Cancer Research UK reached over £15,000 in donations in just 24 hours. As of this writing, the vlogger, who boasts 2.2 million subscribers on her main channel, has raised more than £21,000, or 105% of her total fundraising goal. And there are still 24 days left in the month of October for Pentland to raise even more funds and awareness.

You can contribute to Pentland’s cancer research fundraising campaign by visiting her Just Giving page. Donations can be accepted in both U.K. pounds and US dollars, as well as several other international currencies.  

Filed under: Articles, News, Sprinkle of Glitter by Bree Brouwer
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While it seems to have a leg up on its competitors in terms of the exclusive streaming rights it owns for popular TV shows, Hulu has not quite landed a smash hit original series on the level of Netflix’s House of Cards or Amazon’s Transparent. Hulu’s middling results in the originals department, however, are not for lack of effort. The latest big-name series to premiere on the online video platform is Casual, a sexed-up romantic comedy directed by Oscar nominee Jason Reitman.

Casual stars Tommy Dewey (The Mindy Project) and Michaela Watkins (Saturday Night Live) as Alex and Laura, cohabitating siblings who are raising Laura’s daughter together after a divorce. Across ten episodes, Casual will examine the shape of modern relationships. Judging from its trailer, there will also be plenty of sex jokes in there, too.

The notable names Casual have enough clout to make the series a hit. The question, then, is whether the show is good enough to raise Hulu’s profile in the original programming world. Difficult People, Hulu’s last series, generated a fairly positive reception and even received enough attention to stir up a little controversy. Can Casual keep up the trend?

Most critics seem to be giving it a chance. David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle (who, it should be said, also loved Difficult People) is most bullish. “You’ll start watching this and find it funny and maybe a little sad,” he writes. “You may also spend a few minutes wondering whether it’s just too cynical to endure. But stay another few minutes. A lot of people have been in Valerie’s shoes, and maybe in Alex’s as well.”

On the other end of the spectrum is Variety’s Brian Lowry, who finds Casual to be a fine-but-unremarkable comedy. “The series just isn’t distinctive enough to separate itself from the pack, from the casting to the premise, in the way something like Hulu’s Difficult People did,” he writes.

In general, Casual has received a positive-enough response, and while it may not be that killer original series Hulu wants, it seems like a strong addition to the platform’s catalog. You can check it out on Hulu, where the first episode is available for free; watching the other nine will require a subscription to Hulu’s premium service.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Hulu, News by Sam Gutelle
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A project initially financed by a successful Kickstarter campaign has picked up some big-money backers. Storytellers, a web series created by YouTube star Joey Graceffa, will return for a second season thanks to a partnership between Graceffa, Legendary Digital Media, and StyleHaul.

The first season of Storytellers was funded by a 2013 Kickstarter campaign, which exceeded its $100,000 goal by more than $40,000. Later that year, the first of six episodes premiered, with Hunter–played by Graceffa–telling his dramatic story. Graceffa would later win Best Actor in a Drama at the 2014 Streamy Awards for this role.

Season two will bring Storytellers’ characters to college while amping up the series’ supernatural elements. A press release teases “personally expanding magical powers, supernatural forces of good and evil, and the threats of parallel universes,” and also notes a focus on “normal collegiate issues of identity, friendship, and romance.” Graceffa and di Bonaventura will be executive producers, with Gregg Millman writing all six half-hour episodes.

“I’m beyond thrilled to bring back Storytellers for a second season and excited to announce this epic partnership with Legendary and StyleHaul,” said Graceffa in a press release.  “It’s been a passion project since its inception, and I’m so happy to be taking this next season to an entirely new level.” He also discussed the project in a recent YouTube video:

Storytellers is one of several projects in Legendary’s digital pipeline. It is also working on Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a 70s TV show reboot starring Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart.

No specific release date for season two of Storytellers has been announced, but it is expected to arrive sometime in 2016.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Joey Graceffa, Legendary Entertainment, News by Sam Gutelle
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Forrester Research has some bad news for cable executives hoping to reach younger adults over the next 20 years. The tech and market research firm released a new study which found that by 2025, 50% of U.S. adults under the age of 32 won’t pay for a cable subscription service.

Forrester surveyed over 35,000 Americans and discovered 24% of respondents currently don’t pay for cable. Of this percentage, 18% are cord-nevers, or consumers who have never in their lives purchased a cable subscription (unlike the remaining 6% of cord-cutters, who had cable at one point but cancelled their subscriptions). According to Forrester, 2015 marked the year when the percentage of cord-nevers beat out the percentage of cord-cutters.

James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester and one of the co-authors of the study, believes that by the end of 2015, 65% of adults ages 18-31 will be subscribed to cable, with the remaining 25% being cord-nevers and 10% cord-cutters. The latter two statistics will increase over time until 2025, when the odds are stacked 50/50 for cable-nevers/cable-cutters and cable-havers.

“Rather than inherit TV viewing expectations from a prior era and then consciously reject them, as cord cutters have done, these cord-never viewers have simply bypassed prior assumptions, exhibiting nearly the exact set of behaviors that cord cutters have pieced together for themselves over the past decade of viewing,” McQuivey wrote, as reported by AdWeek. The analyst went on to suggest cable CMOs “experiment on cord-nevers and cord-cutters now to learn how to serve them later.”

This cord-never news come at an appropriate time for the cable industry, which has started to read the writing on the wall. Many broadcast and cable networks are already taking McQuivey’s advice to heart. CBS and HBO, for example, have their own streaming video subscription services separate from any cable contract. In addition to Forrester, other research firms have already recorded and reported on the rising trend of pay-TV subscribers cutting the cord.

You can download Forrester’s entire report for a fee on the firm’s website.

Filed under: Articles, Forrester Research, Industry, News by Bree Brouwer
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Hulu, in its quest to outpace the TV libraries of its competitors, has brokered a significant streaming deal with a major media corporation. It has announced a pact with Viacom through which it will gain exclusive streaming rights to several programs, including recent Emmy winner Inside Amy Schumer.

The deal renews a 2011 partnership between Viacom and Hulu while also “adding more premium content than ever from [Viacom’s] popular family of networks,” said Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins. Beyond Inside Amy Schumer, which features its titular star in bawdy sketches, Hulu has also gained access to the recently-concluded Key and Peele (which is known for its big viewership on YouTube) as well as a couple of shows derived from web series: Broad City and Drunk History.

Hulu will also be the exclusive streaming video home for shows from other Viacom networks, such as MTV and Nickelodeon. In total, the streaming rights to at least nine shows are included in the deal.

Variety notes that the Viacom shows will only be available to viewers who subscribe to Hulu’s premium service, formerly known as Hulu Plus. A basic $7.99 subscription will grant access to the shows, while a recently-launched $11.99 tier will remove ads.

This deal is the latest in a series of licensing agreements that have created an arms race between Hulu and its competitors. Amazon’s recent streaming acquisitions include Mr. Robot and Sex and the City, while Netflix has hopped on board by grabbing the rights to Gotham.

Hulu’s library, however, is the most impressive. It includes modern classics like Seinfeld as well as new favorites like Empire. The new Viacom deal is a nice improvement, one with the potential to draw many new subscribers to Hulu’s shores.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Hulu, News by Sam Gutelle
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Between October 30th and November 1st, 2015, online video creators, fans, and executives will flock to New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Center. There, Tubefilter, LeftField Media, and the City of New York will host Stream Con NYC, a three-day celebration of online video. With a little more than three weeks to go until the convention, its official schedule has arrived, and there will be events to satisfy a diverse group of attendees.

As with other online video conventions (specifically VidCon), Stream Con is split into several different categories, each one with a different focus. On Friday, October 30th, online video creators and executives will participate in panels and keynotes as part of an Industry Summit; presenters will include newsman Al Roker,  Vimeo’s Kerry Trainor, Frederator’s Fred Seibert, and New Form Digital’s Kathleen Grace. Meanwhile, throughout the whole weekend, aspiring creators will be able to learn from the best at “Creator Camp” events. At the same time, viewers will descend on the Javits Center floor to attend fan events and meet-and-greets with their favorite creators.

The full schedule of events can be found on the Stream Con website, where it is broken down by category.

The guest list will include more than 80 prominent content creators known for their work on platforms like YouTube and Vine. Featured attendees include Mamrie Hart and Grace Helbig, who will perform a two-woman show on the 30th, and Nerdy Nummies host Rosanna Pansino. With Stream Con closing in fast, several creators have begun to hype it. Here’s Flula Borg and HollywireTV‘s Chelsea Briggs on proper convention etiquette:

If you want to join the Stream Con fun, you’ll need a ticket, which you can pick up from the convention’s website. A weekend-long fan pass will run you $97.50, while access to the Industry Summit costs $295.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Stream Con NYC by Sam Gutelle
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United Talent Agency (UTA) has a new digital brand on its client list. The Hollywood talent firm has signed popular YouTube channel eleventhgorgeous.

Eleventhgorgeous is comprised of sisters Tracy and Stefanie, who hail from Alabama and started making beauty and lifestyle YouTube videos over five years ago. Since then, the siblings have amassed a following of more than 1.3 million subscribers and a total viewership number of 100 million on their main channel. Additionally, Tracy and Stefanie’s vlogging channel TeeAndEss boasts 470,000 subscribers, and their third channel CheapToChic has over 160,000 subscribers.

Like it does with its other digital clients, UTA will work to expand on and secure business deals for the Eleventhgorgeous brand. Along with UTA, the beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel and the two women behind it are also managed by Untitled Entertainment and have legal representation at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush & Kaller, L.L.P.

Eleventhgorgeous joins previous YouTube stars who have also signed with UTA. Celebrities like Joey Graceffa, Flula Borg, and iJustine and are already a part of UTA’s client list. UTA’s Digital Media department is led by Brent Weinstein, who’s been at the helm of the agency’s digital team since way back in 2003 and was named a partner in March 2015.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News, UTA by Bree Brouwer
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Victorious is now a global company. The mobile platform that helps influential individuals in online entertainment better interact with and distribute content to their respective communities and superfans has announced its overseas expansion into 12 new international markets, with brand-new offices in London and Singapore.

Victorious initially launched in June 2014 and released its first applications with superstar content creators Ryan Higa and The Young Turks Network in April 2015. The mobile platform has only continued to grow since then, working with and signing up more prominent digital stars like Lilly Singh (aka IISuperwomanII), Machinima, and Lele Pons (the first Vine star to sign up on the platform). The apps have proven quite popular, too. According to a line in the company’s press release, Victorious has placed eight apps on the top of the iTunes and Google Play charts since its inception.

Now, Victorious will open up its platform and knowhow to creators in countries outside the U.S. The company’s new London and Singapore offices will be led by VP and Managing Director of International Tony Zameczkowski, the former Director of YouTube Music in Asia Pacific. Victorious has also hired ex-Googlers and YouTube executives Christoph Poropatits​, Gabrielle Cuinier, Jacob Zachariah, and Joe McDermottroe to lead business development for the mobile brand in its twelve new markets.

Victorious’ new office space overseas means the mobile app company can now work more directly with creators in Europe and Asia. At least ten international digital stars are already on board to create apps with Victorious. Here’s a complete list of the creators with upcoming Victorious apps and their current total audience reach:

• News broadcaster Russia Today, 700 million
• Ecuadorian comedy sketch channel EnchufeTV​, 9.5 million
• British singer-songwriter Jasmine Thompson, 1.7 million
• German football videos creators Freekickerz, 2.8 million
• French TV channel TF1 for Chris Marques, 360,000
• MCN 2bTube for Spanish Gamer TheCatacroquer, 340,000
• Japanese language educator Chika Yoshida (aka Bilingirl​), 450,000
• Singapore’s comedy channel Tree Potatoes, 311,000
• Australian ​beauty and fashion vlogger Chloe Morello, 1.3 million
• British TV celebrity Katie Price​, 2.7 million

“We are very excited to expand Victorious globally and partner with the best creators on the planet,” said Zameczkowski. “Our aim is to empower those creators, by ensuring they have control over how they engage their fans. Bringing the Victorious platform to creators, personalities and media companies in over twelve markets is particularly important given the exponential growth in online audiences outside North America. Superfans are everywhere and we are excited to bring billions of superfans closer together in the palm of their hands.”

In addition to its expansion news, Victorious has reached some impressive new viewership and engagement numbers. The platform revealed the superfans that use its apps have created an aggregate of over two million pieces of user-generated content to date. That’s up from about one million pieces of UGC content circa July 2015. At that time, Victorious also boasted 250 million total views and roughly 300 million engagements in total by way of its creators’ apps. If the platform’s views and engagement metrics doubled like its user-generated content did, Victorious is currently looking at 500 million views and 600 million engagements overall. 

Filed under: Articles, News, Victorious by Bree Brouwer
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