Nielsen has discovered more people are tuning in to online video than they were in 2014. In its quarter two “Total Audience Report” for 2015, the data and TV analytics firm found digital video use rose 19% year-over-year.
Nielsen tracked media use on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers by U.S. adults over the age of 18 in the month of May 2014 and then again in all of May 2015. The almost 20% increase in online video use stems from a few growth areas, like a 38% increase in digital video use between the hours of 5 AM and 8 AM. Additionally, Nielsen found almost 700,000 more U.S. adults tuned in to online video at the 9 PM hour than last year.
And unsurprisingly, Nielsen found adults spent more time per week watching video on their smartphones than they did in 2014. That year, Americans over the age of 18 viewed video on their phones roughly 11 minutes per week on average. In 2015, Nielsen found this same demographic was watching 15 minutes of video per week. And in general, the TV ratings firm found smartphone and tablets are taking up a greater share of devices used to watch online video each year.
You can download the Q2 2015 “Total Audience Report” by visiting Nielsen’s site and entering your information for the free download.
Adam Pesapane, the stop-motion animator known simply as PES, has made a mark with independent productions that re-purpose household objects in inventive new ways. His most famous video, Fresh Guacamole, even earned an Academy Award nomination in 2013. PES’ latest work, however, is not an independent creation. Instead, he has teamed up with Honda to release a clever short film called Paper, which runs through the car company’s 66-year history.
In Paper, which was created in partnership with ad agency RPA, Honda’s automobiles, as well as its planes, bikes, and other vehicles, are drawn onto small scraps of paper. From there, disembodied hands move the scraps across the screen, simulating their movement across the world and Honda’s movement throughout the history of transportation. At the end of the video, a small, fortune cookie-esque strip of paper declares “You never know where a dream will lead you,” asserting Honda’s ongoing innovation into the future.
As with PES’ other work, Paper successfully plays with the viewer’s perspective and uses deceptive angles to keep us on our toes. Successfully executing this vision, however, wasn’t easy. In a behind the scenes video, PES shows us how Paper was made, and the process involves a whole team of animators, a large board filled with scraps of paper, and careful manipulation of individual frames.
Those who prefer PES’ unsponsored content need not worry; he continues to release original animations every couple of months. One of his most recent productions is Submarine Sandwich, which was funded by a $30,000 Kickstarter campaign. You can see that film, along with PES’ other work, on his website.
We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now. Read previous installments here.
Civilized conflict resolution is for wimps. If you have a disagreement, and other avenues have failed to mend broken bridges, it’s time to bust out the Battle Jar. That’s the strategy employed by the team at Incarcerated Penguins, whose new web series is a high-energy affair filled with ludicrous competitions.
Battle Jar, which is subtitled Resolving Arguments Since The Dawn Of Time, focuses on four friends who have short tempers and plenty of ideas for unusual interpersonal challenges. Whenever they need to settle a dispute, the Battle Jar stars turn to their titular artifact, which spits out a game for them to play. The battle jar’s competitions run from chopstick Jenga to a chugging content to a slap fight that somehow manages to change the plot of Dawson’s Creek.
Battle Jar is not a subtle series, and it often prefers slapstick humor to the the actual intricacies of the jar’s challenges. There’s something to be said, however, for a series that moves forward with such relentless pace and energy that it leaves the viewer’s eyes zooming across the screen to keep up. You can check out the first season of the series on Incarcerated Penguins’ YouTube channel.
OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT
Ex-Best. Breaking up is hard to do…especially when it’s with your best friend.
Blue City. Cops and robbers do battle in the Big Apple.
I Go Blow. A young musician tries to find his way.
Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.
Hillary Clinton is looking to attract young voters, and as part of that process, she has sat down for what is (as far as we can tell) one of her first interviews with a digital publication. During a campaign stop in Iowa, she sat down with Refinery29 correspondent Neha Gandhi for an informal chat about her opinions, views, and policies.
The major talking points of Refinery29’s interview with Clinton are available in a video posted on Refinery29’s YouTube channel. In talking to Refinery29’s young, female audience, Clinton makes sure to hit on topics relevant to that demographic, such as women’s health, equal pay in the workplace, and safety on college campuses. Her answers to Gandhi’s questions are interspersed with clips from her recent campaign speeches, which have taken her across Iowa and other crucial primary states.
Some critics will tell you that landing an interview with a high-profile politician isn’t a big deal anymore, but the bottom line is that there are very few videos on YouTube that feature Clinton talking directly to a publication that reaches many young consumers. Her sit-down with Refinery29 is one of several digital stops we expect her to make as she continues her quest to appeal to Millennial voters and find her way to the White House.
The video is a big coup for Refinery29 as well; the women’s publication adds a high-quality, important piece of content to the video library it has been building up over the past year. In addition to the video, a longer, text interview offers a more in-depth discussion with the former First Lady.
What’s Up Moms has had a busy but exciting week. The trio of moms who create parenting videos on YouTube (and just won a Streamy Award for their work) has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), as well as hired Liane Mullin as the new President and Chief Operations Officer of the What’s Up Moms brand.
What’s Up Moms consists of co-founders Elle Walker and Meg Resnikoff and their partner Brooke Mahan. The three women will work with CAA for all their representation needs. CAA will also develop opportunities for What’s Up Moms, like deals for licensing, television book deals, endorsements, and endorsements.
Walker, Resnikoff, and Mahan have also added Mullin to their digital team. Before her new position as What’s Up Moms President and COO, Mullin started and led Full Picture’s digital department for nine years. Mullin worked with numerous brands like JetBlue and Samsung to create branded content and entertainment for distribution on sites such as MSN and AOL. Mullin also held previous positions at CAA and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“What’s Up Moms quickly established its place as one of the most authentic and trusted media networks for parents in the digital space and as a result has seen tremendous growth over the past year,” said Mullin in a release. “I am excited to be a part of such a dynamic group of women and look forward to building on the success of the platform by creating new strategic alliances, managing talent development, and expanding our distribution channels.”
“Liane’s passion for developing original digital content coupled with her extensive relationships in the entertainment and consumer lifestyle industries makes her the perfect partner to help us as we expand and broaden our media platform,” added Walker. “Meg, Brooke, and I are thrilled to welcome her to our growing team.”
The What’s Up Moms YouTube channel currently boasts more than 680,000 subscribers and over 156 million views.
The 2015 Streamy Awards went live last night, and by the end of evening, nine talented online video content creators walked away with shiny statuettes. The big winners were prankster Yousef “fouseyTUBE” Erakat and Vine star Cameron Dallas, who earned victories in the Audience Choice Show of the Year and Entertainer of the Year categories, respectively.
Dozens of premier online video and traditional media stars were in attendance at the Hollywood Palladium, where the show’s festivities took place. Millions more viewers watch on TV and online via broadcaster VH1. They were treated to a brisk, tidy 90-minute show, which paid tribute to the content creators who, as Dallas put it in his acceptance speech, are “paving the way for the new generation.”
Other acceptance speeches provided even more memorable moments. Lilly “Superwoman” Singh, who won the award for Best First Person Series, thanked Google and YouTube “for not being scared to put a brown girl on a billboard.” Erakat used his own remarks to raise awareness of mental health issues, including his own. He also announced a bid for President. FouseyTUBE 2020!
Between the awards, musicians delivered a wide variety of performances. The most electric one, at least within the Palladium, came from Sir Mix-a-Lot, who reminded us that, more than 20 years later, he still likes big butts.
A full array of clips from the event are available on VH1’s YouTube channel. Below, via a press release, are the nine winners who triumphed during last night’s show. They join 35 other winners who were announced in a pre-show ceremony on September 14th.
Kids ask a lot of questions, and as Louis CK has so eloquently explained, answering those questions can require quite a bit of work. Luckily, the parents of quizzical children can now turn to Little 101, a new web series produced by PBS Digital Studios in which animator Nathan Shields uses his illustrative skills to provide some in-depth answers to common youngster queries.
Shields, who is best known for the elaborate pancake art he creates on his Saipancakes website, begins Little 101 by explaining why spinning around makes us dizzy. With his ridiculously adorable daughter on hand, Shields sketches out a diagram of the human ear in order explain the human vestibular system.
Little 101 is very colorful and delivered in a clear, simple tone. For those reasons, it is a useful tool for both parents and teachers. Check out upcoming episodes (which will cover topics like “Why do stars twinkle?” and “Why is poop brown?”) as they arrive on the PBS Parents YouTube channel.
Devin Supertramp (real name Devin Graham) is leaping off YouTube and diving into an ultra-widescreen format. The YouTube star, whose stunt-filled adventure videos have brought in nearly 3.5 million subscribers and close to 635 million views, has teamed up with cinema company Barco to premiere a short film in panoramic Barco Escape movie theaters.
Graham’s short will be attached to The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, which will arrive in Barco Escape theaters on September 18th. Graham, who recently won a Streamy Award for cinematography, will make use of Barco Escape’s signature format, which features a massive screen segmented into three sections.
“We are excited to collaborate with our valued cinema partners in realizing our dream of elevating the moviegoing experience to never-before-seen levels,” said Barco SVP Wim Buyens in a press release. “As exhibitors continue to embrace Barco Escape as a way to differentiate themselves in the market, we will continue to work with film studios to create bold, innovative movies and alternative content that fully leverage the visually spectacular capabilities of this format.”
More than a dozen Barco Escape theaters have been installed around the world. The majority of the company’s US locations can be found in California and Texas. A full map of Barco Escape theaters is available online.
While the upcoming short will be the first collaboration between Graham and Barco (who first announced their partnership in February), a press release confirms that a second film is already in the works. Barco could also distribute additional big-screen projects led by other digital stars.
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.
The latest fashion and beauty content creator to reach one million subscribers is a Canadian woman who has made a name for herself across the pond. Estée Lalonde, who posts videos to YouTube on her Essie Buttonchannel, has used her keen fashion eye to earn herself a golden play button. Her library includes the usual fashion and beauty topics, from tutorials to tags to hauls, but by sharing her own impeccable style sense, Lalonde has made these topics her own. Here’s what she made to say about her digital life:
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you want to say to your fans?
Estée Lalonde: It feels completely surreal to have one million subscribers, when it was only last year that I hit 500,000 subscribers! I just keep wanting to say thank you over and over again, because I really am thankful for all of my viewers and for the community we have built.
TF: What prompted your move from Canada to England? How was that transition?
EL: I moved to England to be with my boyfriend, Aslan, so having him here really helped with the transition. Although it was hard at times, as I left the country I had grown up in and all my family, it was a really exciting time of my life.
TF: What drew you to YouTube? You said on your site you’d been blogging for a while — how did YouTube fit in with your overall content plans?
EL: I had been watching videos for a while and started to like the community on the site, so that’s mainly what drew me there. I had been blogging about beauty and things I was loving at the time, but I felt as though YouTube suited me a little better as I could talk a lot more! I’m a very expressive person, so being able to show expressions is really important to me.
TF: How did you and Aslan meet? What role (if any) did you play in him starting his own cooking and DIY channel?
EL: Aslan and I met online, as we were living in different countries at the time. Funnily enough, he’s the person who inspired me to make a channel in the first place and he really pushed me to get out there and do it! Aslan has always been a part of what I do, but he really wanted an online space to do his own thing. Unfortunately, he’s got quite a full plate at the moment so his YouTube channel hasn’t been very active but I’m sure he’ll put something out again soon!
TF: What’s been the most rewarding part of being a YouTuber?
EL: My confidence has drastically improved, which has had the biggest impact on my life. I used to be very shy, scared to try new things and meet new people, but since starting this channel and interacting more with others I want to keep pushing myself!
TF: Your most popular video is about messy hair for women with short locks. But what video are you most proud of and wish would be your top-viewed one?
EL: One of my favourite videos I’ve done has been ‘Boyfriend Does My Makeup’, which is a fairly recent video. It’s been one of my most ever requested videos and it was so much fun to film!
TF: How did your million-subscriber party in London go? What was the best part of the night?
EL: It was such a blast. I really wanted to do something more intimate than a typical meet and greet and I’m so happy everyone at the party had fun. It was such a change of pace for me to be able to speak to the viewers about THEIR lives instead of it being so focused on me. I loved it!
TF: If you could visit anywhere in the world with Reggie and Aslan to vlog about it for a month, where would it be and why?
EL: Definitely Japan! Although getting Reggie on an airplane would be very, very tricky! He’s scared of everything!
TF: What’s next for your channel? Anything fun?
EL: Although I’m still going to be posting about beauty and fashion, I’m excited to add a lot more lifestyle and other things I enjoy to my channel. I’ve been creating a lot of content for my channel which is going to be uploaded over the next few months, all of it which I am super proud and excited to share.
The web series that can accurately be described as “Dancing With The Stars, but for the Internet” will soon return. Dance Showdown, in which host Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval asks digital stars to show him their moves, will premiere its fourth season on Vessel and the DanceOn YouTube channel in October.
The format of Dance Showdown is simple: A group of YouTube and Vine stars (six of them, in this case) are paired with dancers and asked to show off choreographic routines for the judges and the viewing audience. Ultimately, the fans will decide the winner. Dance Showdown episodes routinely top one million views; the show’ second season, for example, scored 23 million views across 11 episodes.
Season four will consist of 12 episodes, the first of which will premiere on Vessel on October 9th. Dance Showdown is making use of Vessel’s exclusive window, through which new episodes will be released on the eight-month-old platform 72 hours before the arrive anywhere else. Therefore, for viewers who do not subscribe to Vessel’s premium service, season four of Dance Showdown will premiere on YouTube on October 13th.
Previous seasons of Dance Showdown have featured between eight and twelve celebrity contestants, but season four will include just six of them: YouTube stars AJ Rafael, Arika Sato, Brian Brushwood, Jackie Hernandez, and Jorge Narvaez, and Vine star Gabbie Hanna. “This season of Dance Showdown will give viewers a chance to see their favorite digital stars in a new light,” said DanceOn CEO Amanda Taylor in a press release. “Dance Showdown doesn’t just focus on individual dance routines. The show provides fans with a deeper look into talent personalities, show production and competition preparation.”
After its premiere, Dance Showdown will roll out regular episodes over the next two months. The finale will go live on December 22nd, 2015.
An iconic figure within YouTube’s early era has decided to distance himself from the popular video site. Chris Crocker, who became a viral sensation in 2007 when his infamous “Leave Britney Alone” video hit the web, has deleted his YouTube channel.
Crocker was an early YouTube vlogger who was able to gain a cult following even before he released his most famous video. He rose to national prominence thanks to his hysterical response to critics of Britney Spears’ 2007 VMAs performance. “Leave Britney Alone,” which went viral days after its release, received widespread media attention and millions of views. Though the original version disappeared when Crocker decided to delete his channel, there are plenty of videos of it available. Feel free to take some time out of your day to relive 2007:
In choosing to delete his channel, Crocker cited the rampant abuse he has received since he released the “Leave Britney Alone” video. “The website got so toxic with comments telling me to kill myself if I just uploaded a regular ‘hi, how are you guys?’ video; that it just wasn’t worth it,” he wrote in a Facebook post shared by Logo. “My mental health and focusing on positivity is the most important – and people that appreciate me, instead of trying to see the worst of me. I feel a weight has been lifted.”
By ending his career on YouTube, Crocker joins the same club as the original RickRoll video–another bygone YouTube icon that has since been taken offline, at least in its original form. That doesn’t mean, though, that Crocker is done with the Internet. On the contrary, he’s still very active on sites like Facebook and Instagram. If you’re expecting a sequel to “Leave Britney Alone,” don’t bother–the stuff he makes is very different now.
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: Spanglish is not a web series adaptation of a middling Adam Sandler movie from 2004. Rather, it is a sketch show that looks to bring its viewers a Hispanic point of view, a bilingual sensibility, and, of course, plenty of laughs. Its star, Mariola Figueroa, is a Puerto Rican actress who is looking to put her own spin on the sketch comedy format. In a series of videos, she and her co-creators will create ridiculous, multicultural scenes set in New York City. Judging by the project’s pitch video, there will also be blood, robot eyes, and Shining references.
Creator Bio: Figueroa is one of four comedians involved in the Spanglish Kickstarter. The series’ creators are all veterans of the New York comedy scene; out of all of them, we’re most familiar with Jon Bershad, a performer who has caught our eye with his roles in web series like Nepotismand One Take Movies.
Best Perk:Spanglish has a lot of fun, thematically-relevant perks, including Puerto Rican candy and salsa dancing lessons. The perk that best fits the series, though, is a Spanish lesson from Figueroa, available to anyone who kicks in at least $100.
Why You Should Fund It:A good sketch comedy show doesn’t need a novel premise to be funny, but Spanglish goes the extra mile. Its bilingual status isn’t just its premise; it’s also part of the show itself. As the series goes on, interactive games on its website will teach viewers Spanish words. You’ll laugh, but you might also learn something. What a concept!
Of course, Spanglish still needs a strong cast to make the show really click, but the four co-creators who are engineering it have enough experience that we are willing to trust them to create something worthwhile. Spanglish looks like it will be a fun comedy show with a point–and that makes its Kickstarter campaign an intriguing one.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
