MiTu is not slowing down anytime soon in terms of growth. The Hispanic multi-channel network, which has a new series deal with NBC Universo, has hired Michael Su as the new Vice President of Product, and also announced an impressive new technology platform in the works.

Su comes to MiTu with plenty of product development and leadership experience. Su previously served as the head of product at Upworthy; before that, the executive was VP of product at Break Media. At MiTu, the new VP will head up the Spanish-leaning network’s product department and aim to expand its overall offerings.

Su will also work on MiTu’s upcoming technology platform alongside MiTu Chief Technology Officer and founder of app company Lightt Alex Mostoufi. According to The Los Angeles Times, MiTu said this new tech platform “provides an ability to discover, onboard, and manage creators and influencers from across the social web, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.” MiTu also hopes to use the tech to track its audience’s habits and monetize accordingly.

As reported by StreamDaily, MiTu’s CEO Roy Burstin noted in a statement how media consumption and social platforms are always changing. “To succeed we need to provide outstanding support to our influencers while learning how our audiences are consuming content across all available platforms, and what are the categories that perform best,” explained Burstin.

To help achieve this goal, MiTu will leverage Lightt’s tech and mobile experience to develop the upcoming platform. Acquired by MiTu in February 2015, Lightt created a mobile video app which let users capture, edit, and share clips online. And since StreamDaily reports 80% of MiTu’s traffic now comes from mobile users, Lightt’s app expertise will be invaluable as the network grows its new technology.

“From cultivating a highly creative, engaged user base to offering a wide range of media creation and audience development tools, we are building a platform that is truly state-of-the-art in digital media,” Mostoufi said.

MiTu said new products, features, and partnerships will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Filed under: Articles, News, Studios by Bree Brouwer
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WME had added to its roster of talent. The Hollywood talent agency, which has over the past few years expanded into the world of web video content creators, has partnered with YouTube stars Jake Roper, Caspar Lee, Elise Strachan, Emily Skye, and the Fung Brothers, according to Variety. In a separate report, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed an additional partnership between WME and Casey Neistat.

The creators who have joined forces with WME as part of this wave of signings are all big on the Internet, but the focuses of their respective channels vary quite a bit. Roper applies science to pop culture on his Vsauce3 channel; Lee is a boyish South African vlogger; Strachan crafts pastries on her MyCupcakeAddiction channel; Skye is an Australian model and fitness expert; The Fung Brothers are a pair of fraternal comedians; and Neistat is vlogger, Snapchat star, and entrepreneur who recently launched a video app called Beme.

The main link these creators all have in common is their online success; they all have millions of subscribers and followers on social media. WME will look to parlay the notability of its new clients into opportunities across traditional and digital media.

The past year has seen an arms race of sorts between WME and fellow talent agency CAA, which has signed digital clients of its own. This arms race has seen several content creators jump between the two agencies; Neistat, for example, was previously represented by CAA. Other YouTube stars who recently teamed up with WME include Lohanthony and HolaSoyGerman.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, WME by Sam Gutelle
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Jukin Media just gained access to a plethora of fascinating, and sometimes absurd, world record videos. The viral video licensing company has teamed up with RecordSetter to exclusively license and distribute the brand’s user-generated world record clips to content publishers and entertainment brands.

Boasting over 40,000 videos which pull in 10 million monthly views, RecordSetter was founded in 2008 by Dan Rollman to allow anyone in the world to set their own wacky records via video submissions, which are personally verified by the company’s team of professionally-attired record-setting recorders and added to RecordSetter’s content library. The company boasts UGC content and world records ranging from “Longest No-Handed Bicycle Wheelie” to “Largest Toothpick Beard” (someone out there actually managed to fit 2,222 toothpicks in a beard).

“The RecordSetter library is truly one-of-a-kind,” said Andrew Dignan, Director of Licensing at Jukin Media, in a release. “This deal bolsters our offering to our clients and reinforces Jukin as the go-to resource for anyone looking to license user-generated videos across any category.”

Jukin Media, which just raised $2 million in funding from Samsung Ventures, already specializes in licensing and delivering viral videos to digital publishers, advertisers, TV networks, and consumer labels. The company will leverage its pre-existing relationships to help interested parties find the perfect RecordSetter clip for their projects.

“Jukin’s global network of licensing contacts and deep expertise in UGC video licensing made it the ideal partner for us,” added Rollman.

Jukin Media currently claims one billion collective video views across its entire network.

Filed under: Articles, News, Studios by Bree Brouwer
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Last year, they took Orlando by storm. In 2015, they’re off to Sin City. They’re the Hotwives, and as of August 18th, they have returned to Hulu for their second season.

Hotwives, which parodies the Real Housewives TV franchise, began in 2014 with The Hotwives of Orlando, which provided plenty of laughs and ultimately secured multiple nominations at the upcoming Streamy Awards. Season two is titled The Hotwives of Las Vegas, but while it may have a new setting, the show’s cast remains most intact. Casey Wilson, for example, portrays a trashy Southern belle named Jenfer Beudon after playing a “trophy wife” named Tawny St. John in season one. Series creators Dannah Phirman and Danielle Schneider also show up as two of the seven hotwives.

As with the web series Burning Love, Hotwives is a co-production between Paramount Digital and Abominable Pictures. Those two studios have developed a distinct flavor for their collaborations, and Hotwives is no exception. Its biting satire of reality TV stars will play well with genre fans, and its numerous guest stars provide a steady stream of entertainment. The first episode, for example, features “Weird Al” Yankovic and Keegan-Michael Key in ludicrous roles.

The most important thing Hotwives has in common with Paramount and Abominable’s other co-productions, however, is that it is very funny. I was a big fan of Hotwives’ first season, and the first two episodes of the new season show that the faux-Real Housewives formula is still going strong. Check back each Tuesday to catch the remaining five installments.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Hulu, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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On November 8th, George Takei will come to Broadway. The former Star Trek cast member turned social media savant will bring Allegiance, a musical based off his life story, to Manhattan’s Longacre Theater. In order to give his fans an accurate depiction of what it’s like to create a Broadway show, Takei has launched Allegiance: Trek To Broadway, a behind-the-scenes web series available on his Facebook page.

Allegiance is based off Takei’s experience during World War II, when his family was forcibly relocated at one of the US’ infamous Japanese-American internment camps. The musical first ran in San Diego in 2012, where it picked up several local awards.

San Diego, however, is far from the big lights of Broadway, and that’s where Trek To Broadway comes in. In each installment of his 10-episode web series, Takei will break down specific elements of the production process. After sharing a debut episode two weeks ago, Takei has now released the second part of Trek To Broadway for his 8.8 million Facebook fans. The new episode pays particular attention to Allegiance’s audition process and casting choices.

Takei’s Facebook page is his most significant digital project, but he has also starred in several web series. He teamed up with AARP for Takei’s Take in 2013, and he explored his home life with his husband Brad in 2015’s It Takeis Two. Trek To Broadway feels like his most personal work so far, but it’s also an intriguing watch for anyone curious about the inner workings of the theater world.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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Since 2012, YouTube has hidden the useful (and sometimes comical) video tags entered by the clip’s owner. But now, a browser extension can help you revert the site back to its original, tag-supporting glory. Called Tags for YouTube, the extension allows YouTube users to uncover hidden video tags and see what terms a video creator initially entered to describe the clip.

Tags for YouTube can be installed on either the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox internet browsers. Once installed, users can refresh their YouTube tabs to see a video’s tags by clicking the “Show more” button in the description. Tags for YouTube may not work, however, if a user already has another YouTube-altering extension installed on the same browser.

Tags for YouTube is just one of several browser extensions developers and coding fanatics have created over the past few years to make users’ online video experiences more enjoyable on Google’s online video site. SmartVideo, for example, determines when to start playing a video uninterrupted with buffering, based on the speed of a video viewer’s individual internet connection. VidIQ’s Vision extension also shows tags along with a multitude of other metrics and stats, and until recently, Chrome extension Streamus allowed YouTube users to stream videos as background music.

You can download the Tags for YouTube extension from the Chrome Web Store or the Mozilla Add-Ons store.

Filed under: Articles, News, YouTube by Bree Brouwer
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All Def Digital (ADD) has a new web series showcasing the craziness of what it means to be a single woman in the modern age. The digital network, founded by businessman and entrepreneur Russell Simmons and centered on urban youth culture, has a new web series called The Kellys, which premiered on August 18, 2015.

In The Kellys, three Los Angeles women, all named Kelly, help each other deal with what a release calls “double standards, lame guys, and the highs and lows” of singleness (and most likely not any mass suicides). Each episode will find the Kellys addressing modern-day female problems like wearing comfortable shoes with dresses and drunk texting. The debut episode, for example, finds the three women discussing how to get over previous guys in their lives.

The Kellys stars Lourdes Gonzalez, star of the upcoming film She Wins, and Cynthia LuCiette, ADD’s host for its daily pop culture news segment The Drop. The third Kelly is played by Laila Odom, who has had roles in series like Bounce TV’s My Crazy Roommate and the upcoming flick Bikini Model Academy. Both Gonzalez and LuCiette wrote The Kellys, with LuCiette and Wesley “Wuz Good” Armstrong directing.

You can catch new episodes of The Kellys every Tuesday on All Def Digital’s YouTube channel.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News, Web Series by Bree Brouwer
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Time, Inc. is about to drop one of its first major online video projects. As part of its larger digital video strategy, the publishing giant is releasing its anthology-style documentary series New Orleans, Here & Now across multiple digital platforms on August 27, 2015, nearly ten years after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Produced alongside Killer Films, Field Office Films, and production and distribution company Rampante, New Orleans, Here & Now contains six different short films centered on the lives of individuals living in the post-Katrina Louisiana city. For example, one of the documentary’s episodes will cover the story of an oyster farmer and his decades-long quest to build a boat, while another segment will show four high school seniors, who were only eight when Katrina hit, preparing for graduation.

Time will release New Orleans, Here & Now on its own website; visitors to Time.com will be able to view one of the six segments of the documentary, while the remaining five will be exclusive to subscribers only. Additionally, People.com (whch is owned by Time, Inc.) will run one of the documentary series’ episodes for its own audience. New Orleans, Here & Now will also be available for purchase and viewing on Hulu, Sundance Doc Club, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.

John Maringouin, Zach Godshall, Katie Dellamaggiore, Lily Keber, Darius Clark Monroe, and Angela Tucker each directed one of the segments of Time’s New Orleans, Here & Now documentary. The series was executive produced by Scott Bakula, Pamela Koffler, Patricia Clarkson, and Christine Vachon.

You can watch New Orleans, Here & Now starting August 27 on Time.com, or one of the other digital outlets already mentioned above. In the meantime, you can check out the documentary series’ inspiring trailer below:

Filed under: Articles, News, Time Inc. by Bree Brouwer
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The world of branded merchandise related to YouTube channels contains all sorts of items, ranging from socks to Minecraft action figures. The current tie-in du jour, however, is the throw pillow. Throwboy, a company that makes throw pillows related to pop culture, has launched a new line centered around YouTube stars.

Throwboy’s new line is called Throwboy Loves, and the first three YouTube stars who will see their personal logos branded onto pillows are vloggers and BFFs Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camarena as well as prolific lister Matthew Santoro. Graceffa’s pillow can already be pre-ordered; it is shaped like a wolf, in reference to Graceffa’s dog.

The Throwboy Loves line is the latest collaboration between Throwboy and the YouTube community. Previously, Throwboy released a pillow emblazoned with the video site’s iconic subscribe button. “Since the early days of Throwboy, our brand was welcomed into the YouTube community,” said Throwboy Founder & CEO Roberto Hoyos in a release. “We are thrilled to be teaming up with top creators on something only Throwboy can offer.”

While Graceffa’s fans can currently pre-order his throw pillow (which retails for $24.99), it will become available for purchase on September 1st. Beyond Graceffa, Camarena, and Santoro, Throwboy also plans to announce more partners from the YouTube community in the coming weeks.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Joey Graceffa, News, Throwboy by Sam Gutelle
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The growth of digital media has afforded a lot of cross-pollination between TV networks and online platforms, with cable channels using sites like YouTube to reach additional viewers. The latest cable hub taking advantage of this cross-pollination is MyxTV, which has launched three web series aimed at its target audience of Asian-Americans.

Unlike the digital programs distributed by many other channels, Myx’s web series are not companions to its TV shows. Instead, it has established a diverse library that ranges from health to food to comedy. The first new series, The Alternative, is a sort of “DIY medicine” program that offers holistic treatments to common ailments. Buddha Smash focuses on an entertainer named Buddha who combines wanton destruction of ordinary objects with side-scrolling video games. Finally, Snaxxx will give adult film stars the opportunity to review snack foods from around the world.

“Myx TV is committed to entertaining millennials in fun, enjoyable and interesting ways, which is apparent with these original YouTube series and the network’s renewed focus on its digital presence,” said Miguel Santos, General Manager of Myx TV, in a press release. “These efforts make us more accessible and entertaining to a broader audience.”

MyxTV was first launched in 2007. It is currently available in more than 15 million homes.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, MyxTV, News by Sam Gutelle
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Vidme will soon be a part of the original video content crowd, but with a small twist. The YouTube-esque online video sharing platform will develop and commission one-minute-or-less documentaries to round out the company’s original programming efforts.

Vidme will host the mini-docs on a channel called Cannibal, so named because of the production company the video site is working with to create the 60-second clips. (It’s name is Cannibal, too). The original documentary shorts will cover unique topics like online sellers of used panties and Compton-area pride from the film Straight Outta Compton. Variety notes Vidme has already been testing out short-form content thanks to Fox’s Animation Domination High-Def animation company, which has released clips on its Vidme channel anywhere from a few seconds to a minute long.

Co-founders Warren Schaeffer and Alex Benzer told Variety making documentaries under a minute long makes sense for Vidme, because shorter content gets higher completion rates from the site’s younger audience. “One of the creators in our network suggested 60 seconds because he wanted videos that people could finish while stopped at a red light — though we don’t condone watching while you drive,” Schaeffer quipped.

Boasting a strong relationship with social news site Reddit and $3.2 million in recent funding, Vidme claimed roughly 400 million video views in the month of July 2015 alone. The video sharing site, which just launched an app called Gifdub to let users add music to GIFs, currently boasts 40 million unique visitors per month.

Filed under: Articles, News, Vidme by Bree Brouwer
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The web series that offers comedic breakdowns of classic works of literature is changing up its format. Thug Notes, in which streetwise lit critic Sparky Sweets, M.D. (portrayed by comedian Greg Edwards) brings a low-brow-yet-intelligent point of view to high school English class staples, has brought its wisdom to a book that is now available from multiple retailers.

The book, which is titled Thug Notes: A Street-Smart Guide to Classic Literature, features Sparky’s takes on “sixteen of literature’s most beloved classics,” ranging from Things Fall Apart to Hamlet to Lord of the Flies. Among other locations, the book is available from Amazon; as of this post, it has already marched up several of the online retailer’s hyper-specific bestseller lists.

Wisecrack, which produces the Thug Notes videos and distributes them on its YouTube channel of more than 500,000 subscribers, worked with publisher Vintage to bring a handful of Sparky’s most popular episodes to life. Since its 2013 premiere, Thug Notes has been a staple for Wisecrack, which has since crafted several other series based around the idea of “academic material conveyed in a hip, unusual manner.” The channel’s latest offering is Boss Bitches of History, in which a pair of adult film stars discuss famous women from around the world.

For students who are looking for simple, hilarious explanations of their assigned readings, the Thug Notes book is a compelling cheat sheet. As for those of us who no longer have to deal with assigned literature, we are free to enjoy Sparky’s Ebonic lit-crit without having to worry about his improper grammar slipping into our essays.

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