Issa Rae has had her eye on the TV industry for years, but from the sound of it, Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl fans will have to wait a little longer to witness Rae’s move to the small screen. During a recent presentation at an event hosted by the Television Critics Association, HBO CEO Richard Plepler and president of programming Michael Lombardo shared a few details about Insecure, an upcoming pilot created by and starring Rae.

The good news is that Insecure, which was first announced this past February, is moving forward as planned. Prentice Penny, known for his work on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, has signed on as showrunner, and casting is currently underway. The bad news is that the pilot won’t be available for at least another year. The earliest it could arrive is sometime late in 2016, but the HBO execs didn’t rule out the possibility of pushing it back to 2017.

The hope is that Rae will have plenty of time to put together a strong pilot; Lombardo is “very hopeful” about Insecure, though he admits it will be “slightly different in tone” from Rae’s Awkward Black Girl web series.

Across two seasons on YouTube, Awkward Black Girl has received millions of views and attracted a dedicated following. The HBO pilot isn’t the first time Rae has been considered for television; in 2012, she teamed up with Shonda Rhimes for I Hate LA Dudes, a planned ABC project that ultimately fizzled out. With Insecure, Rae will get a second chance, and she’ll have plenty of time to put together a strong project.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Issa Rae, News by Sam Gutelle
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For years, Google has touted its “20% time” management philosophy, where employees can use 20% of their work time to be creative and innovative in a way that will benefit Google. This ”20% time” is something of a mystery; besides major projects like Gmail and Google News, which were a result of the management method, no one really knows how employees currently utilize this free time, or even if it’s free time at all.

A new web series hopes to pull back the cover on the “20% time” enigma. Two female Google employees, who only reveal their names as Nat and Lo, launched a new behind-the-scenes, scripted program called Nat & Lo’s 20% Project. In the series, the women follow their curiosity to explore what other Google employees do with their 20% creative time.

So far, Nat and Lo have released three episodes dedicated to separate Google projects. In the first installment, the women cover how Google’s Street View project goes beyond just pictures of roads and manages to capture photos from places like the Grand Canyon by using a backpack-style device called the Trekker. Episode two of the 20% Project series explains to viewers how Google[x] projects are prototyped and tested, and the third episode shows how Google Translate is able to turn unreadable text into a language you can understand.

You can catch more episodes of Nat & Lo’s 20% Project on the duo’s YouTube channel. The Google employees have promised to release new episodes about once every two weeks.

Filed under: Articles, Google, News, Web Series by Bree Brouwer
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What’s Trending has launched a new podcast, and brought on a live streaming partner to add in a visual element. The news network founded by Shira Lazar has teamed with interactive video broadcasting company Firetalk to launch the live streamed What’s Trending Podcast.

The new podcast from What’s Trending allows live stream audiences to chat during the podcast and interact with other fans via the Firetalk streaming platform. The first episode of the What’s Trending Podcast was broadcast live from VidCon 2015. Lazar hosted guests Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox of Smosh, as well as Andy Signore and Brett Weiner of Screen Junkies and the Honest Trailers web series.

“We created the What’s Trending Podcast to be another digital tool for connecting our audience with the creators they love,” said Lazar in a release. “It’s also a great opportunity for us to tell longer-form stories about the week’s trending topics that don’t always fit on YouTube or Twitter. We chose Firetalk for its outstanding audience interaction tools, easy YouTube interface, impressive stream quality, and compatibility with virtually any camera device.”

“The best creators are embracing the immediacy, audience interaction, and authenticity of live-streaming, and Firetalk’s newly launched platform has been built specifically to serve the needs of creators and their fans,” added Firetalk’s General Manager Rush Doshi. “Shira and the What’s Trending Podcast team have earned a reputation as trusted voices on the frontier of the digital content movement, so it’s particularly gratifying that they’ve chosen Firetalk as their podcast live-streaming partner.”

What’s Trending Podcast’s second episode will feature prankster Vitaly Zdorovetskiy of the YouTube channel VitalyzdTv, which boasts over 8.4 million subscribers. Audiences can watch the live stream version of the podcast starting at 4 PM PST/7 PM EST on July 30, 2015 on What’s Trending’s dedicated page on Firetalk.com. The second episode of the news network’s podcast will be saved on Firetalk’s site for later viewing.

You can listen to the What’s Trending Podcast every Friday via SoundCloud or iTunes. The podcast’s live streams, both current and recorded, can be viewed on Firetalk.com.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News, What's Trending by Bree Brouwer
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On October 16th, Netflix will enter new territory when it releases Beasts of No Nation, its first original film. In anticipation of that release date, Netflix has shared a trailer for the drama, and it’s a doozy. Beasts of No Nation looks as if it will be an intense, gripping ride filled with strong performances.

Beasts of No Nation, directed by True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga stars Idris Elba as an African warlord who takes an impressionable boy under his wing. In the teaser, Elba’s character demands his young protege kill a man, as brief flashbacks fill us in on the plot. It’s great stuff.

When Netflix announced its acquisition of Beasts of No Nation, it received plenty of resistance from nationwide theater chains. The chains oppose Netflix’s decision to release the film online at the same time it arrives in theaters, and as a result they opted to boycott it. The bottom line, though, is that if Beasts of No Nation is good enough, viewers will find ways to watch it, even if it doesn’t screen in many theaters. For that reason, Beasts of No Nation could be a real shakeup for the movie industry. Plus, come Oscar time, we might see Netflix well-represented–and not just in the documentary categories.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Netflix, News by Sam Gutelle
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As NBCUniversal mulls a big investment in digital media, one of its subsidiaries has forged its own pact with an online video network. NBC Universo, a TV channel that offers programming for young Latinos, has struck a deal with MiTu that will bring a series called Vive el Verano to traditional and digital platforms.

Here’s how a press release from MiTu describes the new series:

“Vive el Verano is a series of fun, quick-hitting clips produced by MiTu and stars [sic] some of its popular talent, including El Guzii, Maiah Ocando, Luan Palomera, Luisito Comunica, and Oh Em Gee It’s Eddie G., whose combined audience spans in the millions and across all major social media platforms. The topics include do-it-yourself summer hacks relevant to young Latinos, such as electronics, must-have summer apps, fun backyard and pool ideas, savory and sweet grilling recipes and outdoor entertaining tips.”

Vive el Verano will make its TV premiere on August 1st and will air across the following month. The NBC Universo channel, which will host the series, is available in more than 40 million households in the US. In addition, Vive el Verano clips will also be available on the NBC Universo website.

MiTu, which claims an audience of 100 million global viewers, has recently made TV a significant focus of its expansion. Specifically, it has partnered with Discovery for Spanish-language programs on the Discovery Familia and Discovery en Español channels. With its new deal, it has expanded its reach even further, and offered up some exciting opportunities for its creative partners along the way.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Studios by Sam Gutelle
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Digital advertising continues to pull advertisers’ funds away from traditional television. At least that’s according to Standard Media Index (SMI), an intelligence entity offering insight into the advertising industry that just reported roughly $1 billion of advertisers’ dollars were moved from TV to digital from October 2014 to June 2015.

The majority of this $1 billion change-of-hands ad spend was pulled from broadcasting, which lost approximately $960 million to digital advertising during the timeframe. Ad-supported cable networks staved off digital advertising a little better. Digital took about $140 million away from cablers as a whole in the nine-month stretch.

“This analysis lifts the veil on the true impact that digital media is having on the wider advertising market,” said Scott Grunther, EVP of Media at SMI, according to AdAge. “It’s not only a story of shifting share, but of organic growth as well.” Grunther also explained social media, along with online video, will play a huge role in the growth of the digital ad market.

SMI’s study backs other recent findings and ideas that digital media and online video spending will take away from marketers’ cable and broadcast budgets. In June 2015, FTI Consulting predicted digital ad spending would hit $41.8 billion in 2015 to completely surpass broadcast advertising budgets. Likewise, Forrester Research believes brands will spend more on digital than on traditional television by the year 2019, peaking at $103 billion.

However, AdAge notes there are several factors to take into account when looking at all these numbers. For instance, while digital media as a whole may steal ad dollars from TV, only a small portion of this can be attributed to any one digital format. AdAge reports online video advertising is on track to hit $7.77 billion by the end of 2015, but this is only 10% of the overall $70.6 billion marketers are still pumping into broadcast, cable, local, and syndicated television on an annual basis.

Digital may be pulling away ad dollars from TV, but it will be another several years before the medium takes over the majority of the total TV marketing spend.

Filed under: Articles, Industry, News by Bree Brouwer
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Fuisz Media has secured itself a hefty chunk of change. The interactive video company, founded in 2012 by Justin Fuisz, has raised a $10 million funding round led by Evolution Media Capital.

Fuisz Media’s proprietary technology allows its partners to put clickable annotations in videos. While this may seem like a simple task, Fuisz accomplishes it in a way that ends up being much more elegant than, say YouTube’s annotations. Take, for example, the Gillette video featured on Fuisz Media’s website; throughout the duration of the ad, viewers are prompted to click on it and head to the Gillette website.

With its new capital, Fuisz will be able to build upon its existing services and recruit more brand partners, particularly in the entertainment industry. Its current clients include companies like Microsoft, Ford, and Target.

The videos Fuisz Media powers aren’t just pretty, though; according to Justin Fuisz, they’re also far more efficient than typical web videos. As Fuisz told Variety, his company’s videos achieve click-through rates of about 60%, which is significantly higher than the low click-through rates associated with pre-roll advertising on YouTube.

“The Snapchat generation doesn’t want pre-roll ads,” Fuisz told Variety. “With our Hollywood partners, we have an opportunity to go after long-form brand integration.”

Thanks to previous funding rounds, Fuisz Media has now raised more than $12 million in venture capital. Other investors who participated in the current round include former Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn and former AOL CEO Jon Miller. Both Levinsohn and Evolution Media Capital’s Ian Doody have joined the Fuisz Media board.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fuisz Media, News by Sam Gutelle
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Back in February 2015, Honda announced it would be the official presenting sponsor of Yahoo’s new season of Community. Now, the results of that partnership are in, and they’re quite remarkable. Overall, Honda’s integration into the cancelled-NBC-sitcom-turned-Yahoo-original drove a 164% increase in unaided brand recall.

Episode seven of Community boasted the most branded content from Honda. Based on that specific episode alone, the car manufacturer found brand recall for its Honda CR-V hit 95% among viewers, while recall for the Honda Fit reached 88%. Fans of Community’s seventh episode also said they were 225% more likely to search for information about Honda, 82% more likely to visit the car company’s site, and 61% more likely to buy a Honda over another car brand.

Honda also created the hashtag #Level7Susceptible to pair with episode seven of Community‘s season six. This hashtag pulled in over 29 million impressions from Twitter alone in its first week, which was more engagement than any other Community episode received save the season six finale.

“Working with Yahoo, Community presented the perfect opportunity for Honda to connect with and inspire our audience across screens,” said Tom Peyton, Assistant Vice President of Marketing at American Honda, in a release. “The results of this program are a real testament to the power of online video and the ability to reach key audiences in new ways that resonate with our passionate customers.”

You can watch season six of Community exclusively on Yahoo! Screen.

Filed under: Articles, Branded Entertainment, News, Web Series by Bree Brouwer
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Amazon Instant Video has just landed a huge deal with three former Top Gear hosts. The streaming subscription service has signed Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May to produce an unnamed car show to debut exclusively on the platform sometime in 2016.

The upcoming automobile-based series from Amazon will be produced by former Top Gear executive Andy Wilman. Production is set to begin in the fall of 2015, with Clarkson, Hammond, and May signed on for at least three seasons of the series. According to Variety, the three Top Gear hosts may have been attracted to Amazon for its promise of creative control over the new show.

“Our approach is to give program-makers creative freedom to be innovative and make the shows they want to make,” said Jay Marine, VP of Amazon Prime Video EU. “We can’t wait to see what Jeremy, Richard, James, and the team will create in what is sure to be one of the most globally anticipated shows of 2016.”

“I feel like I’ve climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship,” Clarkson quipped, with May adding, “We have become part of the new age of smart TV. Ironic, isn’t it?” Clarkson also took to his Twitter account to announce, much to his chagrin, that Amazon Video won’t let him be the company’s chief drone pilot.

.@AmazonVideoUK now saying I can’t be their chief drone pilot. Apparently they want us to make a car show.

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 30, 2015

Amazon’s deal with Clarkson, Hammond, and May is an impressive win for the streaming video-on-demand service. Amazon essentially beat Hulu, Netflix, and British TV network ITV to signing the Top Gear hosts, who earlier this month were reportedly in talks with those three outlets to bring back their cancelled BBC show.

Plus, Amazon will now have a new original series under its brand that boasts a pre-existing fan base and plenty of name recognition, which should help it compete with fellow streaming services. Up to this point, Amazon has lagged behind Netflix in terms of original series with raving viewers, with the one exception of the Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated series Transparent.

The BBC is planning to bring back Top Gear with new host Chris Evans, but fans of the original trio of hosts will undoubtedly turn their eyes to Amazon Instant Video for more car facts and thrills in the future.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News by Bree Brouwer
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NBCUniversal is eyeing two of the biggest companies in the digital media world. According to Recode, NBCU is “close” to closing a pair of deals that would give it stake in both BuzzFeed and Vox Media.

Like many other companies that run big TV businesses, NBCU is trying to figure out how to negotiate a changing landscape in which many young people are cutting the cord and consuming the majority of their media intake online. BuzzFeed and Vox, which both feature youthful sensibilities and have many of the same visitors in common, can both help NBCU established a bigger digital presence.

Exact monetary values for the investments aren’t known, but Recode believes NBCU is considering a $1.5 billion valuation for BuzzFeed and an $850 million valuation for Vox. Both digital media publishers have raised big rounds of venture capital in the past year; BuzzFeed raised $50 million in August 2014, and Vox scored its own $46.5 million round three months later.

As Recode suggests, an investment from a major media company like NBCU (which is itself owned by Comcast) could be huge for BuzzFeed, which is currently planning some longer-form content through its BuzzFeed Motion Pictures division. Just as an investment from A&E will give Vice Media its own TV channel, BuzzFeed could use NBCU’s investment to support a jump to TV and film.

Vox has its own big plans too. It has recently put an increased focus on video across owned-and-operated sites like The Verge, SB Nation, and Racked.

NBCU, BuzzFeed, and Vox all declined to comment on Recode’s report.

Filed under: Articles, Buzzfeed, Featured, NBC, NBC Universal Digital Studio, News, Vox Media by Sam Gutelle
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Jukin Media now has a little more financial wiggle room. The viral video network has raised $2 million in funding from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (Samsung Ventures).

Jukin Media’s entire business is based on monetizing and licensing viral, user-generated video clips. However, the new funds from Samsung will provide Jukin greater flexibility to grow some of its developing departments and original projects. Jukin’s President and COO Lee Essner said in a release that the company has “several profitable and expanding business units, which is rare for a company at this stage.”

“Although we have always funded the company solely from operations and have not yet touched any previously raised investor capital, the Samsung Venture investment gives us maximum flexibility to expand our investment in tech and original production, both of which have been pivotal factors in our sustained growth,” Essner explained.

Jukin Media raised roughly $1 million from Maker Studios and Launchpad LA back in 2014. With additional investments from partners like Karlin Ventures, BDMI, Peter Guber, Allen DeBevoise, Canyon Creek Capital, and Kombo Ventures, Jukin finished out 2014 with over $2.2 million in raised funds.

“Jukin is extraordinarily unique for a digital-first entertainment company in that it’s profitable, expanding, and has amassed a significant intellectual property portfolio in the form of its owned-and-operated brands and its impressive video library,” added Thomas Jueng, Sr., Manager of Samsung Venture.

Jukin’s viral video expertise has landed the company a TV show deal with FOX, who took the brand’s FailArmy property and turned it into a linear show with impressive viewership stats. Jukin also launched its own viral video feed service for publishers to embed clips onto their sites. The company also co-manages The Pet Collective YouTube channel from FremantleMedia’s Tiny Riot! studio.

Jukin currently claims over one billion monthly video views across all its platforms.

Filed under: Articles, News, Studios by Bree Brouwer
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Facebook and YouTube are currently battling for online video supremacy, but at the same time, they are emerging as rivals in the world of virtual reality, too. As YouTube rolls out its own library of 360-degree videos that can be viewed on devices like Google Cardboard, Facebook is support its own VR projects. One recent premiere on the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift is Henry, a short film from former Pixar animator Ramiro Lopez Dau.

Henry has an adorable premise that would not be out of place in a pre-feature Pixar short. It centers on the titular porcupine, who loves to give hugs despite his prickly nature. Dau is using the project to experiment with VR storytelling techniques. “Can you make a character emote in VR? How does it feel? Those questions were at the core of Henry,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Oculus, which Facebook acquired in 2014, still has not released a version of its Rift headset to the public, but the device is expected to make its debut on the market during the first quarter of 2016. In order to ensure a decent launch library, Oculus created the Oculus Story Studio, which has been hard at work on projects like Henry.

As Oculus gears up for its public launch, we will probably hear about more of these original projects. As Oculus COO Laird Malamed understands, content is king. “We need a regular flow of content, that’s probably our biggest focus right now,” Melamed told THR. “We have our content teams working on narratives, games and Oculus Cinema, an app that allows you to view content in the virtual space.”

According to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, between 10 to 20 pieces of content will be available on the Rift at launch

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