Supergravity Pictures is having a big VidCon weekend. The day before the debut of the feature film studio’s second movie, The Chosen, it has announced a strategic investment from Otter Media, the joint venture launched by The Chernin Group and AT&T.
Otter Media, which also owns a controlling stake in top multi-channel YouTube network Fullscreen, will support Supergravity as the studio looks to expand its team and secure additional film deals. The investment will include a co-production partnership, through which we can assume Supergravity will work closely with the Fullscreen Films division, which has produced movies like #O2LForever.
“This investment gives us the capital to execute our vision of building a movie studio that produces, markets and sells high-quality films directly to the passionate audiences that desire them,” said Supergravity co-founder Max Benator in a press release. “To turn our vision into a reality, I can’t think of a better partner than Otter Media, one of the most innovative and forward looking groups in the digital video and entertainment space.”
“Otter Media sees the future a lot like we do,” added Marc Hustvedt, Supergravity’s other co-founder. “Entertainment is rapidly changing in everything from distribution to consumption, and even affects the kinds of stories that can get made. Together we are going to build a whole new kind of studio.”
Supergravity did not reveal the size of Otter Media’s investment. Previous investors in the studio include Van Toffler and Larry Braitman.
Full Disclosure: Marc Hustvedt is one of the founders of Tubefilter.
As part of its work with clients like Pepsi, GE, and Jim Beam, creative agency Mekanism has often turned to social media to find appropriate distribution platforms for its branded content. Now, with its latest acquisition, Mekanism will further bolster its presence online. It has acquired Epic Signal, a company that creates branded campaigns featuring social media influencers.
The acquisition of Epic Signal allows Mekanism to offer greater social media marketing services in-house. Adweek, which first reported the news, compared the deal to Twitter’s acquisition of Niche; like Niche, Epic Signal also connects brands to like-minded content creators. One of its recent campaigns, for example, paired gifted dancer Marquese Scott with clothing outlet Uniqlo.
Mekanism and Epic Signal are also tied together by Brendan Gahan, who founded the latter company and previously worked for six years at the former. In between, he had a brief stint at Fullscreen, where he served as VP of Brand Strategy. “We’re incredibly excited,” said Gahan in a press release. “The social video space is growing so quickly, and with this deal we’ll be able to grow with it and have the best minds in digital, creative, and client services advising us.”
According to Adweek, Mekanism spent “several million” to complete the deal.
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 member of YouTube’s gaming community to reach the important plateau of one million subscribers is an exuberant Brit named Oliver Ryan. Ryan, who makes videos on YouTube on his MasterOv channel, has achieved a significant following by playing YouTube standards like Clash of Clans. At the same time, Ryan–who is partnered with BroadbandTV often ventures toward lesser-known titles. Here are his thoughts on his video-making process:
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have 1 million subscribers? What do you want to say to your fans?
MasterOv: It’s crazy, something I would have never thought I’d achieve. For some reason, 1,000,000 people have decided to sit there and watch me in my room play games! And I can’t thank each and every single one of them enough. They are the real Master.
TF: Why did you decide to start a YouTube channel about gaming?
MO: I only really started as one day I was bored, and the day before I’d been to a gaming convention and met Tom (Syndicate). I had no idea who he was, or what he did, but my friend explained he was a ‘YouTuber’ and he plays games to millions of viewers and that inspired me to start my own channel.
TF: How do you think you managed to set yourself apart in a saturated video game content market?
MO: I started on smaller games that weren’t very widely covered like PvZ Garden Warfare. I then moved into a market I thought was very small with huge potential, Mobile Gaming. I then pushed major mobile titles and as the mobile gaming market grew, so did the channel!
TF: Your top five most-viewed videos are about Clash of Clans. Why do you think YouTube viewers love that game and related content so much?
MO: I think it just did everything right. Supercell made a cracking game, great strategy with a cheeky side that people just fell for. Add this to a F2P Model (Or a P2W some people say) and then you’ve got a game where you can make content that people want to see that maybe can’t afford ‘Gems’ or do crazy raids.
TF: What’s it like being able to film content with your fiancé Charlotte?
MO: It’s….interesting. We are very different on camera, she goes shy and I go loud. But that works. It offers great contrast and makes our challenges / duel commentaries very interesting and different! We are also both super competitive… so things get serious!
TF: Do you ever have days where you didn’t feel like making a video? What do you do to get past that?
MO: Definitely. I try to create two videos a day and it does get tough. I usually like to go out for a drive and completely vanish from the social side for a few hours, I then find ideas, write them down and film later that day!
TF: If you could spend a day with any video game character, who would it be and why?
TF: Where do you see yourself in five, ten years? Will making YouTube videos still be a part of your life?
MO: Five years, that’s a long way away! I’d hope that video games and YouTube would be my priority! I can’t see YouTube or other similar platforms going away, there is just such a need and love for them. So I’d say still making videos, but maybe on the iPad Air 50 or something
TF: What’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
MO: More content, better quality, and vlogs! I’m striving to produce higher quality content after my break, but I’ve now started vlogging and I love it! So daily vlogs and more gaming is on deck!
As savvy YouTube analysts understand, views and subscribers don’t tell the whole story. Instead, there are many different factors–some of which are completely intangible–that determine who’s popular and who’s not. In a recent report, Variety has taken a deeper look at the numbers to ascertain which YouTube stars truly hold the most sway. The trade publication teamed up with Tubular Labs to rank the 12 most significant “Famechangers” among the YouTube community.
To generate its ranking, Variety used Tubular’s Influencer Score (TIS) metric, which unifies more than 10 different measurements as a single, scaled score. While TIS goes beyond raw subscriber counts, the man at the top of Variety’s list also happens to have far more followers on YouTube than anyone else. Indeed, it is Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg who is still the top dog, and by conquering the TIS ranking, he found himself on the cover of Variety’s latest issue.
Beyond this basic ranking, Variety’s new research also follows up on a groundbreaking study it conducted last year. In August 2014, the trade publication surveyed teens between the ages of 13 and 18, who on average revealed a preference for homegrown online video stars like Smosh, PewDiePie, and Ryan Higa over traditional media celebrities like Katy Perry, Jennifer Lawrence, and Seth Rogen.
In order to assure its readers that its 2014 study was no fluke, Variety surveyed teenagers again in 2015, and this time, the results were even more dramatic. Out of the top 10 most influential people, only two–Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift–came up through traditional media platforms.
As with last year, the decision to ask about qualities like “authenticity” and “approachability” certainly favors the stars who have made their names on YouTube. In addition, some of the choices for Hollywood stars are a little suspect (Is there any teen out there who feels a particularly close connection to Jennifer Aniston?) Nonetheless, YouTube is no fad, and each year, its stars gain more influence among young consumers. As they did last year, expect proponents of web video advertising will hold up Variety’s research as a clear exhibit of the Internet’s rising clout.
Joining Mehrotra on the Victorious team are two other execs who, like Chen, come from YouTube. Kathleen Hahn, who previously connected YouTube to West Coast multi-channel networks, is Victorious’ new VP of Strategy and Partnerships, and Tony Zameczkowski, a former member of YouTube’s Asia-Pacific team, is now the app builder’s VP and Managing Director. Another new executive, VP of Marketing Julia Tang, comes to Victorious from Instagram.
Victorious’ expanding team will work with a constantly-expanding group of clients. In addition to individual content creators like Ryan Higa, Victorious also works with media companies and multi-channel networks, and companies that will bring their respective brands to upcoming apps include Complex Media and Whistle Sports. Information about those apps–and others–is expected in the coming months.
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: Looking to learn more about tying the knot? A proposed web series has the power to fill you in by looking at wedding traditions the world over. Misadventurist Mediais seeking Kickstarter funds for I Do, which will show how various cultures around globe celebrate the institution of marriage.
Each episode of I Do will take viewers to a new country, where hosts Stacy Libokmeto and Benjamin J. Spencer will attend a wedding ceremony. The point, as the hosts explain it (they’re also the co-founders of Misadventurist Media) is to use marriage as a lens through which they can examine entire cultures. “The most important question for us remains: why are these traditions so important to people around the world, even in impoverished regions, that they’re willing to sacrifice so much to make them happen? Maybe weddings are about more than their superficial trappings. What if weddings are also a window into a culture, a history, a people?”
The pilot episode, which takes place in Cambodia, has already been shot, and it can be seen in the project’s pitch video.
Creator Bio: Libokmeto and Spencer are themselves a married couple, though as they explain, they did not have a formal ceremony. Some of their work can be found on their YouTube channel.
Best Perk: Backers who give $5 will receive a postcard from I Do’s hosts. Given the amount they will travel to shoot their series, the postcard could come from anywhere.
Why You Should Fund It: At its heart, I Do is a travel show, but by focusing on a particular aspect of local cultures, it has the potential to evolve beyond the sort of show you could watch in the middle of the day on cable TV. The Cambodian episode shows off plenty of bright colors and interesting characters, and the hosts clearly have great passion for the world at large. In short, I Do is a neat concept that deserves to be rendered–and there are certainly plenty of wedding traditions to explore.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
YouTube is currently devising a number of original programs created in partnership with its top creators. In order to bolster the team working on its homegrown projects, the world’s largest video site has made a big hire. Susanne Daniels will leave her role as MTV’s Head of Programming to become YouTube’s VP of Originals.
The Hollywood Reporter explains that Daniels will report directly to YouTube content head Robert Kyncl and will oversee Alex Carloss’ original programming team. The staff in YouTube’s originals division, which underwent a reorganization in 2014, also includes Tim Shey, Ivana Kirkbride, and Ben Relles.
“Susanne is an executive whose incredible instincts have led her to consistently generate pop culture hits that audiences relate to and root for,” said Kyncl. “Susanne’s deep expertise in programming will be invaluable to us and our top creators and help them foster even more ambitious projects for YouTube.”
This past April, YouTube announced its plans to fund original series created by four of its biggest stars: The Fine Bros, Prank Vs. Prank, Joey Graceffa, and Smosh. While those series do not yet have confirmed release dates, some of them could arrive exclusively on the ad-free, paid subscription service YouTube is reportedly planning.
Daniels joined MTV in 2012. Programs she worked on during her tenure at the cable channel including Finding Carter and Scream.
Collective Digital Studio (CDS) was born out of a music management company, and with its latest announcement, the multi-channel network is hearkening back to its roots. It has signed a deal that will bring musical group Boyce Avenue into its network of creative partners.
Boyce Avenue, which consists of three brothers from Florida, has used soulful, crooning covers of popular songs to gather a large audience across an eight-year career on YouTube. Its subscriber base now totals more than 7.2 million, and it recently became one of the few channels to cross the impressive two billion views plateau.
As Boyce Avenue has grown, it has committed itself to an independent identity. The band was partnered with major record label Universal Republic between 2010 and 2011, but the experience left a bad taste in the brothers’ mouths. “One of the happiest days for us was when we got off the label,” Boyce Avenue member Daniel Manzano told USA Today in a February 2015 interview.
Of course, being independent doesn’t preclude oneself from seeking partnerships on YouTube, and that’s where CDS–whose services include channel management and cross-platform opportunities–comes in. “We joined YouTube only two years after its launch before being a YouTube star was a thing,” said Boyce Avenue in a press release. “We knew this was a platform from which we could share our music internationally with our fans in a very direct and personal way. It’s been amazing to see how appreciative and receptive all our followers have been worldwide. We’re excited to partner with CDS, a company with a lot of experience in both the music industry and the digital media arena, to continue to provide our fans with even more videos and music and push things to a new level.”
As indie musicians, Boyce Avenue will be in good company among CDS’ ranks. Other musical YouTube stars who are partnered with the network include singer/songwriter Madilyn Bailey and indie music publication Pitchfork.
This week, the biggest names in the online video industry have converged upon Anaheim for VidCon. For those who cannot make the trip, however, access to YouTube stars is available in the pages of a new publication. British publisher Egmont, which specializes in “printed entertainment for kids and teenagers,” is behind Oh My Vlog (yes, that is seriously its name), a magazine that includes profiles, games, and other content related to YouTube stars.
Oh My Vlog, which is currently available from retailers in the UK, focuses on popular YouTube personalities like Zoella, Miranda Sings, and Marcus Butler. Among all the usual sort of gossipy content one would expect from a magazine like this, there are trading cards that apply fictional stats to YouTube stars and stickers that share various teen vernacular. A particularly snarky review from Business Insider notes “The fleek shall inherit the earth” and “Eat tweet sleep repeat” as a couple of the featured phrases.
A magazine may seem like an odd way to engage with web video viewers, but as YouTube stars migrate across platforms, their fans have demonstrated their eagerness to consume all sorts of media. Smosh previously spun its YouTube channel into a magazine, and YouTube stars took over the pages of Seventeen last September.
Business Insider’s article claims Oh My Vlog will just be a one-off publication, but MTV UK suggests it could become a continuing periodical. It retails for £3.99.
Across its network, Jukin Media has built up a library of user-generated clips that ranges from hilarious fails to adorable animals. With Jukin’s latest deal, it will bolster the latter of those two categories. It has teamed up with FremantleMedia’s Tiny Riot! studio to manage The Pet Collective, a digital channel that offers all sorts of animal-related entertainment.
The Pet Collective, which FremantleMedia launched on YouTube as part of the video site’s $100 million investment in original content, has evolved into a popular destination for pet lovers. Fueled by a handful of viral videos and a steady stream of short, lovable animal clips, it has amassed an audience of 563,000 subscribers and has scored more than 170 million views.
By bringing its expertise to The Pet Collective, Jukin will look to secure new opportunities for the channel, especially on platforms like over-the-top and TV. The network’s strategy with The Pet Collective mirrors the previous plan it applied to the FailArmy channel; after acquiring that hub, Jukin shopped it around before ultimately using it as the basis for a FOX TV show called World’s Funniest Fails.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Tiny Riot! and expand Jukin’s portfolio of brands to include “The Pet Collective,’” said Jukin’s Chief Growth Officer Cameron Saless in a press release. “We are confident we can leverage our multi-platform approach to growing brands like FailArmy to help take ‘The Pet Collective’ to the next level.”
YouTube creators now have a new tool to help them figure out just how much they deserve to be paid. After six weeks in beta, the digital influence tool and analytics resource Social Bluebook launched on July 21, 2015, with former Maker Studios executive Chad Sahley leading the way.
The entire idea behind Social Bluebook, whose name refers to valuation and standards systems, is to give creators the power of determining their own bottom-line monetary worth, without relying on a middle-man negotiator or general channel data. The tool seeks to answer questions such as “What is my brand value or digital worth?” and “How much should I charge for brand deals?”
Essentially, Social Bluebook empowers YouTube, Vine, and Instagram creators’ negotiating rights by using algorithms to reveal their respective valuations. Bluebook determines these numbers based on digital reach, engagement, and the social profiles entered by the tool’s users upon registration. Numbers and values naturally fluctuate according to the creators’ changing digital influence.
“Our objective is to provide creators with a fair and accurate starting point for their negotiations,” said Sahley, Bluebook’s CEO, in a release. Sahley is the former VP of Production at Maker Studios; now, the executive runs the Bluebook development team of analysts and programmers who, according to the company’s official site, use a constantly-changing, Google PageRank-like “secret sauce” method of calculating worth.
“The creators have united and we’ve engineered what the community has been asking for,” Sahley explained. “There are amazing tools out there to accurately assess a variety of metrics, but none of them empower the creators to help them negotiate fair deals.”
Creators can sign up for the beta of Social Bluebook for free by visiting the tool’s website. Bluebook notes on its site it will be adding support and integration for Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social platforms in the future.
On July 16, 2015, Crackle released its made-for-digital film Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, a sequel to the 2001 flick starring David Spade. Now, Crackle has revealed Joe Dirt 2 has garnered over one million total views only five days after its digital debut.
Crackle ran some numbers to determine how much Joe Dirt 2 would have made if it had a theatrical run. According to Deadline, Sony’s streaming video company said the Spade-starring movie would have pulled in a revenue of $8.12 million as of this writing, assuming the average ticket price of $8.12 as set forth by the National Association of Theatre Owners.
Crackle originally announced plans to produce a sequel to Joe Dirt back at the 2013 Digital Content Newfronts. Little else was revealed about the film until October 2014, when Crackle shared more details about the production and announced a 2015 release date. Only a few weeks before the Joe Dirt 2 premiere, Crackle hyped up the film’s release by launching a matching app which lets users “hick themselves” by adding digital mullets to their pictures.
