After winning accolades for his books and his writing in The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates is taking on the comics medium, and Marvel is following his creative journey with a polished new web series. Stan Lee’s studio has released the first episode of Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, which serves as a companion to the upcoming Black Panther series authored by Coates.
The Black Panther, who first emerged in 1966 as Marvel’s first black superhero, is the powerful king of a fictional African nation. In bringing his version of the character to readers, Coates decided not to waste time with idle setup. “Page one, you just jump right into the middle of it,” he says in the first episode of A Nation Under Our Feet. “The world is a beautiful wonderful place, sometimes we spoil it by the need to know every little thing.”
As Coates speaks, his words are accompanied by beautiful animations, and acclaimed hip-hop group Run the Jewels provides a pulse-pounding soundtrack. A Nation Under Our Feet isn’t the meatiest web companion out there, but it is an undeniable spectacle.
According to The Guardian, the first issue of Coates’ Black Panther series has already sold 300,000 copies. A second installment has since arrived, and 10 more will follow over the next 10 months. Through A Nation Under Our Feet, Marvel’s YouTube channel will follow along closely.
Thanks to its sharp wit and its relevant criticism of popular films, Honest Trailers has made a big impact in the film world. Directors like James Gunn and The Russo Brothers have acknowledged the web series’ existence and respected it by trying to make their movies “Honest Trailer-proof.”
Now, another member of the film industry has shared his love of Honest Trailers. The web series just released its Deadpool episode, and the superhero flick’s star, Ryan Reynolds, guest stars.
In the video, Honest Trailer epic voice Jon Bailey picks apart Deadpool’s flaws and inconsistencies with his usual litany of humorous takes, while Reynolds, in Deadpool’s voice, offers foul-mouthed counterpoints and some light-hearted criticism of his own. In fittingly “meta” fashion, Reynolds also tosses in some references to popular web series like Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and The Fine Bros’ React franchise.
As a release from Defy Media (the producer of Honest Trailers) notes, the idea for a collaboration with Reynolds followed Deadpool director Tim Miller’s interest in the Honest Trailer format. In an interview, Miller said he wanted to include an Honest Trailer in the credits of his movie. That would have matched the film’s self-aware opening credits, which as Reynolds explains in the new video, were “borrowed” from Honest Trailers.
“It was such a joy to work with Ryan,” said Defy Media SVP of Content Andy Signore. “He is absolutely the nicest dude and he just totally got it. He reached out directly, no studio, no agent, no PR reps – just him emailing directly making sure he gave us everything we needed. He gave us way more time then he had time to give, and I am extremely grateful for it! He’s a complete pro, and he’s made some new fans for life.”
When the people who you’re making of start to acknowledge your work — that’s when you know you’ve made it. New Honest Trailers episodes arrive each week on the ScreenJunkies channel.
As 360-degree videos explode across Facebook, the social network has compiled a list of the top 10 clips of 2016 thus far in terms of total viewing time.
Taking the number one spot is an ABC News video posted in January of Times Square in the midst of a two-foot blizzard. And the most-viewed clip within a 24-hour period features the opening credits of popular HBO series Game Of Thrones in 360 degrees, writes Facebook data analyst Jon Lee and partner product lead Paul Beddoe-Stephens. The Game of Thrones clip, they say, cinched a staggering 5.3 million views in one day.
Soccer and nature-related videos seem to perform particularly well in 360 degrees. Clips featuring the Liverpool and Barcelona Football Clubs both appear within the top 10, while three National Geographicclips — two of which were shot on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula — are also in the ranking.
And feature films have successfully harnessed the 360-degree medium as a promotional vehicle. Clips from Deadpooland Zoolander 2 both appear within the top 10.
Check out the full list, in order of views, below:
StyleHaul first made a name for itself with fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content, but at its 2016 NewFronts presentation, it unveiled a number of initiatives that will broaden its reach across several categories. The network’s new and upcoming ventures include a vertical aimed at moms, a branded content marketplace called StyleHaul Society, and several new original programs.
The new vertical is titled Millennial Moms, and it caters to the 900 StyleHaul partners who make mommy content; according to StyleHaul CEO Stephanie Horbaczewski, 50% of the network’s viewers are over the age of 25, suggesting an audience that is particularly interested in family content. “People come to our video for the hair, but they stay for our family,” said Mindy McKnight of Cute Girls Hairstyles, who is working with the Millennial Moms vertical.
StyleHaul Society caters to the brands who wish to make use of the incredible influence held by the popular creators in StyleHaul’s network. StyleHaul’s team works with advertisers by helping them select the right influencers to work with and giving them the ability to optimize Society campaigns after they’re live.
“StyleHaul Society draws on our expertise in the branded content space to further extend a brand’s message by using our community of storytellers,” said Horbaczewski in a press release. “Society ensures the inclusion of the important brand position in the conversations we create can continue. Retaining their place as a key part of the content is more important than ever before.”
The new developments on the content side of StyleHaul’s business also speak to the increasing variety of its networks. A program called Free to Fall will combine two recent trends in online video — VR and adaptations of young-adult fiction — to create a show that will feature 360-degree segments with each 22-minute episode. Two more projects will dive into the world of music. Singer Pia Mia will take center stage in a series produced by partnership with Madonna’s Material Girl fashion line, while a pact with music rights company BMG will spotlight artists like Andra Day (pictured above).
Here, via StyleHaul are additional details about the network’s upcoming programs:
· Collide with BMG
StyleHaul and BMG have partnered to bring fashion, beauty and music together in one incredible experiential program: Collide. BMG’s rising stars have partnered with StyleHaul creators to create original content. The first of BMG’s talent to participate is Andra Day. She launched her career on YouTube, has been nominated for two Grammys and collaborated with Spike Lee on her music video for Forever Mine.
· Free to Fall + VR
Popular YA book Free To Fall, released in 2014, is set in a not-so-distant future, where every choice is dictated by an app designed to ensure optimal decision-making. StyleHaul has launched a VR-series based on the book that features the protagonist Rory as she enters her first year in college. Each 22 minute episode will have a 3-5 minute 360-segment where the viewer will be able to follow Rory from a first person perspective and truly tap into her emotional journey as she undergoes critical moments in the story.
· Material Girl and Pia Mia:
Madonna’s fashion line Material Girl has recently crowned singer Pia Mia to serve as 2016 Creative Director. In partnership with Iconix, StyleHaul will produce a docu-series documenting Pia’s role and giving viewers and intimate look into her world and her artistic inspirations. The first episode will launch on July 14th on StyleHaul and align with the launch of the Material Girl collection exclusively at Macy’s.
YouTube has been caught in the music industry’s crosshairs of late, as leading artists and executives alike bemoan that revenues from the predominantly ad-supported platform are meager in comparison to those generated by subscription services like Spotify. Critics, including the renowned music manager Irving Azoff, also allege that YouTube enables unlicensed music to proliferate thanks to a safe harbor provision within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which states that platforms aren’t responsible for the actions of their users.
Now, one of YouTube’s most respected thought leaders, Hank Green, has weighed in in defense of the platform with an open letter to Azoff on Recode.
Much of Green’s thoughts echo a blog post written by YouTube itself last month. “Being on YouTube is good for artists and record labels, and everybody knows it,” Green writes. “YouTube has sent $3 billion in royalties to record labels. Fan-made videos that cost labels nothing to produce provide not just marketing but more than 50 percent of that $3 billion.”
Green also calls YouTube’s automated copyright system ContentID “amazing” and questions why labels don’t simply issue takedowns for their music if they find the platform so damaging. “These companies appear to be complaining about how bad their dinner is, mid-swallow,” Green writes. “I have to ask, if they hate it so much, why do they keep eating?”
And in the realm of rights management, Green applauds YouTube’s still-ongoing efforts on behalf of independent creators — many of whom, he says, have had their videos flagged and livelihoods threatened by rights holders (including music companies) even when they are repurposing copyrighted content in a way that falls under fair use.
“Should we only protect the rights of content owners who happen to be represented by major media companies?” Green asks. “YouTube isn’t ‘hiding behind’ DMCA safe harbor. It isn’t a loophole, it’s a law. It was designed to protect companies from overzealous litigation, and it’s doing exactly that.”
For more of Green’s thoughts, check out his post on Recode right here.
Studio71, which in January 2016 merged with fellow digital network Collective Digital Studios, works with some of the Internet’s most popular content creators. At its NewFronts event, it gave one of its newest partners, Flula Borg, a chance to show off his oddball personality before its execs took the stage to dazzle attendees with impressive statistics. According to Studio71 CEO Reza Izad, the network’s 1,200 partner channels deliver five billion views per month and make up 18% of YouTube’s coveted Google Preferred lineup.
The new programs in Studio71’s slate will give some of those partner channels a chance to build on the success they have achieved so far. Santoro, known for his educational lists, will search through the depths of Reddit to find impressive crafts projects for his series Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Made; Espinosa, who has more than a billion loops on Vine, will lead a show called Text Committee that will highlight common social media faux pas; and Family Fun Pack, which presents its eight-person clan to more 2.4 million subscribers, will go inside a typical 24-hour period with Family Fun Day. A fourth show shared at NewFronts, Rhett & Link’s Good Mythical Crew, has already premiered:
Other initiatives discussed during Studio71’s presentation include a new Lilly Singh-branded lipstick shade from Smashbox Cosmetics, upcoming feature films like Espinosa’s Be Somebody, and the Creators Insights Platform, which gathered data from 291,000 respondents in order to better understand the habits of online video viewers. Beyond those ventures, Studio71 teased several more short- and long-form projects, which it will announce in coming months.
The Rock is cooking up a brand new YouTube channel.
The semi-retired professional wrestler, who’s real name is Dwayne Johnson, announced this morning on Instagram(below) that his production company, Seven Bucks Productions, is launching a YouTube channel this summer with digital network Studio71. The channel — which Johnson calls “the best, biggest, bad ass, baldest YouTube channel ever” — will be called Seven Bucks Digital Studios.
A release said that the channel will feature “monthly collaborations with top digital native talent as well as an action-filled scripted online series.” The channel will also serve to spotlight Seven Bucks Productions’ traditional projects, which include forthcoming films like Baywatchand Shazamas well as television shows like TNT’s The Hero and HBO’s Ballers.
“Other than my family, social media is my strongest relationship and it’s allowed me to connect on a very direct and personal level with fans globally,” Johnson, who boasts roughly 100 million followers across all platforms, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with the world-class team at Studio71 to deliver cool, compelling and entertaining content for audiences around the world to enjoy.”
Johnson co-founded Seven Bucks Productions with his ex-wife and current manager, Dany Garcia.
DanceOn, as its suggests, has made a name for itself in the digital video world by distributing a network of dance videos across the web. Recently, however, it has started to branch out, and now, it is launching a new parent company to reflect its shifting focus. During NewFronts, DanceOn announced izo, which a press release describes as a “music brand for today’s connected generation.”
While dance videos will still be a major part of DanceOn’s m.o., izo (which is derived from the musical term “intermezzo”) will provide a new platform dedicated to music. Planned initiatives include several new web series, live events, and branded content.
“We are not just about dance anymore,” said DanceOn CEO Amanda Taylor in the press release. “In 2015, DanceOn pushed five new artists into Billboard’s Top 40. Our creative team and creator community develop programming that impacts music discovery and pop culture. Launching izo helps us further cultivate our audience of music fans and super-serve the DanceOn creator community and audience.”
Chief among the artists DanceOn has championed is Silentó, the Atlanta teenager who became a viral sensation after his song “Whip/Nae Nae” went viral. The music video for the song, produced by DanceOn, ended up as YouTube’s top trending video of 2015.
Amazon has today unveiled Amazon Video Direct (AVD), a program that will enable any and all video creators to post content to the company’s Video hub — which includes the tens of millions of subscribers for Amazon’s paid subscription platform Amazon Prime.
AVD users can post and monetize their videos in various ways. If added to the Amazon Prime library, for instance, creators can reap royalties based on hours streamed. Creators can also monetize by offering their content via one-off rentals or purchases, or even monthly subscriptions. And finally, in a move that brings Amazon squarely into competition with 10-year-old YouTube, it will allow creators to share revenues from ad impressions.
Just like YouTube’s revenue split, Amazon will keep 45% of ad earnings, according to The Wall Street Journal. It will take 50% of revenues from rentals, purchases, and subscriptions, and pay content holders 15 cents for every hour streamed in the U.S. on Amazon Prime. (AVD is also available in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and Japan, where creators will get 6 cents for every hour streamed on Prime.)
On top of these revenue models, Amazon says it will be doling out hefty bonuses. Through its so-called AVD Stars program, the company will hand out a total of $1 million every month — beginning in June 2016 — to the top 100 AVD titles in Prime. The portion of the $1 million bounty will be given to creators based on their videos’ watch time (which is reminiscent of Vessel’s payout system as well as the payout structure of YouTube Red). Anyone who makes their titles available on Prime will automatically have a chance to win a share of the payout.
In addition to this monetary incentive, Amazon says AVD will provide creators with critical performance metrics to help them improve their content output, including total minutes streamed, projected revenue, payment history, and subscriber count.
“It’s an amazing time to be a content creator,” said Jim Freeman, vice president of Amazon Video, in a statement. “With Amazon Video Direct, for the first time, there’s a self-service option for video providers to get their content into a premium streaming subscription service.”
In addition to amateur and aspiring content creators, AVD’s launch partners will include the multi-channel network StyleHaul, which will premiere its original Vanityseries on the service, as well as digital studios Kin Community, Machinima, and TYT Network.
In 2013, Matt Clarke and David Milchard scored a hit with Convos With My 2 Year Old, in which Milchard combined the adorable sayings of Clarke’s two-year-old daughter with his own adult body and mannerisms. Almost immediately, Clarke and Milchard vaulted to YouTube stardom, and they now have nearly 800,000 subscribers.
Three years later, Clarke and Milchard are still cranking out new Convos (they’re on season six now), but at the same time, they are branching out. They have launched a new channel called Cocomilk TV, on which they are working with various producers to explore new projects. Specifically, a press release describes Cocomilk as “a platform that will specialize in formats and be a venue for audiences who are looking for unique, irreverent and good-ole- silly-fun- time content.”
The first show to arrive on Cocomilk is Paranormal Solutions, which premiered in April. It is a comedy about occult investigators, a la Deadbeat or Ghost Ghirls, with Clarke and Milchard in two of the main roles. In contrast to the family-friendly fun offered by Convos, Paranormal Solutions lies somewhere between PG-13 and R and offers plenty of comic violence for its viewers.
For Clarke and Milchard, who are both actors by trade, Cocomilk is a smart way to leverage their skills on a platform where they already have a following. After Paranormal Solutions, at least five more Cocomilk web series are in the works. For now, if you’d like to see the channel’s current eight-episode show as its new installments arrive, be sure to subscribe.
Go90 has a number of ambitious programs in its distribution pipeline, but it would be safe to call The Runneris splashiest title. A new trailer has provided a first look at the reality program, which is presented by executive producers Ben Affleck,Matt Damon, and three others. It will premiere on July 1st.
In The Runner, one contestant will attempt to cross the United States in 30 days without getting caught by his fellow participants. Should he succeed in his journey, he’ll win a hefty prize, but there will thousands of impediments in his way. On the Go90 app, viewers can view daily episodes and decode clues that will lead them to the runner’s current location. Anyone who helps corral the show’s target has a chance to earn a prize of their own. “The most important player,” says the new trailer’s dramatic narrator, “is you.”
The Runner has been a pet project of Affleck and Damon’s for more than a decade-and-a-half. In 2001, the cinematic duo had a deal in place to bring their reality concept to ABC, but after 9/11, heightened tensions put the kibosh on that plan. 15 years later, GPS technology has improved considerably and public opinion has shifted, thus allowing Affleck and Damon to resurrect The Runner.
If The Runner’s concept intrigues you — and it certainly sounds like a clever way to blend reality TV with social media — you can follow along once the show premieres on July 1st. You’ll need to download Go90, which is available for both iOS and Android devices.
[Editors Note: This article and all others in this column WILL contain SPOILERS. If you have not seen the latest episode of The Amazing Race season 28, it’s highly suggested you do so before you read the below. You have been warned and may Phil Keoghan have mercy on your soul. And for a reminder of the super cool and descriptive nicknames we have for the teams, check out the coverage of Episode 1. You can also find all of our The Amazing Race recaps right here.]
#TheVillians…Probably Not Who You Were Expecting
I’m honestly running out of ways to say “starring social media influencers” for these articles but welcome again to my coverage of this season of The Amazing Race, now with extra social media influencer action! This is the last episode before the big season finale, the crowning of a new Race winner, and the $1 Million dollar prize that comes with it. Will #Torey continue to dominate? Will Team Rooster Teeth continue their second place winning streak? Will Dana finally consume Matt whole with her rage? Can Team Family Time continue to be true underdogs and move out of last place?
All these questions were answered this episode but the editing took quite a few surprising turns, depicting the teams in a very different way than we’ve seen them all season. For starters, the teams’ first task is to fly to Shenzhen, China to search for their next clue. At the travel agency, #Torey decides to christen Team Rooster Teeth#TheVillians. It’s an interesting move considering that aside from making some great strategic decisions (including the one that got Frisbee Boys eliminated), Team Rooster Teeth hasn’t done anything especially villain worthy, except for Burnie and Ashley being extremely supportive of each other and kissing a lot. Viewers seemed kind of confused by this moniker, too.
And it’s from this moment forward that the majority of the episode becomes a pissing match between Tyler and Burnie. Hey, I get this is the last leg before the finale and things were probably SUPER tense, but it almost seemed forced. But let’s keep moving through the episode and see if maybe I’m just overreacting, shall we?
Around The World In One Episode
Once the teams land in China, they need to find their next clue in the busy airport. #Torey, The Dancers, and Team Rooster Teeth find their clues and go to exchange money for this leg. Team Family Time decides to exchange money first and then pick up the clue. #Torey and The Dancers find their clues first, but don’t let any of the other teams know. Burnie of Team Rooster Teeth then holds up his clue and comments that there was only one left when he found it, thus calling out the other teams’ lie by omission. He also steers Team Family Time in the right direction of where to find the clue. Whether this was a good strategy is certainly debatable, but it definitely continues to ruffle Tyler’s already ruffled feathers.
But the next move in this “sudden” rivalry comes at the Road Block for this week’s episode. Teams head to an amusement park called Windows of the World, which contains over 150 miniature versions of landmarks from all around the globe. One member from each team is given a passport filled with clues and teams must collect stickers at sights they think fit the clue. Once they get them all right, they are given the next clue.
In a move I guess I get now but didn’t really understand at the time, Tyler and Dana from The Dancers decide to team up. Now, I know I haven’t always pictured Dana in the best light, but I guess I can see how her fiery personality would be one Tyler would gravitate towaords. And we must have missed a bit in past episodes because now it seems #Torey and The Dancers have been besties THIS WHOLE TIME. Again, I blame the powers that be at Race for this late-in-the-game revelation. They wanted to include some drama in the final installments and this was definitely not a storyline we’d been shown until now.
Burnie is not amused when the #Torey / The Dancers teamup decides to lie to him AGAIN. He goes ahead and takes a dig at them while running around the park.
And so you don’t think Burnie was just pumping up his chest, he actually backs it up by finishing the RoadBlock first for Team Rooster Teeth, followed by #Torey and The Dancers.
What’s Team Family Time been up to this whole time? Well, Sherri takes on this task and well…let’s just say per her usual MO, she gets really, really lost and has to start asking people for help. They definitely have some time to make up going into the Detour.
In this moment, Sheri doesn’t know WTF is going on.
Just a Couple of #CarpenterJocks
Even though Team Rooster Teeth did finish the RoadBlock before #Torey and The Dancers, their lead is short-lived as those teams catch up on the way to their next location, which is Lychee Park. From here, teams need to choose between two tasks for the Detour: Commuter Cycle or Master of Arts.
In Commuter Cycle, teams emulate a local type of getting around, which is this weird unicycle-like contraption that kind of looks like a one-wheeled segway with tiny footholds, but without any kind of handle to hold onto. It does not look easy. Plus, on top of having to ride the thing, teams have to get dressed up in a business suit and carry a briefcase and a cup of coffee while they do it. In Master of Arts, teams have to find a marked paint brush in a sea of artists. That artist will give them a stack of art to deliver to a local art gallery. Then teams have to hang up the found art in the correct configuration and to some really strict spacing specifications.
The Dancers and #Torey decide to do Master of Arts, while Team Rooster Teeth decide to take the other route and do Commuter Cycle. This is a gamble that they’ve tried…and didn’t do so well with…before (remember when they had to pitch a tent in the snow and one of their tent poles broke?), so they are hoping it can pay off this time, keep them ahead of Team Family Time, and maybe even jump them up to first if they can jam through it quickly.
It’s a decision they almost immediately regret upon getting on one of those weird unicycle thingys. They give it a go for a good amount of time, but then decide to switch to Master of Arts.
Back at the art galleries…#Torey keep their running title as Hashtag Champions by coining #CarpenterJocks.
Tyler and Korey, continuing to throw shade at the Frisbros even after their elimination. #AmazingRace#CarpenterJocks
Tyler explaining how to properly be a #CarpenterJock.
Despite the joking around and exclamations about how cute they look in their carpenter outfits (and I will admit, they looked darn cute), #Torey is very efficient in this challenge and figure out quickly the pattern the pictures need to be hung up, as well as the exact spacing the judges are looking for (they use a term of measurement they call “smidgens”). Team Dancers is actually quite good at this challenge, too, because Matt used to flip houses when he was saving up money to LA to pursue his dance career (and hey, it’s nice to learn more about Matt since the majority of the season has focused on Dana‘s poor treatment of him).
Dana, picture here, currently not yelling at Matt.
Meanwhile, Team Family Time have finished the RoadBlock and have decided to do Commuter Cycle for their Detour. They are having similar problems as Team Rooster Teeth, but instead of switching, they decide to stick with it. Sherri actually picks it up a lot quicker than Cole and instead of getting overly frustrated, even when it started to rain and make it even harder, they keep a positive attitude and just decide to have fun.
Sheri riding into the future.
And The Final 3 Are…
As teams finish their Detours, first #Torey and The Dancers and then Team Rooster Teeth and Team Family Time (we don’t know exactly in what order because…DRAMA!), they are given just a picture as the clue for the location of the Pit Stop. It turns out they need to get to the Shenzhen Library Terrace overlooking Shenzhen Civic Center. By this time, it’s raining and there is traffic, which especially effects Team Rooster Teeth, who end up jumping out of their cab and running part of the way.
#Torey comes in first for their fifth win this season. There is some question as to what, if anything they won on this leg, as it’s not announced on the show and Korey Tweets that they still don’t know.
The Dancers come in second. They received the most positive edit they’ve had all season. We’ll see if that holds into the stress of the final.
Now the editors just decide to be really, really mean and really, really stretch out who is going to be the third team to arrive. The Pit Stop is located up a flight of stairs, so of course, the cameras have this sweet vantage point to catch the team just as they round a corner and up the steps. They hold that shot for a loooooooong time guys…
— Jonathan Targaryen (@HypnoticNarwhal) May 7, 2016
…and it’s Team Family Time! For what seems like the millionth time this season, Cole and Sherri are able to pull ahead and this time they did it when they needed it the most. And while I’m super bummed Team Rooster Teeth is out of it, as they were my original pick to win, I also can’t fault Team Family Time for always sticking with it, even when it seemed they were too behind to make it. All in all, this will be a solid #Final3. Though I didn’t get as emotional as some people.
Burnie also had nothing but wonderful things to say about the other teams in the #Final3. Thanks for being a class act Burnie, we’ll miss you and Ashley in the finals but you done great.
. @DanaAlexaNY & @MattSteffanina are the only team in top five that didn’t need a non-elim, an EP or a Uturn to get where they are
We’ll miss the hugs and kisses and enthusiasm, Burnie and Ashley. Good ‘Race’!
So this is it! The next leg is for all the marbles! Who do you think will win it out of this #Final3? Are you happy it came down to these teams? Let me know in the comments below and also be sure to Tweet during future episodes and you might see your Tweet featured in my finale coverage!
