Multi-Platform Network Collab Signs YouTube Horror VR Channel BlackBoxTV

Multi-platform network Collab, which reps over 400 social influencers including King Bach and Baby Ariel, has signed horror and sci-fi-themed YouTube channel BlackBoxTV — which is increasingly moving toward VR and 360-degree storytelling.

In addition to providing rights management for BlackBoxTV, Collab will also fund two new 360-video productions, the company said. The first is Demoniac — a character-driven concept series about “an outsider named Tamsin Black who is possessed by a group of hostile yet often helpful spirits,” according to Collab. Demonaic will debut on YouTube and could potentially include accompanying 360 experiences, films, video games, and other interactive components.

BlackBoxTV, which was founded by writer/director Tony Valenzuela in 2010 and now counts roughly 800,000 subscribers on its proprietary YouTube channel, is behind hit series like Fight Of The Living Dead

— a YouTube Red original in which top creators, including VitalyzdTV, FouseyTUBE, Tré Melvin, and Brittani Louise Taylor, must fight their way through an abandoned hospital in a simulated zombie apocalypse.

“Collab has always been a company we admired because, at their core, they are creatives who respect the artistic process and experience,” Valenzuela said in a statement. Added Collab co-CEO Tyler McFadden: “Tony and the BlackBoxTV team have been some of the most innovative digital video creators over the past decade, producing TV-quality horror and sci-Fi unlike anything else on YouTube.”

Collab says its network comprises 700 million fans that account for billions of views per month across various social platforms.