The amount of original programming on SVOD services has exploded over the past few years, thus making it harder to stay up to date on all the shows coming to services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The latter platform’s latest pickup, however, is worth paying special attention to. It’s called Comrade Detective, and it’s a dubbed live-action comedy that boasts an impressive voice cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum.
Comrade Detective comes from A24, the acclaimed studio known for its work on indie hits like Moonlight and Room. Here, the setting is 1980s Romania, where a pair of detectives work to find out the truth behind the death of a fellow law enforcement agent. The leads are portrayed by Romanian actors, with Gordon-Levitt and Tatum stepping in to dub their lines into English. Think Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, but with an all-star voice cast and more Cold War jokes.
The star power of Comrade Detective doesn’t end with its two lead dubbers. Prominent actors who have contributed their voices to the project include Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, and Mahershala Ali.
“In a world of global television it was inevitable that the best comedy of the year would come from Romania. Well that day has come,” said Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy, Drama and VR at Amazon Studios, in a press release. “Comrade Detective is unbelievably compelling, visually brilliant, and Gregor and Iosef are the heroes we need.”
Given A24’s track record, Comrade Detective will be worth checking out when it arrives on August 4. If you’re unfamiliar with the studio’s work, some of the films it has worked on are available through (you guessed it) Amazon Prime.
Filed under: Amazon Studios, Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Upcoming Amazon Series Boasts Impressive Voice Cast Led By Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum
Super League Gaming, a leading esports company for amateurs, has today announced a $15 million funding round led by kids’ media company Nickelodeon, China-based DMG Entertainment, Softbank‘s ISAT fund, Toba Capital, and several traditional sports team owners, including Jeffrey Vinik, who owns the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lighting.
The Series C means that Super League, which was founded in 2014, has now raised a total of $28 million. Previous investors include movie theater chain Cinemark USA, ET Capital, and Quadrant Management.
Super League launched by offering Minecraftevents in movie theaters for kids, and has since hosted more than 30,000 kid-friendly local competitions across six seasons of play. In November, Super League partnered with Riot Games to launch a competitive events series for League Of Legends — the second season of which premieres on July 12.
“We are excited to enter the world of esports through our relationship with Super League, which has a loyal and growing fan base of kids,” said Matthew Evans, Nickelodeon’s EVP of digital and new business. “Nickelodeon is interested in esports because gaming is an important passion point for kids today, and forging this partnership with Super League puts us at the forefront of where kids will be playing next.”
Filed under: Funding by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Super League, An Esports Company For Amateurs, Raises $15 Million From Nickelodeon, DMG, More
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.
A media company with significant backing has committed to sharing compelling pieces of nonfiction, and audiences have responded positively.
Great Big Story, a venture launched in 2015 thank to funding from CNN, has excelled on numerous platforms. While its has been most successful on Facebook, it also recently surpassed one million subscribers on YouTube, and it will soon expand its over-the-top presence thanks to the launch of a 24-hour streaming channel. To celebrate the second of those three accomplishments, we spoke to a handful of GBS execs — co-founder Chris Berend, VP of Content Courtney Coupe, VP of Audiences Khalil Jetha, co-founder Andrew Morse, Head of Sales Partnerships David Spiegel, VP of Development Matt Drake, and SVP and GM Uyen Tieu — about their work.
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you have to say to GBS fans?
Chris Berend: Our YouTube fans have excited our creators and pushed us to think bigger. The fact that we have more than one million of them is absolutely thrilling.
TF: What would you say is the general idea that unites all GBS content?
Courtney Coupe: All of our Great Big Stories are truly a celebration of the unexpected and amazing people and places around the world. We aim to show our audience something they haven’t seen and tell them something they didn’t know. We look through our camera lens with a sense of wonder. By traveling to and telling stories in over 80 countries, we are trying to make this great big world feel just a little bit smaller.
TF: How does GBS source its stories? More specifically, where do you find these interesting people you’re always featuring in videos?
CC: Our producers know that in order to surprise our audience, we can’t look in traditional places – like the front page of national newspapers or homepages of popular websites – to find a Great Big Story. So they keep their ears to the ground and follow their curiosity wherever it might strike them – whether that means following up on a conversation had with friends over brunch, seeing a moving image on the web and wanting to know the story behind it, or conferring with a relative in a foreign country who might have closer insight to the interesting people and trends in their community.
TF: Have to done research to figure what subjects are most interesting to young viewers? If so, what are some interesting results you’ve found?
Khalil Jetha: We used to focus on topics, but have instead shifted our focus to honing our voice. Publishing the gripping, visually striking stories with a style all our own has been more important than topical specificity in the establishment of our brand. The quality of our stories and the emotional resonance they evoke enables us to tell stories from all sorts of subjects. It widens our scope and has been key to our growth. Looking at our top pieces – our scientist origamist, for example, is a vastly different from our male hula dancers, and both of those are different than our look at the voice of Mario, and even The Gnomist.
TF: GBS is often compared to Vice and BuzzFeed. Do you welcome those comparisons? What would you say makes your platform unique?
Andrew Morse: I don’t think those are the right comparisons. I think GBS is scratching an itch that no other media brand can. We’ve developed a distinct voice and style and a commitment to high quality video storytelling. When you see the GBS rocketship you know you are going to be getting a surprising and uplifting story that shows you something you’ve never seen before.
TF: What strategy guides your approach to branded content?
David Spiegel: Just as Great Big Story fills a void for global cinematic storytelling, we aim to do the same with our brand partners. We want to deliver awesome stories that wouldn’t be told anywhere else, while also resonating with our loyal fans. We’ve seen brands benefit from this approach, either as an underwriting sponsor of our editorial franchises or with our custom branded content.
TF: How do you decide which pieces of content to post on which platforms? Or is it more accurate to say that you share everything on all your channels?
Matt Drake: We’ve always thought carefully about content distribution across each platform since the jump. There’s a reason why we’ve used YouTube to house our longer-form, why Facebook is where we’ve played with brand voice and live extensions and why Instagram has been a “behind the curtain” creators experience. We’ve been keenly aware that each audience on each platform has a different expectation and it’s on us to curate that experience accordingly.
TF: What will the recently-announced 24-hour streaming channel add to the GBS brand?
Uyen Tieu: We always wanted to redefine what it means to be a 21st century media network for a global audience. Now, we have the opportunity to expand the incredible foundation we’ve established on social to deliver deeper, more engaging stories to Great Big Story fans around the clock. Some programming will be live, some will be long-form and acquired pieces, but we’ll always stay true to the daily micro docs that made this company what it is today.
What’s next for the GBS YouTube channel? Any funs plans?
UT: We are going to be experimenting with new formats and paying very close attention to our audience consumption patterns. From THE SHOW (an episodic program featuring multiple stories intro’ed by our producers) to Great Big Films – we have such a rabid fan-base that with this new round of funding we can really push the boundaries on storytelling, letting our producers explore their creative ambitions more than ever before.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Millionaires, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on YouTube Millionaires: Great Big Story Aims To Make The World “Feel Just A Little Bit Smaller”
Celebrity pastry chef Anna Olson, whose Food Network Canada series Bake With Anna Olson is set to air this fall, has joined Kin Community, a digital network and content company in the lifestyle space.
As part of the deal, Kin Community’s Canadian division will manage and ink brand deals for Olson’s Oh Yum YouTube channel, which counts roughly 200,000 subscribers and 12 million lifetime views. Kin will also harness its marketing, promotional, and data services in order to drive greater engagement and growth on Oh Yum, which is produced in partnership by Peace Point Entertainment Group and Boat Rocker Studios, and which features versions of Olson’s most popular recipes reimagined for YouTube.
In order to kickstart the partnership, Olson and fellow Kin creator Beth Le Manach (of Entertaining With Beth) collaborated on a series where they shared dessert recipes for Canada Day and July 4, respectively. Other Canadian creators signed to Kin — which has a roster of roughly 130 YouTubers — include Rachel Cooper (RachhLoves), Yolanda Gampp (How To Cake It), and Lauren Toyota (Hot For Food).
“Anna is a dynamic chef and personality, who fits perfectly into Kin’s community of creators focused on all things home,” said Kin’s VP of international, Rick Matthews. “Our brand partners now have the opportunity to work with Anna across multiple platforms — broadcast, foodnetwork.ca, and YouTube — to maximize their impact and reach.”
“[Anna] has experienced great success on television and more recently online, which makes her partnership with Kin so timely,” added John MacDonald, SVP of women and lifestyle content of Corus Entertainment, which owns Food Network Canada.
Filed under: Kin Community by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Kin Community Signs Celebrity Pastry Chef Anna Olson
Awesomeness, the leading Gen Z media company — which recently dropped the ‘TV’ from the end of its moniker — has tapped Tumblr’s former head of communications and public policy, Katherine Barna, as its new VP of communications.
In her new role, Barna will oversee communications, PR, and social responsibility for the company’s four divisions: AwesomenessTV, Awesomeness Films, DreamWorksTV, and Awestruck. Barna held similar responsibilities at Tumblr, where she initiated the company’s first social campaign around mental health awareness dubbed ‘Post It Forward’. Prior to Tumblr, Barna was a publicist at Newsweekmagazine.
“All aspects of this ecosystem are evolving, including how we interact with our consumers, press, and partners,” said Awesomeness CMO T.J. Marchetti in a statement. “Katherine’s success working at Tumblr, a platform beloved by its community and respected in the industry, makes her a great fit for our company as we continue to embrace the global Gen Z audience.”
Adds Barna: “When it comes to what younger generations are paying attention to and how they consume it, Awesomeness has continually stood out as a truly forward-thinking and innovative company. The opportunity to join this team of creative and passionate people who are blazing the path for media and entertainment is one I simply could not pass up.”
Filed under: AwesomenessTV by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Awesomeness Names Former Tumblr Exec Katherine Barna VP Of Communications
The Dormtainment channel, which features the comedic adventures of five friends, has been quiet for the past six months, but the sketch group behind it is now returning to YouTube with what is arguably its biggest project to date. Dormtainment and All Def Digitalhave teamed up for Snap!, a scripted comedy pilot that will premiere on July 5th on YouTube Red.
Snap! will follow a rap group called Stacks-4-Daze, which has fallen a long way as the snap music genre declined. When a viral hit on WorldStarHipHop (which, perhaps not coincidentally, has an active partnership with All Def) propels Stacks-4-Daze back into the limelight, the group attempts to use its temporary fame to “bring the stacks back,” according to a video description attached to Snap!’s teaser.
For Dormtainment, which has more than one million subscribers on its YouTube channel, Snap! is the latest in a series of significant programming ventures. The group teamed up with Comedy Central for a 2014 web series, reached the top of the iTunes charts with a comedy album released in 2015, and created a digital special titled Getchu A Little Sandwich. For its latest project, Dormtainment is taking its crack at the half-hour format and is betting that its fans will be willing to pick up the $9.99-per-month YouTube Red accounts needed to watch Snap!.
As for All Def Digital, Russell Simmons’ network has expanded across multiple platforms since its 2013 launch. Last year, among other initiatives, it shared Major Deal, its first feature film. It also has experience working with Dormtainment; the two enterprises previously joined forces for a 2014 web series titled The Six.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, YouTube Red by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Sketch Comedy Group Dormtainment Teams With All Def Digital For ‘Snap!’ On YouTube Red
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: Author Mark Laidlaw recent went viral when he proposed that any novel could be improved by making “and then the murders began” its second line. To see an applied example of philosophy, check out 20 Seconds To Live. Ben Rockand Bob DeRosa‘s short-form horror series counts down to on-screen deaths, and despite the strict nature of that format, the result is far from predictable.
Episodes of 20 Seconds To Live, which rarely last more than a few minutes, set up standard horror movie situations before starting a 20-second timer. As that clock counts down, tension builds, and by the time it reaches zero, one of the characters on the screen bites the dust. In the first episode of the previously-produced first season, for example, a mysterious figure eavesdrops on a couple from a nearby bush. Once the timer reaches zero, however, expectations are subverted, with 20 Seconds To Live delivering a combination of gore and laughs.
After finding some success with their first go-round, Rock and DeRosa have come to Indiegogo to fund a second batch of episodes. Should they raise the money they seek, they will deliver more unexpected kills to their bloodthirsty fans.
Creator Bio: Rock has been directing short-form content for TV and the web since the 90s. DeRosa‘s credits include a TV gig as a story editor for USA’s White Collar.
Best Perk: A $25 contribution will get you a personalized death certificate, which is exactly the piece of identification you need to sneak into that cool dead man’s party.
Why You Should Fund It: The first season of 20 Seconds To Live, which is available in its entirety online, displays the inventive plotting, eye-winking genre awareness, and snappy humor that viewers can expect from the show’s forthcoming episodes. Rock and DeRosa managed to take a concept that should have limited them and build it into an entertaining series of short vignettes. As a result, they received awards at web festivals in Berlin and Nashville. They certainly deserve another opportunity to let the blood flow, and I hope they’ll receive it.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fund This, Indiegogo, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Fund This: ’20 Seconds To Live’ Counts Down To Its Second Season On Indiegogo
Twitch announced today a facelift for its mobile app — on both iOS and Android — as well as a suite of new features aimed to improve discovery and functionality. The changes, which were requested by community members, according to Twitch, are beginning to roll out today and will be widely available by July.
For instance, the update will enable users to begin broadcasting directly from their smartphones, and will also tout a ‘Dark Mode’ inverted color scheme for a varied viewing experience. Other updates include new navigation bars; a new section for ‘Pulse’, the platform’s content recommendation feed; swipe surfing that will enable users to seamlessly move between streams and playlists; a dedicated section where streams are ranked according to region and language; and a revamped notification center that’s comparable to the desktop version.
“Twitch has a vibrant community on mobile, with more than 83 million installs of our app,” said Tom Robertson, senior director of product management. “Not only will our creators reach a new audience through the app itself, the launch of mobile streaming gives them the opportunity to offer new content to their fans. We can’t wait to see what they create.”
Last December, Twitch announced a new ‘IRL‘ content category for non-gaming-related videos, and said at the time that it would subsequently launch native streaming from within the Twitch app.
Filed under: TwitchTV by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Twitch Overhauls App, Adds Native Mobile Streaming And ‘Dark Mode’
Though YouTube prank videos have spawned public outrage and myriadarrests, perhaps the most harrowing tragedy to emerge thus far from the video genre involves the death of a 22-year-old Minnesota creator who was killed by his girlfriend on Monday in the midst of filming a prank.
Pedro Ruiz III, who headlined the La MonaLisa vlog channel with his girlfriend, 19-year-old Monalisa Perez, was shot to death in the chest while filming a video in which they believed the bullet would be stopped by a book. The incident, in which Perez shot Ruiz from about a foot away, was allegedly captured by two cameras, according to the Pioneer Press. When emergency workers arrived on the scene, they attempted to revive Ruiz, but later declared that he had died as a result of the ill-conceived prank.
Perez has subsequently been charged with second-degree manslaughter and jailed. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years or a fine of $20,000 — or both, according to BuzzFeed. The two have a three-year-old daughter, who witnessed the incident, and Perez is currently pregnant with their second child.
“They were in love,” Claudia Ruiz — Pedro’s aunt — told the Press. “It was just a prank gone wrong. It shouldn’t have happened like this. It shouldn’t have happened at all.”
The couple’s nascent channel, launched in March, currently counts 300 subscribers and 3,000 views. The channel’s most popular video is a gender reveal for their baby-to-be (above).
Filed under: Prank by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Aspiring YouTuber, 22, Fatally Shot While Filming Ill-Conceived Prank Video
Back in March, rapper 21 Savage showed up on TV and inspired a Twitter meme. Fewer than four months after that fateful day, a web series based on it has arrived on Instagram. 21 Savage lends his voice to The Year 2100, which is distributed by the fledgling video platform WeBuyGold.
The Year 2100 is set during its titular era, with 21 Savage ruling over the people after winning the “Rap Wars” thanks to his music. In search of new beats, he and his robotic sidekick take a trip to his hometown of Atlanta. The first episode of the series, animated by Somehoodlum, is now available, with another one set to arrive next week.
21 Savage’s super-villainous identity stems from 21 Savage’s appearance on the ESPN program Highly Questionable. During an interview with the show’s hosts, he sported an unkempt haircut and a sinister-looking countenance, which led to a flurry of tweets characterizing him as a cartoonish antagonist. The most popular of those jokes has received more than 113,000 retweets to date.
why this pic look like 21 Savage is a supervillain interrupting a broadcast to reveal his evil plan to the world pic.twitter.com/tWhor8F2y3
“I’m excited to bring this cartoon villain to life and for my fans to see a new side of me,” said 21 Savage in a press release. “The Year 2100 intrigued me as it was the perfect opportunity to combine my music with a new medium and share it with my fans.”
21 Savage’s status as a hip-hop artist and a social media standout makes him a kindred spirit with WeBuyGold’s Creative Director, DJ Khaled. Khaled, who is one of the most popular celebrities on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, previously launched a WeBuyGold show of his own, titled The Bless Up.
WeBuyGold, launched out of media brand Naritiv, plans to launch more animated series led by star musicians. More information about the platform can be found on its website.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Video Platform WeBuyGold’s New Series Animates A Super-Villainous Meme
At VidCon last week, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that a forthcoming Step Up series adaptation would be among the most ambitious projects to date for Red, the company’s premium subscription service.
Now, several casting announcements have been made for Step Up: High Water — a 10-episode drama based on the blockbuster dance movie franchise, which is slated to debut on YouTube Red this fall. The series will star singer-songwriter Ne-Yo, Naya Rivera (Glee), and Faizon Love (Elf). It will follow a group of young dancer’s at Atlanta’s High Water Performing Arts School. Production is currently under way by Lionsgate in Atlanta, according to Variety.
High Water’s executive producers include Hollywood heavyweight Adam Shankman (who also directed the pilot) and Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum — both of whom starred in the original Step Up movie. The series will feature original music by Grammy winner Jason ‘PooBear’ Boyd (Justin Bieber) and ‘Jingle’ Jared Gustadt (Brad Paisley). The film’s original choreographer, Jamal Sims, will also return for the first episode, though subsequent installments will be choreographed by Jamaica Craft.
Other cast members include Lauryn McClain, Petrice Jones, Marcus Mitchell, Jade Chynoweth, Carlito Olivero, Terrence Green, R. Marcos Taylor, Eric Graise, and Kendra Oyesanya.
High Water marks the first-ever scripted drama series from YouTube Red, which is priced at $10 per month. YouTube first announced the project at VidCon in 2016, and it was initially slated to debut this summer. While YouTube has not broken out subscription data for Red, it announced at VidCon that its 37 original series have clocked a total of 250 million views thus far. Thirteen releases are slated for 2017.
There have been a total of five Step Up films to date, which have grossed a collective $651 million at the box office.
Filed under: Uncategorized, YouTube by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Ne-Yo, Naya Rivera To Headline YouTube Red’s Most Ambitious Series To Date
Star Wars fans still have to endure about six more months of waiting before the much-anticipated eighth episode of the sci-fi saga arrives in theaters, but in the meantime, a new web series will add more depth to some of the franchise’s most notable characters. A trailer has arrived for Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, an anthology that is paying particular attention to the female heroes who lived a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Forces of Destiny, announced back in April, is an animated series that brings back several prominent actors from recent Star Wars movies to reprise their roles. The voice cast includes Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones, and Lupita Nyong’o, with characters like Rey, Jyn Erso, and Leia receiving new stories of their own. These leading ladies are out in full force in a sneak peek for Forces of Destiny that arrived a week before the series’ premiere date.
The first batch of Forces of Destiny episodes will consist of eight shorts, which will be released across eight consecutive days on the Disney YouTube channel. On July 9, the collected stories will air on TV via the Disney Channel. As the Mouse House is wont to do, it has also devised a merchandising tie-in for Forces of Destiny, with items related to the series arriving in stores on August 1.
The first episode of Forces of Destiny will go live on July 3.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Star Wars by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Disney’s Web Series About The Women Of The ‘Star Wars’ Universe Will Arrive On July 3
