Following in the footsteps of Katy Perry, another pop luminary is set to bare her soul on YouTube.

During a chat with YouTube’s global content head, Susanne Daniels, at Cannes Lions yesterday, Demi Lovato provided a preview of her previously announced docuseries, which has now been titled Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated. “I feel like I’m at a pivotal point in my life, turning 25,” she said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m looking at my future and my past, and I want to share that with my fans.”

Simply Complicated will be exclusively sponsored by beauty retailer Ulta, and represents one of a crop of new ad-supported originals that YouTube unveiled at Brandcast in May. Other shows are slated from Ellen DeGeneres, Kevin Hart, The Slow Mo Guys, and Rhett And Link.

While Lovato says that it was difficult to adjust to having cameras follow her around all the time, she sought to partner with YouTube because of her deep history with the platform, and its legions of fans across the globe. “YouTube is the OG,” she said. “I started my own YouTube channel over 10 years ago, and I’ve been able to create my own content and to connect with my fans through there, so being able to partner with [them] has been a dream come true.”

At Cannes Lions, Daniels also touted the explosive viewership of Katy Perry’s four-day live stream in the lead-up to her new album, Witness, as evidence that YouTube can spark massive global conversations in a way that ad-supported programming on TV cannot.

While a premiere date for Simply Complicated has not yet been set, it will presumably coincide with the release of Lovato’s new single and album, which she says are coming soon. Lovato will also be a part of the Ryan Seacrest-produced, ad-supported YouTube singing competition Best. Cover. Ever.

Filed under: YouTube by Geoff Weiss
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Advertising giant Dentsu Aegis Network announced today that it has acquired a majority stake in Gleam Futures — a U.K.-based digital talent management company that represents some of the top YouTubers on earth, including Zoella, the Pixiwoo sisters, Marcus Butler, and Caspar Lee.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gleam is based in London with offices in Los Angeles, and was founded in 2010 by Dominic Smales, who today serves as the company’s CEO. Gleam counts 37 employees, reps roughly 40 total creators (whose YouTube channels count a combined 60 million subscribers), and clocked $5.5 million in revenue last year.

Smales will continue to lead Gleam as CEO from the company’s current headquarters in London, and Gleam will continue to represent its talent roster independently. Dentsu will keep the Gleam Futures name following the acquisition, and will work to create synergies between Gleam and The Story Lab, which is its content division. In addition to talent management, Gleam — which has retained 100% of its clients since the company’s founding — also offers online video, publishing, content production, branding, and product launch services.

”This partnership will give our roster unrivaled access to the highly populated and fast-developing markets around the world, as well as strengthen our already established representation in the U.K. and U.S.,” Smales said in a statement “We will continue to develop the careers of our entire roster by helping them build their intellectual property way ahead of the traditional talent management trajectory.”

Adds Tracy De Groose, CEO of Dentsu Aegis, U.K. and Ireland: “Few businesses have led from the forefront of the digital talent revolution like Gleam Futures…We now have a massive opportunity to support the growth of this truly unique talent business by creating powerful collisions between content, creative, and media distribution.”

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
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Lilly Singh’s success on YouTube has allowed her to become a multi-platform star, and she has now landed her most notable acting role to date. Singh, who makes YouTube videos on her iiSuperwomanii channel, has been cast in an upcoming film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Fahrenheit 451.

The film, which is being produced by HBO, will retell Bradbury’s tale of a dystopian world in which book burning and censorship have become commonplace. Singh’s character, who does not appear in the original text, will be a vlogger who serves as a propaganda peddler by offering live streams of book burnings. That description tells us that HBO’s adaptation will take place in the modern day (or, perhaps, the future) and that Singh won’t have to stray too far outside of her comfort zone to inhabit the character for which she has been cast.

Singh previously expanded into long-form programming by starring in A Trip To Unicorn Island, a documentary about one of her world tours. Her partner network, Studio71, also announced its plan to create “longer-format and more highly produced content” alongside her during its most recent Newfronts presentation.

Beyond Singh, the Fahrenheit 451 cast will also include Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. A specific release date for the film has not yet been shared.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Superwoman by Sam Gutelle
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Carmilla is so hot right now. The cult favorite web series about vampires and romance has landed a book deal from KCP Loft, an imprint of publisher Kids Can Press.

The book, due out in the spring of 2019, will be the latest off-YouTube venture for Carmilla, which has a devoted audience of fans (who refer to themselves as “Creampuffs”). Beyond the literary world, Carmilla’s stars will reprise their roles in a movie that recently began filming.

Details about the book’s plot are sparse, but it will likely continue to story of Laura (Elise Bauman) and Carmilla (Natasha Negovanlis), who form a devoted partnership even though Carmilla is a vampire. The original Carmilla web series, which was sponsored by feminine hygiene brand U By Kotex, was itself based on a 19th century novella of the same name by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

“We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Kids Can Press to expand the world of Carmilla and to offer fans of the series and the soon-to-be-released feature film another opportunity to engage with characters who mean so much to them,” said Christina Jennings, Chairman & CEO of Carmilla producer Shaftesbury, in a press release. “Over the past three years, we have seen the audience of Carmilla grow at an exponential rate and become an international phenomenon – and this phenomenon is showing no signs of slowing down. We are very excited to continue to branch out and build up this brand.”

Kids Can Press is owned by Canadian media company Corus Entertainment. Shaftesbury, which brought Carmilla to viewers through its Smokebomb Entertainment and shift2 subsidiaries, is itself based in Toronto.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Kyle Udelson has been tapped as the latest addition to Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) digital talent and packaging department. Udelson will work on the brand partnerships team, forging strategic alliances with CAA’s digital native clients.

Udelson, who will be based in Los Angeles, was formerly a senior account sales executive at Kin Community — a leading digital network in the lifestyle space. Prior to Kin, Udelson was an ad sales staffer at Complex Media in the fashion, grooming, and luxury sector. Other recent additions to CAA’s brand partnerships team include Carla Santiago, a former ad sales consultant at DuxeMedia, and Eman Redwan, who formerly developed influencer marketing campaigns at theAudience. Both Santiago and Redwan joined the leading talent and sports agency in 2016.

Most recently, CAA has signed digital creators including trampoline stuntman Tanner Braungardt, nature expert Coyote Peterson, vlogging and musical duo Jack & Jack, and Mexican digital superstar Juanpa Zurita.

Filed under: Kin Community by Geoff Weiss
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Some online video stars attract viewers with makeup tutorials. Others finds fans in the world of video games. For Giggles The Clown, however, the secret to success involves a gothic getup and copious amounts of (presumably fake) blood. Giggles is the creation of the horror video producer Crypt TV, and less than a month after she launched her own Facebook page, she now counts more than 100,000 fans, many of whom are engaging with her the same way they would engage with a more typical influencer.

Giggles is not the alter ego of an individual personalities but rather a character launched by Crypt TV, which, in the months after raising a $3.5 million funding round, has focused on putting together a linked universe of creepy creations. Giggles, who arrived around the time of a series of viral clown sightings last year, is one of Crypt’s most notable icons, and the videos she has starred in on her new fan page have routinely attracted five- or six-digit view counts.

As Crypt TV CEO Jack Davis told Tubefilter, Giggles has resonated with her because she displays an “aspirational form of attractiveness.” Her fans — many of whom are girls between the ages of 13 and 17 — want to copy her makeup and dress sense, as is the case with any digital-native fashion or beauty star. Much of the content Crypt posts to the Giggles Facebook page looks to inspire those fans by encouraging them to accept and celebrate the fact that they are different from many of their peers.

The fact that Giggles isn’t necessarily a real person isn’t a problem — in fact, Davis sees it as an advantage. Just as the main characters of The Simpsons have stayed popular for nearly three decades without growing old, Crypt’s creations can express themselves consistently. “Giggles The Clown is never going to change her mind,” he said. “Any individual human being can change their mind, but Lisa Simpson never ages. That’s the power of a character.”

Just as The Simpsons began as a TV show before spreading onto other platforms, Davis believes “there are going to be characters born on mobile media.” Giggles could eventually make her way to other platforms, but her current home is on the internet. “Right now, our real focus is just going wild with her and building the first social media-original character,” Davis said.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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For YouTube fans who can’t make the trek out to VidCon this week, the video giant announced today that it will furnish a live stream of its first-ever kick-off concert, dubbed YouTube OnStage.

YouTube and VidCon are partnering together on the so-called “entertainment showcase,” which will be hosted by vlogger Tyler Oakley and sponsored by Pop-Tarts. OnStage will feature appearances from Jason Derulo, Rosanna Pansino, Collins Key, Joey Graceffa, The Slow Mo Guys, Todrick Hall, Grace VanderWaal, Dytto, Poppin John, So You Think You Can Dance winner Fik-Shun, Rudy Mancuso, and Brooklyn And Bailey. In addition to live musical performances, guests will celebrate cultural trends and notable moments in YouTube history.

The 90-minute live stream will be available right here on June 21, beginning at 10:00 pm ET. YouTube has served as a title sponsor for VidCon, the world’s largest online video convention, for the past six years.

Check out a trailer for YouTube OnStage below:

Filed under: VidCon, YouTube by Geoff Weiss
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Time Warner, the media giant that owns HBO, Turner, and Warner Bros., will create 10 shows annually for Snapchat as part of a two-year deal reportedly worth $100 million.

The exclusive shows will include scripted dramas and comedies, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and could even feature storied Time Warner franchises like Wonder Woman, Superman, or Batman. The media conglomerate also owns CNN, TBS, TNT, and The CW. In addition to original programming, the deal will also comprise advertising, as HBO, Turner, and Warner Bros. have agreed to promote future programming on Snapchat over the next two years.

“This is an exciting and natural move as we bring together some of our leading video properties and brands with Snapchat’s dynamic platform,” Time Warner’s EVP of corporate marketing and communications, Gary Ginsberg, said in a statement. “Partnering with Snap will help drive this compelling new format, exposing its user base to innovative and engaging video from brands and characters they trust and enjoy.”

“We’re thrilled that innovators across [Time Warner’s] expansive network will begin producing shows for Snapchat,” added Snap’s content chief, Nick Bell. “This partnership is another exciting step as we continue to branch out into new genres, including scripted dramas, comedies, daily news shows, documentaries and beyond.”

Snapchat has already signed original content deals with NBC, ABC, and CBS — including original series based on existing hits like The Bachelor and The Voice. The vertically-formatted series are between three and five minutes long per episode, according to the Reporter, and Snap intends to bolster its output from one to three original shows every day by year’s end.

Filed under: Snapchat, Time Warner by Geoff Weiss
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2016 was a year of considerable expansion for the Vice brand. Now, thanks to a new injection of capital, the millennial-skewing media company will be able to continue its growth. It has announced a $450 million investment from TPG that values it at approximately $5.7 billion.

The investment will give Vice Media an expanded war chest, which it will use to beef up its presence in the worlds of online video, TV, film, and over-the-top programming. Much of the fresh funding will be devoted to original programming, and its safe to expect that a significant number of those shows will be distributed through Viceland, the TV channel Vice launched last year. The media company has also consistently committed itself to its network of online video destinations. In recent months, it has launched verticals based around topics like gaming, money, and activism, and at its most recent Newfronts presentation, it teased new shows for several of those digital hubs.

In a statement, Vice founder and CEO Shane Smith laid out a few goals for his company now that it has secured a raise. “This will allow us to build up the largest millennial video library in the world – enabling Vice to widen our offering to include news, food, music, fashion, art, travel, gaming, lifestyle, scripted and feature films,” he said. “Building out this wide-ranging and rich library of gold-standard content will be an essential component of our future direct-to-consumer tech stacks and our innovations in transactional relationships – all of which represent the future of media.”

TPG’s investment will add to the capital Vice has already scooped up, including a 2014 pact with A&E that brought in a reported $250 million in exchange for a 10% stake. That partnership proved to be a catalyst for the launch of Viceland, and the new investment could bring some major results of its own. Back in March, Fortune speculated that a deal with TPG could be the prelude to a Vice IPO. In light of the media company’s latest news, a Wall Street push could be in the cards.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, VICE by Sam Gutelle
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CNN and Casey Neistat have provided new details on what’s to come of their partnership after the Turner-owned news network acquired Neistat’s app startup Beme for a reported $25 million late last year.

In coming weeks, Beme will launch an app touting a millennial-targeted daily news show, Variety reports, that will dive into current cultural and social issues. The 10-minute series, which will compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and Vice, won’t feature breaking news, but will instead share fascinating human interest pieces that are as entertaining as they are informative, Neistat says. It will kick off with four shows per week before rolling out to seven days a week.

Additionally, the new app will include an interactive component dubbed ‘Panels’ by which viewers can share their thoughts in 15-second video clips. This feature takes its cue from the countless political panel discussions and debates that take place on CNN’s airwaves every day.

Neistat shared details of the project, which has been in the works for the past six months, at the Cannes Lions media festival in the south of France.

CNN president Jeff Zucker said that the company tapped Neistat to reach younger viewers — given that the average age of its audience is 59 years old. “Casey is somebody I knew [about] from my children,” Zucker said, per Variety. He believes that Beme and Neistat will be able to reach an even younger demographic than Great Big Story — a Vice-like video venture launched by CNN in 2015, whose average viewer is age 27.

When CNN first acquired Beme, it said a standalone media brand was in the works. In March, it was reported that, in addition to developing news distribution apps, Neistat would launch another YouTube channel on which he would host a daily news show — though that venture has yet to come to fruition.

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
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Earlier this year, the presence of YouTube videos from extremist groups — and the fact that ads were running before those videos — triggered a large-scale controversy that continues to reverberate across the online video community. While YouTube has already pledged to safeguard its brand partners from any association with content that contains hate speech or appeals to terrorism, its parent company has announced four additional steps it will take to curb the spread of those clips. Google has authored a blog post in which it discusses the ways it is using its technology and human resources to quash extremist videos.

The blog post, authored by Google general counsel Kurt Walker, reaffirms the commitment of both Google and YouTube to the battle against extremism. “While we and others have worked for years to identify and remove content that violates our policies,” reads the post, “the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done. Now.”

The first solution Google discusses is a continued effort to train systems like Content ID to better identify terrorist videos. In order to prevent informative or educational videos from being improperly flagged, the tech giant says it is applying its “most advanced machine learning research” to this task.

For videos that contain dicey rhetoric but do not violate YouTube’s terms of service, Google will install warnings that it hopes will discourage potential viewers without explicitly curbing free speech. “We think this strikes the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints,” reads the blog post.

Google is also emboldening two groups in order to counter the presence of extremists on its platforms. Its so-called “Trusted Flaggers,” whose reports on rule-breaking content are usually accurate, will receive operational grants to further their work. Creators will have a chance to do their part as well; an expansion of the “Creators For Change” program will give partners the chance to make counter-terrorist videos that debunk extremist viewpoints. These PSAs will be linked to terrorist content in order to shield viewers from radical propoganda.

Given the amount of content that is uploaded to YouTube on a daily basis, it is hard to believe Google can completely eliminate the presence of groups like ISIS among its users. That said, the tech giant has a wide array of resources at its disposal, and proper application of those tools will hopefully curb the presence of extremism on YouTube and beyond.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Italian luxury label Dolce & Gabbana showed off its spring 2018 menswear collection in Milan over the weekend, and, once again, a handful of top digital influencers strutted their stuff on the runway.

In addition to Rudy Mancuso, Anwar Jibawi, Juanpa Zurita, and King Bach, the show also featured the Instagram-famous children of illustrious celebrities, including the sons of Pierce Brosnan, Pamela Anderson, Shaquille O’Neal, Isabella Rossellini, and Billy Ray Cyrus. Jibawi called the experience “one of the best days of my life,” while Mancuso thanked fans with a photo of himself from the show on Instagram.

“I loved going back to Italy,” Mancuso, who counts 2.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and who has opened up for Justin Bieber on tour, tells Tubefilter of the experience. “I am one-half Italian, and I am proud of my Italian heritage. It felt good representing D&G in Milan, and it felt especially great to have my father in the crowd during Father’s Day weekend.”

Adds Jibawi, who counts 1.3 million subscribers and 148 million views: “I’ve never done a show like this and Dolce & Gabbana made me feel like family. I was honored to be part of it and look forward to doing more with D&G.”

Mancuso and Jibawi are both managed by Shots Studios, which also produces their videos.

Dolce & Gabbana has mined the influencer well for previous outings. At its fall 2017 menswear show, the influencer Cameron Dallas opened the show, and he was joined by model/influencer Neels Visser, fashion blogger Marcel Floruss, and YouTube creators Jim Chapman, Marcus Butler, and Zurita. The brand then tapped Lele Pons, Butler, and Zurita to appear in a subsequent fall 2017 show.

Filed under: FASHION by Geoff Weiss
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