Here’s A Sampling Of The First Wave Of Creator-Led Series On Facebook’s ‘Watch’
Facebook’s colossal Watch video venture — a hub for community-oriented and episodic premium content — is a little less than one month old, but a slew of digital-native creators have already committed to developing original series for the platform.
While Watch is also populated by content from big-name publishers like Hearst and Major League Baseball — as well as reality series led by TV stars and pricey scripted sitcoms — digital influencers like YouTuberMeg DeAngelis and sexologist Shannon Boodram are also leading the charge. Facebook says that the Watch ecosystem will ultimately be powered by mid-roll ad revenue, though reports have surfaced indicating that the social giant is poised to spend roughly $1 billion on original content over the next year.
From comedy and animal encounters to family pranks and body art, here’s a small sampling of just 10 creators who are trying their hand at the buzzworthy platform:
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Body Art With Jody Steel — Get ready to be mesmerized by the ultra-talented artist Jody Steel (3.1 million Facebook followers). Her weekly Body Art series will feature time-lapsed videos that incorporate mind-boggling optical illusions.
Relationship Goals — Watch digital comedian Max ‘No Sleeves’ Weisz (155,000 Facebook followers) and his girlfriend (and fellow influencer) Brittany Marsicek face off in different challenges, including ‘The Spicy Noodles Challenge‘, as well as couples workouts, dance-offs, cookoffs, and other wacky games.
Nailed It — What happens when normal people try the internet’s most perfect DIYs and recipes? Starring family vlog superstars The Holdernesses, this YouTube and Facebook series will explore whether the family nails or fails various challenges. The Holderness Family, who count 1.3 million followers on Facebook, also post their family vlogs on Facebook, and host weekly live streams on Facebook Live.
Haute Culture: Fashion icon Chriselle Lim (pictured above) gets real and off-the-cuff with her new show, which will explore culture as it intersects with beauty, food, fashion, language, and travel. Lim, who counts 748,000 Facebook fans, will also delve into her own Korean culture on the show, as well as her husband’s Chinese heritage.
— Mike Criscimagna and Alex Punch — from Rhett And Link’s so-called ‘Mythical Crew’ — star in this Watch series (which originated on YouTube). It will see the duo invent and attempt absurd challenges. Throughout 21 total episodes, for instance, Criscimagna and Punch will try to adorn miniature horses with sneakers, build a human-sized arcade claw machine, and more. The series will live on Rhett And Link’s This Is Mythical-branded Facebook page, which counts 190,000 followers
Voice It! — YouTube voiceover actress and impressionist Anna Brisbin — known to her millions of fans as Brizzy Voices, will host a community-driven voiceover challenge in which she will source different ideas from fans. Brisbin counts roughly 314,000 Facebook followers. Check out episode one right here:
Help Helen Smash — Starring one of Facebook’s breakout native video stars Laura Clery, this comedy series follows one of Clery’s beloved character creations, Helen Horbath: a creepy, square-faced pervert who is desperately trying to woo a man named Steven. Clery — known for her various characters that incorporate Facebook’s augmented reality Masks— counts a staggering 3.3 million followers on the platform.
Elote Man — Latin comedy creator Jay Mendoza, who rose to fame on Instagram and Vine, stars in a this scripted comedy about a man who vends corn on the cob and who happens to harbor a secret superpower. Mendoza counts 256,000 followers on Facebook.
Do They Know It?— Fine Brothers Entertainment (FBE) has brought its long-running YouTube series — which tests kids, teens, and elders on their knowledge of music, movies, and pop culture from different decades — to Watch. FBE counts roughly 1.9 million followers on Facebook.