Facebook has taken another massive step today in courting digital creators with the launch of a standalone mobile app to help users manage their presence on the social network — as well as a corresponding website that will furnish inspiration and growth tools. The social network, which counts 2 billion users, first announced the app’s development last summer at VidCon.

Launching globally today on iOS — and rolling out to Android in coming months — the Facebook Creator App will enable users of all sizes to helm original videos, fire up Live broadcasts with exclusive features, and provide new ways for creators to connect with their communities of fans, the company shared today in a blog post. The app will be available for both Pages proprietors as well as individual profiles.

For instance, a tool called the Live Creative Kit will let users make personalized intros and outros, while a Community Tab will serve as a unified inbox for comments from both Facebook and Instagram, as well as messages from Facebook Messenger. Additionally, the app will enable users to cross-post content to other social platforms, and provide analytics to help them inform future content creation. A select number of creators making shows for Facebook’s recently-launched video hub, Watch, will also be able to log into the Creator app — as their Show Page — to access the above features. Facebook says it will roll out this ability more broadly in the future.

Facebook’s VP of product, Fidji Simo, described the ways in which the app addresses the “diverse needs and goals” of different kinds of Facebook creators, including Markian Benhamou (who shares messages of positivity with his #SmileSquad in a Facebook Group), Jody Steel (who headlines the Watch series Body Art), and Jay Mendoza (whose comedic skits are watched by millions). “Creators are integral to Facebook and build some of the strongest communities,” Simo says.

In addition to the app, Facebook is also launching today a dedicated website called Facebook For Creators that will house inspiration, resources, and tips for members about how to create compelling content, connect with fans, and grow an audience. Creators who join the website will also be considered for early access to new features and tools in the works at Facebook.

“We’ve gathered feedback from creators as we’ve built these resources, and will continue to take cues from the community,” Somo concluded.

Filed under: Facebook by Geoff Weiss
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Reliable YouTube combo Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, known collectively as Rhett & Link, famously met during the first day of first grade and have been friends ever since. What if, however, that encounter never happened? Would their beloved online video partnership still have come to pass? That’s the question at the center of the second season of Rhett & Link’s Buddy System, which will premiere on November 29 via the YouTube Red subscription service.

The trailer for the new batch of Buddy System episodes presents an alternate history for its starring duo. After meeting as adults, they decide to become roommates. Despite the quirks of their respective personalities, their friendship blossoms.

Beyond the odd couple comedy at its core, the second season of Buddy System is expected to feature several musical numbers, as was the case with season one. It will also include a number of notable guest stars, include Tony Hale, Mayim Bialik, Rob Corddry, and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

The first season of Buddy System premiered in October 2016 and quickly became one of YouTube Red’s most popular series. A March 2017 report from Parrot Analytics measured the social chatter the comedy generated and dubbed it the most “in-demand” show on the internet. Emboldened by that data, YouTube gave Buddy System a second season in May.

While Rhett & Link fans wait for the new Buddy System episodes to arrive, they can continue to check out the duo on their popular web series Good Mythical Morning. That daily program is itself backed by YouTube; the video platform funded it as part of an investment in ad-supported content.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Rhett & Link by Sam Gutelle
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Gary Vaynerchuk is proving you don’t need to be an NBA superstar to land your own shoe deal. The social media entrepreneur has attached his personal brand to the GaryVee 001 and GaryVee 002, a pair of sneaker designs launched by K-Swiss.

Both items in the GaryVee line feature black and green in their respective color schemes, though they are stylistically distinct. The 001 retails for $110, while the 002 sells for $85. Both footwear choices can be found on the K-Swiss online store, though at the time of this post, the men’s versions of them are sold out. For women, both designs are still in stock. If you absolutely must get your hands on the GaryVee line, you can look for it among the handful of brick-and-mortar retailers that are listed on the K-Swiss website.

Vaynerchuk, a leader in the social marketing field thanks to his company VaynerMedia, began his partnership with K-Swiss earlier this year. In July, he hosted the president of the shoemaker on his #AskGaryVee series and announced his plan to create a line of his own. He then unveiled his designs at ComplexCon in early November.

A marketing executive may seem like a odd person to receive a shoe deal, but Vaynerchuk believes his partnership with K-Swiss speaks to the current state of the entertainment industry. “I think it’s a smart move,” he told Entrepreneur. “This is the single greatest era of entrepreneurship. Back in the day, rappers wanted to be athletes and athletes wanted to be rappers. And now: both of them wanna be entrepreneurs.”

Vaynerchuk’s footwear has been well-received by his friends in the online video world. Snapchat pioneer Shaun “Shonduras” McBride unboxed his pair in a video he posted to his LinkedIn page. “It’s an honor to call Gary Vaynerchuk my friend,” he wrote.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Though the sunny skies and massive crowds of VidCon 2018 may still feel like a distant dream, the world’s biggest online video convention unveiled today the initial slate of Featured Creators.

Gracing the convention — which will be held from June 20 to 23 in Anaheim, Calif. — are firmly established digital stars like Rosanna Pansino, Mark ‘Markiplier’ Fischbach, Joey Graceffa, and Justine ‘iJustine’ Ezarik as well as rising vloggers who are comparatively newer to the scene, including David Dobrik, De’arra & Ken, Stef Sanjati, and Safiya Nygaard. You can check out the first round of 87 Featured Creators — who will speak on panels, lead workshops, perform comedy sketches and music, and more — right here.

In addition to the ninth annual VidCon U.S. — for which tickets are available now — the company will also host a second round of international events next year in both Amsterdam and Australia.

Filed under: VidCon by Geoff Weiss
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YouTube veteran Grace Helbig has departed Fullscreen, her longtime digital network, to join forces with Studio71.

Studio71 will henceforth manage Helbig’s digital strategy and online content ecosystem, the ProSiebenSat.1-owned company said. Additionally, as part of her newfound involvement with the network, Helbig will develop an original series alongside her best friend and frequent collaborator, Mamrie Hart, who is also signed to Studio71. The untitled comedy project is set to premiere on YouTube next year.

“We are excited to be working with Studio71, innovators who are unafraid to push boundaries,” Helbig and Hart said in a statement. As for her long-running podcast, Not Too Deep — which formerly aired in video form on Fullscreen’s just-shuttered SVOD service — Helbig tweeted that new episodes will continue to post on SoundCloud and iTunes through the end of the year, “and then we’ll figure it out.”

Helbig and Hart previously collaborated on an Astronauts Wanted-produced travel show called Hey USA, and they have also created and starred in two feature films — Camp Takota and Dirty Thirty — alongside fellow creator Hannah Hart. All three creators — affectionately known as YouTube’s ‘Holy Trinity’ — have inked first-look deals with Lionsgate. Helbig is set to star in a forthcoming project from the studio titled Something In The Water, a comedy set within the world of bass fishing.

Helbig, who is repped by WME and managed by Bleecker Street, will join Studio71’s illustrious creator roster, which includes Lilly Singh, Rhett & Link, and Logan Paul. Mamrie Hart is repped by CAA and Bleecker Street.

Filed under: Studio71 by Geoff Weiss
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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 right here.

Project Name: Typecast

Asking For: $52,000 through Kickstarter

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $5,795

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 26

Description: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A bog monster, a werewolf, and a zombie walk onto a film set. If you think that sounds like the premise for a fresh, original joke, you’ll want to check out Typecast, a project that is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter.

The heroes of Typecast are literal monsters, and they live in a world where their kind are pigeonholed into very specific acting roles. While they are able to find work as scary villains, they yearn for greater pastures. Viewers will follow along as our Typecast leads look to break out of unpleasant commercial gigs or seek top billing in a drama. Their struggles are those of young actors, even though their features are macabre and ghastly.

Series creators Ben Paddon and Mac Beauvais offer further details in their pitch video, during which they also show off some of the monstrous comedy Typecast viewers can expect.

Creator Bio: Paddon’s credits include PortCenter, a web series about video games that have been ported to new platforms. Beauvais has appeared on that series; she is also the co-host of the podcast Disney Distilled and a regular cosplayer.

Best Perk: At the $35 level, backers receive a fragrance designed to smell like Full Moon Flakes, the fictional cereal advertised by Typecast‘s protagonist. It’s a scent that can make you into a big hit at breakfast.

Why You Should Fund It: It’s difficult to uncover truly original web series conceits these days, but with Typecast, Paddon and Beauvais have put forth an undeniably novel concept. Like any great piece of genre fiction, the planned series has the potential to transcend its supernatural roots and make a comment on the way our society — and our entertainment industry in particular — operates. If you’d like to see what sort of story Typecast tells across eight episodes, consider helping its creators out.

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, Kickstarter, News by Sam Gutelle
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The various “skinny bundles” that have popped up over the past year are all searching for their own ways to stand out for the pack. YouTube TV, for example, touts its unlimited DVR, while Hulu’s live TV service boasts an impressive lineup of channels.

For Philo, a new entrant into that space, the pitch is simple: We cost half as much as the other guys, and we offer almost as many channels as they do. A basic Philo subscription is only $16 per month, compared to $35/month for YouTube TV and $40/month for Hulu. To support that cost-effective model, Philo features no sports channels, which are staples of other services.

Philo joins the skinny bundle market with the support of five major media companies: A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Discovery, Scripps Networks, and Viacom. Those power players have imbued a reported $25 million into Philo’s business, and in return, their channels are available among its lineup. In total, Philo subscribers will gain access to 37 channels, including offerings like Comedy Central and MTV that are relatively rare among skinny bundle packages. For an additional $4, eight more feeds are unlocked, including Logo.

By omitting sports channels, Philo is adopting a strategy that runs counter to those pushed by other skinny bundles. YouTube TV ran a massive ad campaign during the World Series precisely because it wanted consumers to know about all the sports channels it offers. Philo, on the other hand, is telling potential subscribers that if they have any interest in channels like ESPN or FS1, they don’t need to pay the premium sports fans accept.

There is a significant drawback to Philo’s pitch, which is that it has no contracts with any media companies that own sports channels. That means none of the big four networks, no FX, no Disney Channel, no Turner, and no Bravo, among several other notable omissions. Thanks to the status of its backers, Philo can still put together strong roster, but potential subscribers will want to peruse the service’s channels before they jump on its reduced price.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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With Elijah Daniel and Christine Sydelko‘s latest stunt, the uber-buzzy vlogger duo have realized a longtime dream.

After Daniel tweeted almost exactly a year ago that he wanted to appear on a trashy talk show and faux-fight with his YouTube counterpart, these aspirations were gloriously realized in the form of a sketch posted today to Maury Povich‘s YouTube channel. In the parody of one of Maury‘s regular segments called Social Sit Down, Sydelko says she suspects that Daniel is cheating on her with the popular storytime vlogger Tana Mongeau, only to discover — thanks to a lie detector test, naturally — that he’s gay.

Check out the segment — which has accrued more than 56,000 views in a matter of hours — in all its glory below, as well as a behind-the-scenes vlog chronicling the making of the video right here.

This isn’t the first time that the Studio71-affiliated creators — who recently surpassed one million subscribers on their flagship channel and count more than 600,000 subscribers on a second channel — have garnered headlines thanks to a wild stunt. Over the summer, Daniel became the temporary mayor of a town called Hell, Michigan — which allows visitors to pay for the privilege — and announced a satirical law banning all heterosexuals (as a commentary on President Trump’s Muslim ban). The controversial decree quickly spun into national news.

For her part, Sydelko most recently appeared in a star-studded music video for Katy Perry‘s “Swish Swish“.

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
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Two of the drag community’s sassiest queens are bringing their shtick to television. Trixie Mattel (real name Brian Firkus) and Katya Zamolodchikova (real name Brian McCook) are the stars of The Trixie & Katya Show, a program on the Viceland TV channel that is the successor to their hit web series UNHhhh.

In The Trixie & Katya Show, the titular queens dish on a multitude of subjects in a stream of consciousness style. As they do, their dialgoues are punctuated with campy green-screen effects and colorful blocks of text. Man-on-the-street segments and question-and-answer sessions add variety to the 22-minute program. In the premiere, which was made available on YouTube 12 days before its premiere on television, Trixie & Katya share their thoughts on hookups:

The Trixie & Katya Show is stylistically similar to UNHhhh. The queens’ web series spanned 68 episodes on WOWPresents, the YouTube channel run by RuPaul’s Drag Race producer World of Wonder. Along the way, its individual installments regularly rolled up seven-digit view counts, and it earned a Show of the Year nomination at the 7th annual Streamy Awards, during which Katya presented a segment.

Both hosts of The Trixie & Katya Show gained fame as cast members on the seventh season of Drag Race, which airs on Logo. Their new series is a co-production between World of Wonder and Vice, the latter of which launched Viceland in 2016.

“As drag queens and as comic people, we listen to our own artistic compass all the time,” Trixie Mattel told Fast Company. “That was our biggest concern, when Viceland was like, ‘Yes!’ we were like ‘Have you seen [UNHhhh]? Do you know what we think is funny?’ We got a resounding 1,000% supportive yes. There was no questioning. For actual famous celebrities who are real people and who are gorgeous, that never happens.”

The first episode of The Trixie & Katya Show premieres at 10 PM EST on November 15.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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During the 2017 World Series, the only thing more constant than a Brandon Morrow relief appearance was the sight of YouTube’s bright red play button behind home plate.

The video platform launched a massive ad campaign during baseball’s grandest stage in order to promote its six-month-old streaming service, YouTube TV. The so-called “skinny bundle,” which offers close to 50 live TV channels in exchange for $35 per month, was the presenting sponsor of the World Series. Through commercials, broadcaster shout-outs, and a strikingly effective billboard, its presence proved impossible to ignore.

Now, after seven thrilling games, the World Series has concluded, and observers are curious to know if YouTube’s big campaign was worth the price.

The video site says yes. Its global head of YouTube TV & originals marketing, Angela Courtin, told Adweek that World Series placements resulted in a “double digit” lift in awareness and brought in a wave of new subscribers that “far exceeded” YouTube’s expectations.

YouTube hasn’t ever offered specific subscriber numbers for YouTube TV, so it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact degree to which the World Series campaign brought in new customers, but Courtin said the increase was “multiples” greater than expected. “We wanted to increase national awareness for YouTube TV. We saw double digit increases,” she told Adweek. “We wanted to increase the connection with fans that YouTube TV has live sports and is the place to watch live sports. We also had double-digit lift on that. We wanted to get people excited and talking about YouTube TV in terms of word of mouth [in social mentions and search]. We saw that nearly double.”

These gains came in spite of complaints related to YouTube’s advertising strategy. In particular, the red play button behind home plate distracted some viewers. On the internet, fans mistook the icon for an actual play button often tried to click still images that featured it. Ultimately, though, Courtain said that YouTube TV experienced “a significant lift in positive mentions.”

While the campaign may have been effective, it was almost certainly expensive. Adweek said that during the World Series’ pivotal seventh game, broadcaster FOX sold each 30-second spot for an average price $635,000.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
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Rooster Teeth, the multi-faceted Austin-based digital network, has brought acclaimed British actor James Buckley into the fold.

Thirty-year-old Buckley, who is best known for his work in The Inbetweeners Movie and the Netflix series White Gold, is also an avid gamer who operates a one-year-old YouTube channel called Completed It Mate (305,000 subscribers). Buckley will join Rooster Teeth’s Let’s Play Network of gaming channels. Additionally, he will be a featured guest star on Rooster Teeth’s Achievement Hunter show, which helped popularize the ‘Let’s Play’ genre on YouTube and today counts millions of fans across the globe.

The partnership will allow Buckley to leverage Rooster Teeth’s expertise in areas like merchandise, live events (including RTX London and Let’s Play Live), advertising, licensing, and original content production (for Rooster’s Teeth’s subscription video service, First). Other channels partnered to Rooster Teeth’s Let’s Play family include Cow Chop, Kinda Funny, Sugar Pine 7, and LazarBeam.

“We started making videos with James about a year ago as kind of a favor, and he just won’t let us stop,” said Achievement Hunter creator and Rooster Teeth co-founder Geoff Ramsey in a statement. “I recently googled ‘U.K. restraining order’ but even though the instructions were in English, it wasn’t U.S. English, and I got super confused. In the end, it was easier to just partner with the guy. If any of us disappear in the next few months, you know where to look.”

Filed under: Rooster Teeth by Geoff Weiss
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At roughly the same time that it acquired buzzy lip-syncing app Musical.ly for a reported $800 million, Chinese internet giant Bytedance has tendered a $50 million investment in the popular livestreaming platform Live.me. Live.me was launched less than two years ago by China-based Cheetah Mobile, and — like Musical.ly — has found massive popularity among American teens.

The Series B not only solidifies Beijing-headquartered Bytedance’s place as a major player on the American social video app scene, but also brings total funds raised by Live.me to a whopping $110 million. The company last raised a $60 million round in May from Matrix Partners China, Evolution Media China, Gobi Partners, and others. Live.me counts 40 million users who create 350,000 hours of content daily, and the company says it has paid out roughly $6 million worth of virtual gifts to broadcasters to date. Viewers spend an average of 40 minutes on the app every day.

As part of the investment, Live.me will become the preferred provider of livestreaming services for Bytedance’s internet properties overseas, according to a release. In addition to Musical.ly, Bytedance — which has a reported valuation of $20 billion — owns the AI-powered Toutiao, which it says is the largest news aggregation platform in China, as well as American apps like Topbuzz and Flipagram. The new funding will also be used to fuel Live.me’s expansion into new international markets.

“Live streaming video has become a worldwide phenomena, and we are pleased to be in a position to create new opportunities for broadcasters and exciting new forms of content for viewers,” said Live.me CEO Yuki He in a statement. “This strategic partnership will greatly benefit the continued growth of not only Live.me and Bytedance, but will help us expand our content distribution to new audiences and increase the monetization potential of our broadcasters.”

In addition to its flagship app, Live.me launched a second social video app last month called Cheez that enables users to create and share videos that are up to 17 seconds long.

Filed under: live.me by Geoff Weiss
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