The latest episode of Hot Onesfeatures a guest who is never shy about expressing his opinions, even when the duress of increasingly hot wings isn’t involved. Philip DeFrancosat opposite Sean Evansto answer some burning questions about YouTube, politics, and Costco.
True to the format of the Complex Networks-produced web series, which is distributed on the First We FeastYouTube channel, DeFranco consumed a variety of hot sauces while fielding Evans’ probing, thoughtful queries. In particular, Evans looks to get DeFranco’s opinion on the current state of YouTube. Few are as qualified to opine on the world’s top video as the 32-year-old vlogger, whose tenure as the host of The Philip DeFranco Show spans more than a decade.
Among other topics, DeFranco discusses the increasing youth of YouTube creators, especially as droves of influencers arrive from platforms like Musical.ly. He also explored the ripple effect related to the actions of controversial creators like Logan Paul, who bring YouTube into the mainstream in unsavory ways.
The collaboration between DeFranco and Evans didn’t only flow in one direction. The Hot Ones host also showed up on the vlogger’s secondary channel in a video you can check out here.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Philip DeFranco Answers Sean Evans’ Burning Questions About YouTube On ‘Hot Ones’
The company that holds the rights to Mister Rogers Neighborhood is engaging in some not-so-neighborly behavior. The Fred Rogers Company, formerly known as Family Communications, has used a copyright claim to compel YouTube to take down Mr. Rogers: A War Hero, an entry in Adi Shankar‘s Bootleg Universe. The claim is currently being appealed.
Unauthorized fan films have gotten creators into trouble with rights holders in the past, but ScreenCraft is confident that War Hero will beat the claim issued by The Fred Rogers Company. “Our sole mission at ScreenCraft is to support the careers of talented emerging screenwriters and filmmakers,” ScreenCraft co-founder John Rhodes told Tubefilter. “Kenlon Clark has a unique voice as a screenwriter and he is a superbly talented filmmaker whose artistic work deserves to be seen and not thwarted by copyright claims which infringe on the filmmaker’s rights under Fair Use doctrine to use Mr. Rogers’ name and likeness for noncommercial purposes of cultural commentary, comedic parody and art.”
This is not the first time a Bootleg Universe entry has found itself embroiled in a rights dispute. In 2015, the most famed entry in that series, which is set in the world of Power Rangers, battled rights holder Haim Saban. That short film was eventually reinstated, which gives us hope that War Hero will be, too. If it is, you can check it out below.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on ‘Mister Rogers’ Fan Film Battles Copyright Claim On YouTube
The upcoming channel, which will focus on martial arts, was born out of a partnership between media companies Cinedigm and JungoTV, the latter of which is co-founded by TV doctor Mehmet Oz.
Combat Go, which is set to launch on April 18, will feature Asian martial arts as well as other global disciplines like Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Broadcasts will include at least hours of live fight coverage, as well as at least 500 additional hours of anaylsis, documentary content, martial arts movies, and more.
The international flavor of Combat Go’s content will fit JungoTV’s mission. The media company, which Oz founded alongside George Chung and Sandy Climan in 2016, is best known for presenting foreign-language over-the-top content to consumers who hail from a variety of Asian and European backgrounds.
Oz’s TV program, The Dr. Oz Show, is currently in its ninth season. “When correctly taught and executed, the martial arts develop respect, discipline and honor,” Oz said. “These admirable character traits will be on full display in Combat Go’s carefully curated programming, as the world’s top athletes execute the dynamics, unique styles, and practices that help achieve peak performance in their sports.”
Combat Go will be the latest Twitch channel the go beyond the streaming platform’s gaming-centric base. Other non-gaming hubs on Twitch include ConTV, which like Combat Go is run by Cinedigm.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Media Company Founded By Dr. Oz To Stream Martial Arts On Twitch
Fresh off his Academy Award win for Best Original Screenplay, Jordan Peele is headed to Amazon.
The streaming giant has greenlit Lorena— a four-part docuseries about Lorena Bobbitt, who infamously sliced her husband’s penis off with a kitchen knife while he was asleep in 1993. Bobbitt claimed that she was driven to commit the crime due to husband John’s sexual, physical, and emotional abuse — and she was eventually found not guilty in a criminal trial for malicious wounding due to insanity.
Lorena will be told from Lorena Bobbitt’s perspective. And in the same way that Peele’s Get Out poignantly explored racism, Lorena will serve as a social critique with respect to timely issues including domestic violence and sexual assault, as well the way that the media covers tragedies in a sensationalist, around-the-clock loop. The series, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the blood-curdling incident — will reveal hidden truths and challenge long-held misconceptions about Lorena Bobbitt’s story, according to Amazon.
Peele will executive produce the project with Win Rosenfeld through his Monkeypaw Productions in collaboration with Joshua Rofé and Steven Berger of Number 19, and Jenna Santoianni and Tom Lesinski of Sonar Entertainment. The series will be directed by Rofé (Lost For Life), though a release date has not yet been set.
“When we hear the name ‘Bobbitt’, we think of one of the most sensational incidents to ever be catapulted into a full-blown media spectacle,” Peele said in a statement. “With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth as well as engage in a critical conversation about gender dynamics, abuse, and her demand for justice. This is Lorena’s story and we’re honored to help her tell it.”
Filed under: Amazon by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Jordan Peele To Executive Produce Lorena Bobbitt Docuseries For Amazon Prime
Not-so-daily vlogger David Dobrik, whose videos unfailingly receive upwards of 3 million views, announced last week that he’s taking a temporary hiatus from his channel — which he launched in earnest three years ago through Collab.
Unlike fellow creators who have cited creative exhaustion or a higher calling, however, Dobrik — who is one of the most beloved creators on all of YouTube right now — has a momentously flippant stunt in mind.
Dobrik wants his next video, which will be the 420th upload, to fall on April 20 — a counterculture holiday during which cannabis lovers gather, celebrate, and smoke. For the next three weeks, Dobrik says, he will be compiling something special for the occasion for his 6.4 million subscribers. The date clearly holds a special significance for Dobrik, as each of his daily vlogs is exactly 4 minutes and 20 seconds long.
“So my plan is to continue to film and edit my videos just as if I was still posting three times a week,” Dobrik clarified in a comment on his announcement video (above). “This is because if I take a break, I’ll lose my groove and honestly lose my mind. It’s been 40 minutes since I said I was putting a pause on the vlogs, and I’m already feeling withdrawal symptoms. So don’t worry, I’ll still be capturing all the puking, making out, and embarrassing moments of our friend group! Just gonna have to wait a bit to see them all.”
Dobrik also said he’ll be discussing the decision on his podcast, Views, which he hosts with frequent collaborator Jason Nash.
Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on David Dobrik Taking Brief Vlogging Break So That His 420th Video Falls On 4/20
Following the dissolution of Beme, Casey Neistat announced today his next business venture. It will see the 37-year-old return to his roots as a daily vlogger — a streak he ended in November 2016 after more than 500 consecutive uploads on the heels of Beme’s acquisition by CNN.
Neistat’s latest project, however — dubbed 368 — packs a conceptual twist and also aims to focus on something bigger than chronicling his day-to-day life. The vlogs, beginning tomorrow, will follow Neistat as he sets up a collaborative workspace in New York City, which he intends to serve as a hub for fellow filmmakers, YouTube stars, musicians, and podcasters. (Neistat hints that he has a podcast in the works). The venture takes its name from the address of the three-floor space, 368 Broadway, which happens to be the location of Beme’s former headquarters. Filmmaker Dan Mace will serve as Neistat’s editing partner on the project.
Neistat likens 368 to Andy Warhol’s infamous ‘Factory’, a New York City studio that brought together creative luminaries of every stripe for artistic collaborations and drug-fueled parties. Neistat says his venture is part-show, part-space, and part-startup. “You can call it a company, but I don’t know what the business is behind it yet,” he says. “I’ll figure that out later.” Neistat’s flagship YouTube channel counts 9.2 million subscribers.
At the same time that Neistat unveiled the new venture (see above), he also addressed the failure of Beme — a social video app-turned-news media company that CNN shuttered roughly one year after acquiring the startup for a reported $25 million. “Failure sucks,” Neistat says. “But the pain that is failure does not exceed the pain that is not trying at all.” That said, Neistat notes that the time he took away from YouTube to work on Beme — marking his longest-ever break from the site — provided him with “a hard reset” and a fresh perspective with which to return.
Neistat first teased 368 during an interview last month, saying that he’d consulted with controversial vlogger Jake Paul on its development. Given that Paul helped pioneer the model of a fleet of creators working and living together in a common space via Team 10, he would appear to be an apt source.
Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Casey Neistat Announces New Startup ‘368’: Part Daily Vlog, Part Collaborative Workspace
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.
On YouTube, the Mother of Draguns is soaring.
That’s the name Nikita Dragun, a popular lifestyle creator, often applies to herself. Dragun is notable for her makeup videos and her vlogs, which often discuss her identity as a transgender woman. As both a beauty guru and an LGBTQ+ activist, Dragun has thrived, and her fans, who she refers to as her Draguns, now number more than one million on YouTube alone. Here’s our conversation with her about how her identity has shaped her channel.
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have more than one million subscribers on your YouTube channel? What do you have to say to your fans?
Nikita Dragun: I feel now more than ever I have a spotlight and a voice and with that comes responsibility. I am not unaware of that. I feel like it didn’t matter if I had 10 subscribers or 100,000 subscribers or 20,000 subscribers. It’s all really about the message that it stands for which is being authentic and true to myself. And I think that keeping that mindset is what’s gotten me to this point of not thinking about the number. I think now instead of thinking of it as having a million subscribers is just that I’m touching more people around the world.
TF: With so many fashion and beauty channels on Youtube, what would you say makes yours unique?
ND: I’m unique in that I’m authentic. I’m real. I’m more about the beauty that’s more than skin deep, things that makeup can’t actually cover or can’t actually hide. I have shown my life explicitly, 100%, and I think that’s what has separated me from everyone else trying to live in a fantasy and a filter and being inauthentic. I show the good, the bad, the ugly, everything in between, and i’m not afraid to do so.
TF: How would you describe your basic style to someone who has never watched one of your videos?
ND: My style is unapologetic. I don’t really do things by the book always. And I’m often very comedic in that I don’t take it too seriously. Although I can slay a face and beat my face and put on a wig and do the most. I feel like some people might describe me as extra in that I’m unapologetic I’ll do whatever I want and I’m a little bit rebellious in that way, but I just live in the moment and I don’t have any regrets. So some might call me a little extra.
TF: What is it about the Mother of Dragons (from Game of Thrones) that you find particularly inspiring?
ND: I think I find the fact that she’s the the last of her kind and an outsider to the world particularly inspiring. She just looked a certain type of way just resonated with me and I felt like it was almost me against the world for a very long time, very similarly.
And I’ve aspired to make others believe I was the mother of Draguns. I myself feel like I have this kind of fiery dragon in me and I’ve felt like that since I was a little kid so, in a sense, I want to take back the throne and I wanna conquer.
And I want to burn them anything that stands in my way of getting to my dream and my goals.
TF: Do you feel like sharing your experience as a trans creator has empowered you? Why or why not?
ND: Absolutely. I was not living my authentic life when I wasn’t sharing my journey for a really long time. I was on social media and YouTube without people even knowing that I was transgender.
It wasn’t until I started being explicit and honest that people actually started caring and started to see me for who I really was. I felt like I had a weight on me for so long. And once I kinda just have to face it and say aloud, everything kind of fell into place. I thought the world would be so cruel to me. I thought everyone is going to judge me but in fact by having the viral video “I Am Transgender,” I was able to receive love on so many levels from people who are in or support the community.
From people who know somebody in the community.
From people who never even got it.
From parents who were curious and learning more about it themselves.
From people never who never thought about it.
And I felt like at the time was not really talked about.
So even though I was so uncomfortable talking about it, I hoped by putting it just out there I would help myself. And I was a little selfish in that sense because I was doing that for me to just face my own truth because I didn’t even wanna say I was transgender. But doing so helped so many more than myself and that was when I realized the true power of Nikita Dragun.
TF: What advice would you give to a trans person who’s looking to start their own YouTube channel?
ND: I would tell them trans is your identity but it’s not everything or your full definition, even though trans as a label is important to be acknowledge and wear proudly. But it’s important to remember, you’re not just a transgender person. You’re not just a heterosexual person. You’re not just straight. You’re not just a boy. You’re not just a girl.
You’re so much more than that, so find who and what you are. What you stand for. So just be authentic to you story and know that we are all brothers and sisters in this community and that we all need to join in the fight for equality.
TF: How do you feel about the state of the LGBTQ+ community on Youtube?
ND: I think it’s amazing. Of course there could be more people being active and using their voices all as one. But i feel like the voices that are on YouTube are so strong and I feel like as a community. As a whole, it’s a community that’s very familial and bonded.
I feel like YouTube in general is very supportive in spotlighting creators and equality, so I feel like the LGBTQ community has been evolving from this exposure. Culture is changing because there’s so much visibility for different types of people. There are videos going around like I never even saw when I was a young kid who was transgender, so imagine someone in the middle of Virginia, super super young watching YouTube and being exposed to things like that nowadays. It’s a dream!
So even though there are so many bad things you can be exposed to in the world and on the internet, it’s great to know that there are more creators who are exposing this lifestyle and problems and also the positive things and how it does really get better.
TF: how do you decide what information from your life to share with your viewers and what to keep private?
ND: I’m as honest as I possibly can be but I’m human as well, so I think by being so honest I do have moments where I am allowed to be private and I feel I carefully choose my moments to expose and when to give them to myself or my family. Even though I am such an open book online it doesn’t necessarily mean that I owe it to anyone to do so. So when people do get upset that I don’t share certain things about my life I think it’s just a human thing. We all want to have some semblance of privacy, or we’d go crazy!
TF: what’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
ND: I’m actually really excited to be more vocal and involved with the LGBTQA community now that I’m more cemented and feel like I have a bigger audience. Now it’s just back to having fun in my career. And that’s something I had to remind myself about. In this world, you get so caught up in the numbers and trying to get to a million but I feel like when I stop thinking about it, that’s when everything starts growing.
I just wanna make fun content that I’m proud of. Not necessarily trending or whatever. Just stuff that’s so me. And it’s not just beauty. It’s not just lifestyle. It’s not just this or that. It’s just Nikita. So you know whatever it is — BANG — it will be on fire, like Dragun breath.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Millionaires, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on YouTube Millionaires: Nikita Dragun Shows “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” And “Everything In Between”
The statement referred to the shooting as a “horrific act of violence,” commended both its employees and the San Bruno police department, and announced security changes that would go into effect at YouTube offices around the globe.
The statement, which was shared via the Google Communications Twitter feed, referred to “numerous acts of heroism” from both first responders and employees. YouTube also thanked its community, which provided an “outpouring of support, well wishes, and words of togetherness” after news of the shooting broke.
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 4, 2018
Existing security protections prevented the shooter, who took her own life after committing the violent act, from actually entering YouTube’s HQ. Instead, the shooting took place in an attached courtyard. Even so, YouTube will be “increasing the security we have at all of our offices worldwide to make them more secure not only in the near term, but long term.”
Individual executives at YouTube and around the tech world have also taken time to issue their own statements regarding the shooting. Hours after the incident, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki took to Twitter to share a few words and thank first responders. “Our hearts go out to all those injured & impacted today,” she wrote. “We will come together to heal as a family.”
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on After “Horrific Act Of Violence,” YouTube Will Tighten Security “At All Of Our Offices Worldwide”
Digital network BroadbandTV is launching today a platform for creators called VISO — which translates to ‘I see’ in Latin — that will provide growth tools for its illustrious client roster, includingYousef ‘FouseyTube’ Erakat, Bart Baker, and Ethan and Hila Klein of h3h3Productions.
BroadbandTV (BBTV) previously launched a video analytics platform for creators called VISO Catalyst back in 2013 and a tip-driven web series called VISO Flipside the following year.
The just-announced VISO platform packages its various creator-driven services into a single hub comprising six major features. The VISO Community tool enables creators to connect with like-minded vloggers via a chat function, Catalyst For Chrome provides video optimization tools (with respect to titles, thumbnails, descriptions, and tags), and a tab called Big Picture will provide at-a-glance channel analytics. Addtionally, BBTV has partnered with VideoBlocks, Epidemic Sound, and Spreadshirt to help creators access millions of stock videos, tens of thousands of royalty-free songs, and their merch stores all within the VISO platform.
“With VISO, our partners have everything they need to achieve success, including tools to expand their reach with intelligent insights, attain deeper engagement with their audience, collaborate with like-minded creators, and expand their monetization opportunities.” BBTV’s VP of engineering, Mehrdad Fatourechi, said in a statement. “We remain focused on adding value to our partners at all levels and providing even more premium tools and services for creators at scale.”
Mobile-friendly VISO will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, and Japanese, BBTV says, to serve its global roster. The service is available to all partners. BBTV offers other platforms for creators, including VISO NOVI — which helps major media companies detects, track, and measures fan activity associated with their premium content.
Filed under: BroadbandTV by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on BroadbandTV Unveils ‘VISO’ Platform To Help Creators Collaborate, Optimize Uploads, More
Wattpad, a platform for user-generated books and stories, has tapped Dexter Ong to accelerate its push into Asia.
Ong has been named head of Asia for Wattpad Studios — the division of the company that works with entertainment industry partners to adapt select stories on the platform into film, TV, print, and digital projects. Wattpad uses its own data and insights to select projects to develop. In his new role, Ong will work with local production studios, writers, and brand partners to create projects for Asian markets. Ong, who previously served as director of corporate development for 21st Century Fox Asia, will be based in Hong Kong.
In January, Wattpad raised $51 million, led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings and other high-profile Asian investors. And previously, the company partnered with the TV5 Network in the Philippines to co-produce a 250-episode anthology series based on Wattpad stories.
Wattpad Studios head Aron Levitz said that Asia represents a critical opportunity for the company, which counts 65 million users globally — 17 million of whom hail from Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asia is one of our most important regions globally, with some of our most dedicated and passionate users,” Levitz said. “Not only have users across the region spent billions of hours on Wattpad, they’ve embraced Wattpad film and TV adaptations, making them into local hits.”
In addition to Ong’s hire, Wattpad has also announced the promotion of Kelly Steen to Wattpad Studios’ director of business development for the U.S. and Europe, and Ashleigh Gardner to deputy general manager of Wattpad Studios’ publishing division. Wattpad, which hosts 400 million stories, says it plans to add 40 positions in 2018 to expand its Studios business internationally, as well as to develop new machine learning and interactive storytelling technologies.
Filed under: Wattpad by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Wattpad Taps Former 21st Century Fox Exec To Spearhead TV And Film Development In Asia
