Today, at Snapchat’s first-ever Partner Summit, the platform announced a swath of new features for users (including its rumored gaming platform) along with 10 upcoming Snap Originals series set to air this year.

The one-day, invite-only summit, which took place in Los Angeles, was designed as a day of collaboration between Snap and its many partners. Those partners include creators, external product developers and platforms, and companies like Tinder, Twitch, and Giphy.

Snap dropped a lot of news today, so let’s break it down bit by bit.

First, Snap Games. We first heard last month that Snap planned to get into the gaming space, but while we expected an official announcement at the summit, Snap actually went and launched the platform today. Users can now play six titles: Bitmoji Party, Tiny Royale, Snake Squad, C.A.T.S. Drift Race, Zombie Rescue Squad, and Alphabear Hustle.

The latter five debut games were developed by partner studios Zynga, Game Closure, ZeptoLab, PikPok, and Spry Fox, respectively. Bitmoji Party was developed in-house by Snap, and is of course based on the company’s own Bitmojis, which let users create personalized cartoon avatars for their Snapchat profiles. We learned last month that Snap made a number of gaming-oriented acquisitions in preparation for Snap Games’ launch, so Bitmoji Party is definitely not the last house-made game users will see on the new platform.

Also, it’s worth noting that Snapchat really, really wants its users to play these games together. Snap Games comes with a feature that lets Snapchatters who are talking launch a game to play directly from the chat bar in their conversation window.

Next, Snap announced a handful of updates to its developer platform Snap Kit, which lets other apps use Snap features. The biggest update is new feature App Stories, where Snapchatters can share content from their Snapchat camera to their personal Story on other apps. So far, three apps have been integrated into Stories: dating site Tinder, social network Houseparty, and travel platform AdventureAide.

More Snap Kit news: Snap said it’s partnered with a number of services to let Snapchat users share information and custom stickers from the services on their Snaps. With Netflix, Snapchat users can share the show they’re watching. Breaker and Anchor partnered with Snap to let users share the podcast they’re listening to. GoFundMe now lets Snapchatters share details about a cause they’re invested in. Anghami (a Middle Eastern app) and JioSavvn (an Indian app) let users in those regions share the songs they love. And VSCO, a photo company, lets users port professional-quality photos over to Snapchat.

Snap’s last Kit update flexed its partnerships with Venmo and Fitbit. Snapchat users can now plug their Bitmojis into both services.

Moving on, Snap announced another new tool — rolled out today — that helps users find relevant Lenses from the platform’s library of more than 400,000. When a user has the app pulled up and their camera on, they can press and hold their screen to take a Scan of what their camera sees. So, for example, if a user’s pet dog is nearby and they Scan it, Snap will pop up suggestions for Lenses to outfit the dog.

But Scan goes beyond Lenses. It also offers features that deal with Snapchat’s push into augmented reality. In a blog post about the new tool, the company said users can take scans of the sky to see whales swim over the horizon, or scan their hand to watch butterflies flutter away when they open their palm. Additionally, the tool can do things like providing the answer to math problems users Scan, and pull up Amazon (a Snap partner) search results for products users encounter.

And last but not least, Snap announced a sizeable roster of new Originals. It first kicked off its content production for Originals — all of which are made to be watched vertically inside the app — last October, and saw significant traction with debut shows like Bringing Up Bhabie. That series, starring teen Danielle Bregoli of “cash me ousside, howbow dah” fame, garnered 10 million unique viewers in its first 24 hours.

Like Bringing Up Bhabie and most of Snapchat’s other Originals, the new series are primarily geared toward teenagers. One series Snapchat gave particular attention to at the summit is Two Sides, which tells the story of a teen couple’s breakup. If that doesn’t sound particularly attention-worthy, hold up: the series is told from both characters’ points of view, simultaneously. So viewers will watch the series in split-screen, with one character’s perspective on the top, and the other’s on the bottom. That series launches in May.

You can see a complete list of the newly-unveiled Originals below, taken from Snapchat’s blog post about the new productions.

• In Two Sides from New Form, a young couple navigates a breakup — told from both characters’ points of view at the same time.
• Can’t Talk Now from New Form is a teen soap that takes place inside the phones of a few high school freshman BFFs.
• In Sneakerheads from Indigo, we’ll follow the misadventures of three college freshmen as they navigate the crazy, shady, and mercurial world of Los Angeles sneaker culture.
• In Commanders from Dakota Pictures, two high school outcasts discover a retro computer with a mysterious code that can alter real life.
• Denton’s Death Date from Insurrection Media centers on Denton Little: a high school junior whose death date is only a week away.
• While Black from Indigo is a docuseries that explores racially charged social issues through disarmingly candid conversations led by author, filmmaker, recording artist, and educator MK Asante.
• BuzzFeed’s upcoming daily afternoon show will bring viewers the latest celebrity, entertainment, and sheer OMG moments blowing up the internet.
• In Dead of Night from Bazelevs, a teenage girl must escape a quarantined city full of zombies armed with only her phone.
• Compton Dreams from October Films is a docuseries following the highs and lows of three up-and-coming artists from Compton.
• In Stranded with Sam and Colby from Bunim/Murray, two paranormal investigators go off the grid into a cursed Pennsylvania town.

Filed under: Snapchat by James Hale
Comments Off on Snapchat Unveils Gaming Platform, New User Features, 10 Upcoming Originals At First Partner Summit

When Defy Media abruptly shuttered in November, it left dozens of creators, hundreds of employees, and millions of dollars stranded in limbo. Like most people who worked with and for Defy, the folks behind The Warp Zone (a sketch-and-musical smorgasbord for fans of all things geek) had no idea the company was going down until it was already gone.

Because Defy owned The Warp Zone’s intellectual property, and Defy’s bank had seized control of all its assets, creators Michael Davis, Brian Fisher, David Odom, Michael Schroeder, and Ryan Tellez were unable to make Warp Zone-branded content following the closure. They were also locked out of The Warp Zone’s YouTube account, and were only able to post one last video to let their 2.2 million subscribers know what had happened:

Now, five months after that video was posted, The Warp Zone’s situation has radically changed. That’s because, in February, fellow Defy channel Smosh was acquired by Mythical Entertainment — the production company owned by YouTubers Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal.

While under Defy’s umbrella, Smosh and The Warp Zone frequently collaborated, and the creators behind both channels had become friends. So, when Smosh and Mythical were working out their deal, Smosh put in a good word, and Mythical took the opportunity to do some good in the creator space: it acquired The Warp Zone by counting it as one of Smosh’s assets…and then turned around and handed 100% control of the channel and its intellectual property back to Davis, Fisher, Odom, Schroeder, and Tellez.

Which brings us to now, one day before The Warp Zone’s set to launch its first new piece of content — an ironic video about what would happen if Batman lost control of Wayne Enterprises and had to crowdfund to keep his crimefighting operation going. They posted a short update video last week, letting fans know (in traditional musical style) that their homecoming is imminent.

Ahead of the video’s release, Davis, Fisher, Odom, Schroeder, and Tellez sat down with Tubefilter to give us the nitty-gritty details about how they went from losing control of everything they’d created to making a successful return to YouTube.

Tubefilter: Who are you all?

The Warp Zone: The Warp Zone is Michael Davis, Brian Fisher, David Odom, Michael Schroeder and Ryan Tellez. We met in a college film club in 2007, where we discovered a shared love for movies, video games, and making funny videos.

Tubefilter: What’s your channel all about? When and why did you start it?

TWZ: Fueled by our passion for filmmaking, in 2010, we all moved to Los Angeles, got production jobs at Maker Studios, and started The Warp Zone YouTube channel. The Warp Zone is a sketch comedy channel where we make funny videos about our favorite pop culture topics like video games, superhero movies, and TV shows. We started it as a hub for us to continue creating comedy videos together in LA after graduating from college.

Tubefilter: You originally joined Alloy Digital, which later became Defy Media. How did you end up with Alloy?

TWZ: In 2012 to 2013, we were working as full-time employees at Maker Studios in various jobs such as editing, technical directing, and optimization. The Warp Zone channel was a side project we worked on nights and weekends (it was also signed with Maker). Over a couple of years, we had built up a decent following and some momentum we wanted to capitalize on. We were feeling stunted by our job situation, though, and were unsure if Maker was going to be the best fit moving forward. The company had changed a lot during our time there. We literally saw them go from supporting 40 channels to 40,000 channels. So, we started looking at other multichannel networks with a more focused situation where we could get more attention.

Alloy Digital had recently acquired Smosh and was very interested in adding to their owned and operated brands, which also included Clevver and the Escapist. Hearing them talk about their focus on owning and developing a few brands they believed in sounded like the perfect situation for us. Though the idea of losing our intellectual property on the surface felt scary, the opportunity of working full-time producing videos alongside some of the biggest names in the industry seemed too good to pass up.

In the end, in exchange for The Warp Zone IP, we were offered full-time jobs with salaries and benefits, plus stock. Lots of companies were getting sold around that time, so the company stake seemed like an exciting prospect. Let’s just call that foreshadowing for now.

Tubefilter: What was life like at Defy pre-fiasco?

TWZ: Early on at Alloy Digital, things were going great. We were very warmly welcomed in and given access to amazing production facilities, resources, and people to help produce our videos and grow the brand. We were also pretty immediately collaborating with talent from Smosh and Smosh Games, who became fast friends of ours.

Then, three months in, without warning, Alloy Digital merged with Break Media to become Defy Media, and everything changed. Immediately, with the additions of bigger brands like Screen Junkies and Break, we were a low brand on a bigger totem pole, and it seemed like no one from the Break side really knew who we were. We had a meeting where we had to explain who we were and what we did.

The fallout was that they wanted us to work on other channels at the company besides just The Warp Zone. We were asked by the new head of programming to develop honest trailers for gamers, so we ended up writing and producing the first batch of Honest Game Trailers for the Smosh Games channel. To be honest, it was a bit of a bummer to be forced to work on stuff besides The Warp Zone three months after selling our brand under the premise of working on Warp Zone full-time, but it was good production experience, and we love both of those brands.

That period was challenging, but things smoothed out and after a good first year of growth and brand deals, the company let us go back to working on The Warp Zone full-time. However, still being the short stack at the company overall, we were mostly forgotten about. For the next couple years, we operated on an island within the company.

It wasn’t all bad, though. They gave us a healthy budget to produce content and a lot of creative freedom. We operated like a mini-production company within the company, and the autonomy was nice. We definitely would have liked more support to help grow the brand, but the experience of handling our own productions and finances was extremely valuable.

Every year we’d have check-ins where they would make sure we were profitable, and as far as we understood, we were, so they more or less left us alone. As the company started laying off employees and selling brands, we became increasingly concerned about our future, but the higher-ups kept saying everything was fine and heading in the right direction in company meetings. Concurrently, as the company got smaller, we were finally receiving more attention, and it was starting to feel like early Alloy again. No one had any idea how bad things really were…

Tubefilter: What happened when Defy went under?

TWZ: Like all other Defy employees, we had close to no warning before the shutdown. We were completely stunned, and that last day was one of the most surreal and bizarre moments of our lives. The rug was pulled out from everyone, and we didn’t just have to say goodbye to Warp Zone that day, we had to say goodbye to all the awesome Defy employees we had worked with for over five years there. It was emotional and chaotic. The office scene looked like that of an insanely over-the-top company closure you’d only see in a movie like Fun With Dick and Jane. It’s a surprise nothing ended up on fire!

Tubefilter: And what happened post-fiasco?

TWZ: Post-fiasco, our access to The Warp Zone YouTube channel and all other social media accounts was removed. It was such a weird feeling. For the first time in eight years, we couldn’t view anything on the back end of the channel. We were allowed to post one final “see you later” video, where we told fans we had to go on a forced hiatus and weren’t sure when we’d be back, but that was all we could do. The bank had seized Warp Zone.

After the initial shock, we were able to track down the firm handling the sale of Warp Zone and the rest of Defy’s assets. When they realized we weren’t going to be ones to help recoup the bank’s massive debts, they never spoke to us again. It appeared the future of Warp Zone was out of our hands.

Months passed, and we would hear rumors about the progress of the sale, but unfortunately we weren’t really in the loop. Eventually, we received word from Ian Hecox (Smosh) and the Mythical Entertainment team, and were absolutely blown away by how swiftly our fortunes changed. The Warp Zone was rescued by Mythical during their acquisition of Smosh, and in a miraculous turn of events, they offered us full ownership of the brand back!

It was an incredible and amazing gesture. We seriously can’t overstate how ecstatic and grateful we are for their efforts.

Tubefilter: Where do you go from here? What are your plans for the future?

TWZ: We’re incredibly excited that we have full control over The Warp Zone again. We feel creatively reinvigorated and plan to take our content back to its roots and really focus on our relationship with our audience, something that we unfortunately failed to do under Defy while we were focusing on views and making sure we were profitable.

We have our first new sketch coming out this Friday, April 5. The video is a Batman sketch that imagines Batman lost the funding of Wayne Enterprises, and had to pay for his crime-fighting ways independently through crowdfunding and odd jobs.

Along those lines, we’ve also started a Patreon and have some awesome new perks there to connect with our fans better than ever before!

Tubefilter: Anything else we should know?

TWZ: If you want to hear more about our Defy story, we have a tell-all video coming Tuesday, April 9.

Also wanted to mention that we have signed with Studio71, who we have been incredible partners so far. John Carle is our manager there. We shot our comeback video at their production spaces, and they’ve been a huge help during this transitional relaunch period.

All in all, it’s been a crazy few months, but we’re super excited for the rest of this year and beyond!

Filed under: Defy Media, YouTube by James Hale
Comments Off on Here’s How The Warp Zone Survived Defy Media’s Collapse — And Regained Control Of Its Content

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.

Danielle Cohn wasn’t yet a teenager when she began gathering fans. She got her start making videos on the shortform lip-synching video app Musical.ly, and her popularity on the platform resulted in a deal with production company Millennial Muzik. Cohn’s first song with the company was “Marilyn Monroe,” for which she and all her friends filmed a glitzy music video. But Musical.ly wasn’t equipped to host a full-length music vid, so once the project was completed, Cohn’s mom decided to upload it on her own YouTube channel to share it with the world.

Things snowballed from there. Cohn (who’s now 15) liked YouTube, and wanted to keep making longer productions — and not just music videos, but lifestyle videos like the ones she saw trending on the platform: challenges, and reaction vids, and stories about her life.

She made her debut on YouTube by posting “Marilyn Monroe” to her own channel in early 2018. The video got a big reaction from viewers (it currently has more than 10.5 million views), and that summer, she committed herself to ramping up her content production to grow her YouTube audience.

She’s since released a number of other songs, including her most recent, “No Way” (below). She stays on top of YouTube’s top trends, filming things like 24-hour challenges and wild pranks. Cohn currently posts two videos per week, but she’s hoping to ramp that up to three — especially since she’s now an official YouTube Millionaire, with more than 1.1 million subscribers.

Check out our chat with her below.

Tubefilter: How does it feel to hit one million subscribers? What do you have to say to your fans?

Danielle Cohn: I am still in shock that I hit a million. It feels amazing, and I am so thankful. When I found out, I started to cry. I have worked so hard for this. To my fans: I love you all so much. I wouldn’t be here without you guys. Thank you so much for believing me and sticking by my side. I promise to always work hard for you guys.

Tubefilter: You have a huge fanbase spread across multiple social media sites. Where did you get your start? How did you decide to join YouTube?

DC: I started on the app Musical.ly. My family was going through a rough time, so I found Musical.ly and started have fun posting. I blew up on the app and was offered my first song, called “Marilyn Monroe.” I was only 12 years old at the time when my mom decided to use her YouTube channel to post “Marilyn Monroe.” About a year ago, I wanted to do more than just Musical.ly videos, so I decided to start making YouTube videos. I enjoyed it, and my fans started asking me for more, so over the summer, I started posting twice a week. While I was doing that, I also worked hard on building my Instagram page up to a million followers.

Tubefilter: Did you move over to TikTok after Musical.ly shuttered? How does your creative process work differently for YouTube content versus TikTok content?

DC: I was a top creator, and gave Musical.ly so much of my time. Unfortunately, I don’t do much on TikTok, because I enjoy making YouTube videos more. Even though creating YouTube videos takes a lot more dedication and editing time, I love it!

On YouTube, I make 24-hour challenges, and do other trending challenges like turning myself into stuff. Making a normal YouTube video does take long hours — sometimes I make videos for 24 hours straight. But like I said, I love filming and putting out new stuff for my fans.

Tubefilter: Have you ever worked with brands for partnerships or sponsored videos? How did those partnerships and sponsorships come about?

DC: My business contact is on my social pages, so brands usually email me about how we can work together. From there, my mom and I will figure out which the best brands are for me to work with. One of my biggest brand partners is Fashion Nova. I also am an ambassador for Bang Energy.

Tubefilter: What do you think makes your voice stand out on YouTube?

DC: I personally think what makes my voice stand out is how I remain consistent and keep going despite any haters or negativity. Most people couldn’t handle getting dislikes or bad comments. For myself, I don’t care — I keep pushing through because no one can ruin my dream or bring me down.

Tubefilter: How do you come up with video ideas for your channel?

DC: I follow a lot of trends. I go and see what is trending on social media, and then make a video in my own way. I also ask my fans what they would like to see. Besides that, I do things that interest me. I love fashion, so I love to do outfit hauls. I am a fan of 24-hour challenges, so I try to do as many as I can in fun places.

Tubefilter: What else do you get up to in your daily life?

DC: I am in ninth grade, so every day I have school to do. I do it online, so I am able to do work in the early mornings and also at night. I do a lot of photoshoots and go into the studio a lot. I make sure to post once a day on Instagram, so I’m doing that and making YouTube videos most of my day.

Tubefilter: When did you notice your YouTube channel really starting to pick up subscribers? How did you know when you’d found your audience, and how did you grow that audience?

DC: I noticed over the summer that my audience was picking up. I was only doing one video a week. At that moment, I knew I needed to step it up and do two videos a week. I considered all the negative feedback I got and made sure I improved every video, plus continued to do what my fans loved about me. I grew my audience based off wanting to prove to all my haters I am great at what I do.

After working hard for months of doing trending challenges and being consistent, I have over a million followers now! The more I worked and the more videos I put out, the more I gained supporters. I wanted my fans to see the real me, and that’s what they always get on my YouTube channel.

Tubefilter: What’s your favorite part of making content on YouTube?

DC: My favorite part of making content is doing videos that will make my fans happy. I love acting and want to be a reality star one day, so YouTube is helping me with my dream.

Tubefilter: What’s next for your channel? Any plans looking to the future?

DC: I want to put out more music. I have been in the studio making lots of great music. I also want to do a lot more 24-hour challenges. I just recently got a new editor, so I hope to start working on doing three videos a week for my fans. My fans are going to see more of my family — my mom and my brother Chad. I am also going to work on doing more workout routines for my fitness fans.

I’m telling you, if you are not subscribed already, you need to go subscribe and see what I have planned next! Once again, thank you to all my fans for always supporting me. I love you all so much.

You can add yourself to the ranks of Cohn’s more-than-a-million YouTube subscribers at her channel YouTube.com/DaniCohn.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Millionaires, News by James Hale
Comments Off on YouTube Millionaires: Danielle Cohn Got Her Start On Musical.ly — Now, Her YouTube Music Videos Are Viewed By Millions

One of YouTube’s most promising — and chatty — young personalities, Emma Chamberlain, has just expanded her online presence with the launch of a podcast.

Though Chamberlain, 17, is far from the first YouTuber to enter the crowded podcast field, she’s hoping to put her own spin on the format. On April 11, Chamberlain will launch Stupid Genius, with subsequent episodes slated to drop every Thursday thereafter. In each installment, Chamberlain will tackle a puzzling question — such as ‘Why do onions make us cry?’ — and furnish three creative guesses as to the answer.

The show will be available via iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play at launch, she says, with additional platforms to follow — perhaps such as YouTube, where Chamberlain has amassed 7.4 million subscribers. The show comes courtesy of Ramble — a podcast network formed by talent agency UTA (which signed Chamberlain in July) and podcast company Cadence13 that creates shows exclusively fronted by top YouTube stars. Ramble also works with Rhett & Link, Josh Peck, and Flula Borg on podcast production, advertising, events, and merch opportunities.

You can check out a trailer episode for Stupid Geniuses right here, or watch Chamberlain’s podcast announcement video below.

While this is Chamberlain’s first major media endeavor beyond YouTube, she has dipped her toes into the fashion industry in recent months, including collaborating with Louis Vuitton on content surrounding Paris Fashion Week, releasing her own merch line, and co-designing a limited collection called High Key in collaboration with shopping app Dote.

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
Comments Off on Rising YouTube Star Emma Chamberlain To Showcase Her ‘Stupid Genius’ On New Podcast

The NewFronts West—the Los Angeles-based digital media event established by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) after condensing its corresponding New York gathering last year—is returning for a sophomore season.

The second-ever NewFronts West will be held on September 11 and 12 at NeueHouse Hollywood, and this year’s iteration will feature the theme ‘Relationships Matter. Take a Stand!’ Creators, traditional celebrities, brands, agencies, and publishers will convene to share insights and explore the latest innovations in the space, although a roster of presenting publishers has not yet been announced.

In a first for the NewFronts West, the IAB has also established a board of advisers, which it says will help guide the evolution of the event. Members include: WEVR co-founder Anthony Batt, 20th Century Fox’s Scott Bishoff, Amplify and Greycroft Partners‘ Paul Bricault, CAA’s David Freeman, Zenith USA’s Mac Hagel, Horizon Media’s Tiffany Kirk and Autumn White, Grey West’s Alex Morrison, Universal Studios’ Doug Neil, Ritchie Mae Ordonez of Amazon, Digital Media Management’s Luigi Picarazzi, former Honest Company CMO Shannon Pruitt, and Rufus Worldwide’s Nancy Yip Ramos.

And, once again, the IAB has pacted with the Streamy Awards (which are produced by Tubefilter and dick clark productions) to recognize accomplishments in the branded content space at the second annual Streamys Brand Awards.

The NewFronts West will be held after the flagship NewFronts event in New York, taking place from April 29 to May 3—during which time top digital publishers like YouTube, Twitter, and Studio71 will host showy presentations in hopes of courting prospective marketers.

You can check out the rest of Tubefilter‘s interviews from our ‘2019 IAB NewFronts West’ video series right here.

Filed under: NewFronts by Geoff Weiss
Comments Off on IAB’s Second Annual NewFronts West Will Return To Los Angeles In September

YouTube megastar Alex Wassabi has scooped up a role in Hulu and AwesomenessTV’s teen witch series Light as a Feather.

Details are slim, but we do know Wassabi, who counts 11.4 million subscribers on YouTube, will play a character named Luke. Wassabi’s previous acting credits include a major part in fellow YouTuber Joey Graceffa’s (9 million subscribers) YouTube Premium murder mystery series Escape the Night. He also appeared alongside SungWon Cho, aka ProZD (1.9 million), in Crunchyroll’s parody web series Anime Crimes Division.

Wassabi is joining a swath of other new cast members, including Katelyn Nacon (The Walking Dead), Froy Gutierrez (Teen Wolf), Adriyan Rae (Atlanta), Alisa Allapach (The 15:17 to Paris), Kira Kosarin (The Thundermans), Robyn Lively (Teen Witch), and Alan and Alex Stokes (Brobot).

Light as a Feather, based on a popular Wattpad series written by Zoe Aarsen, debuted last year. Its first 10-episode season followed a group of high school friends facing deadly supernatural consequences after playing a game of Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board at a sleepover.

In the 16-episode second season — announced in February — main character McKenna (Liana Liberato) becomes the curse’s next target, and she must race against time to save her life — and her friends.

Also returning for the show’s second season are core cast members Brianne Tju, Haley Ramm, Jordan Rodrigues, Brent Rivera, and Dylan Sprayberry.

Season two is set to bow this summer.

Filed under: AwesomenessTV, Celebrity, Hulu by James Hale
Comments Off on Alex Wassabi Is Getting Witchy With Role In Hulu, AwesomenessTV’s ‘Light As A Feather’

Shani Hilton, who worked as an editorial executive at BuzzFeed for six years, left the company yesterday to take a position at the Los Angeles Times.

Hilton joined BuzzFeed in 2013. In 2016, she was named vice president of news and programming for the company’s more serious editorial arm, BuzzFeed News. After BuzzFeed’s January layoffs cut 43 journalists from the News team, Hilton was instrumental in running the streamlined division that remained, per The Hollywood Reporter.

She departed BuzzFeed yesterday, and will begin her new position as the Times’ deputy managing editor of news on June 3. In that position, she’ll focus on a number of operational areas: digital strategy, newsroom operations, events, budgeting, video programming, recruiting, and driving subscriptions.

“I’ve basically done everything that you can do [at Buzzfeed], essentially, at one point or another,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. She added that she wasn’t actively looking for another job, but was poached by the Times’ deputy managing editor Sewell Chan. “I’m from California and I’m really psyched to be moving back. The job was too appealing, and it felt like a really big, needed one,” she explained.

Hilton also said she thinks BuzzFeed News is still “poised to do incredible work because the level of ambition is so high. The company is still totally dedicated to what we do.” She added that she found “real compassion” working for BuzzFeed, and, “It’s not the fake ‘we’re a family’ bullsh-t, it’s really like, ‘We are doing good work together and we are kind to each other, and that’s what makes it so special.’”

BuzzFeed’s editor in chief, Ben Smith, sent out a staff memo today informing colleagues of Hilton’s departure. “She’s been crucial to much of our strategy, growth, and success,” he wrote. “She’s also been my closest partner in building this place, and I am going to miss her both personally and professionally.”

Her leaving comes on the heels of another high-profile exit: Ze Frank, a longtime exec who developed much of BuzzFeed’s video strategy, stepped down last week from his position as head of research and development. Unlike Hilton, Frank appears to have left without another position secured.

Filed under: Buzzfeed by James Hale
Comments Off on Shani Hilton Departs BuzzFeed To Take Over As The Los Angeles Times’ Deputy Managing Editor Of News

Early Vine star Brittany Furlan has announced her next venture — a podcast called Worst Firsts inspired by a former YouTube series that ran through 2017.

In the first episode, Furlan welcomes her husband, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, for a candid conversation about their worst first experiences. In the episode, Lee discusses some of his craziest encounters with fans, as well as a story about what he had to do in order to drive a date’s Corvette. Future episodes will roll out every Tuesday, with conversations typically focused on dating and relationship mishaps.

“Worst Firsts is a series I did on my YouTube channel, where I would talk to people about their worst first dates,” Furlan tells Tubefilter. “After a few conversations, I was like, ‘Wow, a lot of people have been through crazy first dates’ — which was the thing that ultimately inspired my podcast.”

Worst Firsts is being produced and distributed by multi-channel network Studio71 through its recently-formed podcast division, which launched in June and furnishes the same services for audio series headlined by digital stars like Christine Sydelko and Harley Morenstein. San Francisco podcast upstart Himalaya will also serve as a launch partner for the show, which will be distributed via iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. Accompanying video versions of the recordings will air on Furlan’s YouTube channel (see below), which counts 328,000 subscribers.

Furlan — who is repped by Brian Lieberman at Studio71, Management 360, and WME — most recently appeared in Netflix‘s social media docuseries The American Meme, and also has a budding acting career. She is set to feature in the forthcoming film Spy Intervention as well as a TV series titled Paradise City co-starring Bella Thorne and Olivia Culpo.

Filed under: Studio71 by Geoff Weiss
Comments Off on Brittany Furlan Launches ‘Worst Firsts’ Podcast With Studio71

Even casual David Dobrik viewers know about the massively popular vlogger’s affinity for Chipotle — frequently delivered by his assistant while out and about filming Vlog Squad shenanigans.

Now, the 22-year-old stands to profit from his obsession with the fast-casual Mexican chain via a brand deal to fete National Burrito Day — a curious holiday whose origins appear to be unknown.

Beginning today in the Chipotle app, the restaurant will let fans order the same chicken burrito that Dobrik favors: complete with brown rice, black beans, tomato salsa, extra corn, light cheese, and a side of guacamole — coming in at a a cool 1,310 calories. And when customers order the Dobrik burrito — which Chipotle has dubbed the official ‘National Burrito Day burrito’, whatever that means — on the Chipotle app, Chipotle.com, or Doordash, they will receive free delivery. Dobrik’s burrito is priced at $9.80, though Chipotle will also offer free delivery on any order over $10.

The Dobrik Burrito will stick around as a preconfigured menu item through Sunday, Chipotle says.

“We know a few things about burritos at Chipotle and we think that ultimately, National Burrito Day is about celebrating those who love burritos,” Chippotle CMO Chris Brandt said in a statement. “By making David’s order a digital exclusive, we’re able to celebrate one of our favorite days with his fans everywhere in a unique and personal way.”

Dobrik, who counts 11.8 million subscribers, recently made headlines for winning a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award in the ‘Social Star’ category.

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
Comments Off on David Dobrik Wraps Up With Chipotle In Honor Of ‘National Burrito Day’