Awesomeness Co-Heads Elucidate Vision For Gen Z Purveyor After Viacom Acquisition

Awesomeness is re-birthing its vision for a Gen Z-focused media powerhouse nine months after its acquisition by Viacom. The company’s co-heads, Rebecca Glashow and Shelley Zimmerman — who were appointed last September — told Tubefilter it’s been a “hit-the-ground running integration” into the Viacom family.

This seamlessness — despite the fact that Viacom tendered a number of layoffs as it brought Awesomeness into the fold last summer — has been due to the fact that top Awesomeness vets are employed elsewhere across Viacom. This includes Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins and Viacom Digital Studios head Kelly Day. It also didn’t hurt that Awesomeness hit a home run within weeks of the purchase with To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before — a Netflix romcom that rocked the zeitgeist and turned Noah Centineo (who had previously appeared in Awesomeness’ T@gged series) into a bonafide star.

Now, with Viacom’s international sales infrastructure in tow (comprising 80-plus staffers on the ground around the world), Glashow says Awesomeness has its sights set on global expansion — with a particular eye to Europe and Southeast Asia. Last week, for instance, it debuted teen thriller Light As A Feather on Channel 4 in the U.K. and in Germany on HBO Europe — and other franchises will follow. “Gen Z is 25% of the United States — but it’s 33% of the global population,” Zimmerman adds, noting the substantial opportunity.

While Awesomeness still comprises a branded division and a YouTube channel network, its heart and soul is the creation of both long and short-form originals distributed on subscription streaming platforms (Netflix, Hulu) and free sites (YouTube, Snapchat) alike. And as the OG purveyor of content for Gen Z, Awesomeness has seen its core audience grow up a bit over the past seven years of its corporate life amid the arrival of new competitors like Brat.

“As certain members of our audience age, we find that they’re still drawn to our content, because we’re covering a wide range of genres and formats,” Zimmerman says.

She also said that YA hits like To All The Boys inevitably reach audiences that are much older than their Gen Z targets. “It’s a story that takes place for Gen Z, but the culture potential to make some noise goes so much further than that,” she says.

And with the increasing success of franchises that don’t necessarily feature YouTube stars, Glashow and Zimmerman reiterated Awesomeness’ commitment to working with digital-native talent, even as it primarily taps traditional actors to front flagship programming. A prime example of this is the Vine-turned-YouTube star Brent Rivera, who regularly appears in Awesomeness’ short-form YouTube programming (such as Dream Date With Brent Rivera) as well as on its premium scripted projects like Light As A Feather.

“We still very much like working with younger talent that may still be building and who we can grow with,” Glashow says. “That’s still a big part of what we do in terms of talent development.” Recognizing emerging digital stars who are rife with potential was part of the founding mission — and genius — of Awesomeness under Robbins, she adds.

While Awesomeness plans to announce additional talent news and its full content slate at the NewFronts, Glashow and Zimmerman teased a handful of projects on the horizon, including another Centineo Netflix film called The Perfect Date, which premiered last Friday; a To All The Boys sequel that is currently in production; and the company’s first Netflix TV series Trinkets — which launches this summer and is about three high school girls who forge an unlikely friendship at a Shoplifters Anonymous meeting. A jumbo-sized second season of Light As A Feather will also return to Hulu this summer — a sign, Glashow says, that the company is developing quality IP with an enduring shelf-life.

“We’ve built an incredible amount over seven years, and we’ve delivered a tremendous amount of success over the last nine months inside Viacom,” Glashow said. “Our ability to supersize Awesomeness and become the preeminent brand reaching this Gen Z demo — hand-in-hand with our Viacom peers and colleagues — is super exciting.”