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 Jumprope Is A New Social Network Where Users Create How-To Videos — And Then Post Them Everywhere
There is a virtually endless amount of user-generated how-to material out there on social networks, from recipes on Pinterest to beauty tutorials on Instagram to YouTube's vast library of videos about how to do pretty much anything. Millions upon millions of people tune in for this content: in the last 12 months, for example, how-to videos collectively netted 47.3 billion views Facebook (top watched: food tricks, with 434 million views) and 31.5 billion on YouTube (top: mixing store-bought a...
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YouTube Testing Free $2 Super Chats As Part Of YouTube Premium Subscription
YouTube is experimenting with incorporating a new benefit into YouTube Premium subscriptions, which are priced at $12 per month and comprise ad-free viewing, downloaded videos, background play on YouTube and YouTube Music, and access to all YouTube Originals.
YouTube confirmed to Android Police that it's beta testing monthly Super Chat gifts for YouTube Premium subscribers -- or donations that viewers can tender during live streams to make their comments appear more prominently. The Super Chats
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Netflix To Grow New York City Footprint With Production Hub, Expanded Corporate HQ
Netflix is massively expanding its New York City footprint.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in tandem with the streaming giant today that Netflix will expand its existing New York City corporate headquarters to accommodate 127 additional top executive jobs by the year 2024, in realms like content, marketing, and production. The offices, in New York's Flatiron District, will comprise 100,000 square feet. Currently, Netflix counts 32 employees based in New York.
Additionally, Netflix will open u
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Hannah Hart Debuts Proposal-Planning Series With Ellen Digital Network
Hannah Hart is launching her partnership with Ellen Digital Network -- the digital media company founded by talk show phenom Ellen DeGeneres.
Hart is starring in a new series for the network dubbed A Decent Proposal, which is dropping today on EllenTube.com -- DeGeneres' proprietary platform -- as well as her massive YouTube channel (32 million subscribers). Sponsored by James Allen, an online engagement ring company, the series will see Hart -- who is recently engaged herself -- will help ot...
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YouTube Returning To Fire TV After Amazon And Google Find Friendly Ground
Google and Amazon have finally reached friendly ground in their long-running beef. As a result, Google subsidiary YouTube will return to Amazon's Fire TV devices.
Google yoinked YouTube off Fire TV in late 2017, after negotiations between the tech giants broke down due to what a Google spokesperson called a "lack of reciprocity" on Amazon's part. Basically, Google was mad that it was working to give Amazon customers access to its products, like YouTube, but Amazon wasn't doing the sa...
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Creators Going Pro: If Dallmyd Won The Lottery Today, He'd Still Spend His Life Making Treasure Hunting Videos For YouTube
Jake Koehler -- aka Dallmyd -- is most at home when he's outfitted in dive gear, combing the murky bottom of the Chattahoochee River. He's a lifetime fan of hanging out around the water, whether we're talking lakes, rivers, or even oceans, but it wasn't till 2015 that he started to wonder what lay beyond the surface of his favorite fishing spots. He suited up and went exploring, and to his surprise, scattered along the bottom of the Chattahoochee were hundreds of lost items, some of t...
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Insights: As Video Streamers Turn Over Some Cards, Can They Avoid The Real Flop?
In Texas Hold 'Em, a popular poker variant you can see on TV, there's a point in the game called "the Flop," when everyone at the table finally sees some of (but not all) the cards that each player has. The final reveal won't happen until after a few more rounds of betting, but everyone starts to know more about what everyone else has.
All The Streamers Are Finally Showing Their Cards, Especially Disney
Right now, in the business of streaming video, we're in The Flop. Some of the new...
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Wattpad Pacts With Sony To Develop More Popular Stories Into TV Series
Wattpad, the storytelling hub where a legion of up-and-coming writers share their tales, has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop some of its most popular stories into TV series.
The duo's deal involves Wattpad giving Sony a first look at new stories garnering serious engagement on the platform. To determine what's catching users' attention, Wattpad will use its in-house technology, called 'Story DNA Machine Learning,' which identifies stories and writers with "exc...
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Here's Why Simply Nailogical, With 7 Million Subscribers, Still Maintains Day Job At Canadian Government
If being a top YouTube creator with 7 million subscribers sounds like a fulfilling and time-consuming proposition both professionally and financially, meet Cristine Rotenberg.
The 30-year-old, who is known to fans as Simply Nailogical given that her channel is predicated on nail design, only moonlights as a YouTuber, it turns out. From Monday to Friday, Rotenberg works at Statistics Canada -- a government agency that produces statistics to help better understand Canada's population, resources...
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Susan Wojcicki On YouTube's Fight Against Grotesque Content: “I Own This Problem, And I'm Going To Fix It”
Amid a slew of bad news for YouTube -- including scandals involving conspiracy theories and pedophiles -- The New York Times sat down with CEO Susan Wojcicki for a wide-ranging profile, describing her as "the most measured person in tech" even as her company is facing harrowing horrors at seemingly every turn.
Given her comparatively low profile, the Times notes that Wojcicki has not received as much blame as her counterparts at Facebook and Twitter for enabling the spread of misinformation...
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European MCN Divimove Signs Burgeoning Dutch Vlogger Dylan Haegens
Divimove, the Berlin-based multi-channel network, has added to its starry creator roster with Dutch vlogger Dylan Haegens, who has amassed roughly 2 million YouTube subscribers on the strength of his slickly-produced comedy clips.
Divimove, which is one of the MCN subsidiaries of Luxembourg-based media conglomerate RTL Group, will work with 27-year-old Haegens to expand the reach of his existing social channels and monetize his content through "sustainable" brand partnerships, audience deve...
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Top Scandinavian MCN 'United Screens', Which RTL Bought For $15 Million, Names New CEO
United Screens, one of the top YouTube multi-channel networks in Scandinavia, has a new CEO.
The RTL Group-owned network appointed Natalie Tideström Heidmark (pictured above, left) its new chief on April 1. She succeeds co-founder and former CEO Malte Andreasson, who will continue to consult for United Screens after he steps down. At the same time, United Screens elevated Nicolin Lillhage (pictured above, right) to the role of COO and deputy CEO. Andreasson's co-founder Stina Bergfors wil...
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Netflix Is Close To Buying Hollywood's Historic Egyptian Theatre — But Won't Use It To Lure Film Awards
Last week, after learning Netflix backed away from a deal to purchase independent cinema chain Landmark Theatres, we heard rumors the streamer was instead looking to buy the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
Those rumors appear to be true: Netflix is on the cusp of closing a deal to purchase the 97-year-old theater, Variety reports. Right now, the Egyptian is owned and maintained by nonprofit organization American Cinemathique (where Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos is a boa...
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Alexis G. Zall Will Go To Frightening Lengths For Followers In Portal A's 'Maybe Today Satan'
Alexis G. Zall's latest multi-format series tells a story that may sound frighteningly familiar to creators in today's competitive digital landscape.
Maybe Today Satan, an Instagram-first horror-comedy produced by digital studio Portal A that will also live on Zall's YouTube channel (1.2 million subscribers), will see the 20-year-old influencer consenting to a satanic possession after making a deal with the literal devil to grow her audience. The series kicked off on April 5 with Zall goi...
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AT&T Sells Back Its 10% Stake In Hulu, Valuing Streamer At $15 Billion
AT&T has sold its stake in Hulu back to the joint venture that owns the streaming service, amid a reorganization of its digital media properties and the impending launch of its own video platform at WarnerMedia.
The transaction valued Hulu at $15 billion, and At&T's 9.5% stake at $1.43 billion. Hulu's last publicly-reported valuation, in a November regulatory filing by joint owner Disney, was $9.3 billion. Time Warner, which is now owned by AT&T, purchased its stake in Hulu ...
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TikTok Hiring “Talent Ambassadors” At 17 Colleges To Help Rake In Older Users
TikTok is going to college.
The shortform video app is looking to expand its user base by charming college students -- and, to do that, it's hiring "talent ambassadors." Those ambassadors will traverse their campuses, offering TikTok swag and other incentives like free pizza and Amazon gift cards to students who download and use the app, Adweek reports.
Given that TikTok is particularly known for having a large number of young teen users, these ambassador positions seem poised to help Ti...
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Awesomeness Co-Heads Elucidate Vision For Gen Z Purveyor After Viacom Acquisition
Nine months after its acquisition by Viacom, Awesomeness is re-birthing its vision for the Gen Z-focused media powerhouse, in what Awesomeness co-heads Rebecca Glashow and Shelley Zimmerman (pictured below) say has 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 numerous Awesomeness vets are employed elsewhere...
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UTA Signs Vlogger Kennedy Walsh, Who Gained 940,000 Subscribers In 10 Months
UTA has signed lifestyle vlogger Kennedy Walsh for representation in all areas.
Walsh, who launched her YouTube channel 10 short months ago and has subsequently amassed 940,000 subscribers -- as well as an additional 512,000 followers on Instagram and 125,000 followers on Twitter -- is best known for her personal vlogs, celebrity photo re-creations, and viral challenges. She will work with UTA to transition into acting, as well as to pursue licensing, branding, and endorsement opportunities.
W
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T-Series Court Order Sees “Abusive, Vulgar, Racist” PewDiePie Diss Tracks Blocked In India
T-Series and PewDiePie's battle has moved to a new venue: the Indian court system.
The YouTuber (whose real name is Felix Kjellberg) has seen his T-Series diss tracks "Bitch Lasagna" and "Congratulations" blocked in India after T-Series filed a complaint with the High Court of Delhi. The complaint alleged the tracks are part of an effort on Kjellberg's part to defame T-Series and reclaim his crown as most-subscribed-to creator on YouTube.
In the ruling (a copy of which was obtaine...
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YouTube Teams Up With Enterprise For 'Cobra Kai' Campaign
Ahead of the April 24 return of Cobra Kai, one of YouTube's top Originals, the platform has partnered with car rental brand Enterprise for an extensive ad campaign.
For the uninitiated, Cobra Kai is an official continuation of the Karate Kid franchise. It stars Ralph Macchio, who played main character Daniel LaRusso in all three original films, and William Zabka, who played the primary antagonist, Johnny Lawrence in the first two films. In Cobra Kai, the duo butt heads once again after Johnny...
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Vimeo Breaks Into Shortform Space With Acquisition Of Video Creation Service Magisto
Vimeo is entering the shortform video business with the acquisition of Magisto, a service allowing users to create short videos that can be exported to any platform.
Financial details weren't disclosed by either company, but Israeli business newspaper Globes reports Vimeo will pay $200 million when the deal closes sometime in the second quarter of this year. (Magisto is headquarted in Menlo Park, Calif., but has offices in Israel.)
In a blog post about the deal, Magisto CEO and cofounder Ore...
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Korean Boy Band BTS Annihilates Record For Biggest 24-Hour YouTube Debut
K-Pop is continuing its staggering reign on YouTube.
One week after girl-group Blackpink broke platform records for the most-viewed music video in 24 hours, boy band BTS clobbered those figures -- as the long-watched 24-hour viewership threshold continues to balloon an exponential pace.
When it ascended to the top spot last week, Blackpink's "Kill This Love" nabbed 56.7 million views in 24 hours, barely eking past previous record holder Ariana Grande (whose "Thank U, Next" clocked 55.4 milli...
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Horror Vloggers Sam And Colby Sign With CAA Amid YouTube Hiatus Announcement
CAA has signed YouTube duo Sam Golbach and Colby Brock, whose videos on the Sam And Colby channel have racked up 2.8 million subscribers.
Golbach and Brock, who are famous for exploring abandoned and haunted destinations, with 9.6 million followers across all platforms, will be repped by CAA in all areas of their burgeoning careers. Curiously, however, the duo posted a video on April 7 announcing an indefinite YouTube hiatus on the heels of a scary experience while attempting to enact a ritual...
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YouTube Names New Head Of Unscripted; Says Upcoming Originals Slate Will Center On Music, Education, And Creators
The YouTube Originals team has announced its replacement for veteran executive Ben Relles, who the video giant elevated from head of unscripted content to head of innovation last week amid its foray into choose-your-own-adventure programming and interactive live specials.
Alex Piper, who formerly served as VP of alternative entertainment at Fox Broadcasting, will now head up YouTube's unscripted originals in North and South America, Variety reports. Both Relles and Piper will report to Susann...
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Clevver News, Style Channels Return To YouTube With Original Hosts After Defy's Collapse
Good news for Clevver fans. Two of the beloved lifestyle brand's YouTube channels are relaunching imminently with a bunch of familiar faces: Clevver News and Clevver Style. Clevver was one of the biggest potential casualties of the Defy Media shutdown in November (in addition to brother brand Smosh), when the digital network suddenly went out of business, leaving employees and creators in the lurch.
Clevver, which was subsequently acquired by Hearst, is bringing back Clevver Style's hostin...
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Longtime HQ Trivia Host Scott Rogowsky Exits Company
Longtime top HQ Trivia host Scott Rogowsky has exited the company.
Rogowsky, who'd been with the game app since its launch in August 2017, had been noticeably absent from its daily live video quiz games since March 24. Now we know he split from HQ over a disagreement about his time commitment to the startup.
Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.
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Netflix's Next Bid To Charm Awards Voters Is Its Own Magazine, Coming In June
Netflix's next stunt to charm major awards show voters is a full-fledged magazine.
The 100-page inaugural issue is set to be published in June, and will highlight some of the nearly 700 projects Netflix released last year as well as the talent behind them, Bloomberg reports.
That publication month, of course, is no coincidence: June is when members of the television academy vote on Emmy nominations. Netflix will pass out copies of the magazine, tentatively called Wide, at events set up to pr...
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Early YouTube Author Hannah Hart Returns To Form With Second Holiday-Themed Cookbook
YouTube chef Hannah Hart became one of the first digital creators to successfully transition into the literary world when her debut comedic cookbook, My Drunk Kitchen, became a New York Times Best Seller for five weeks upon its release back in 2014.
Now, Hart is back with her third book to date titled My Drunk Kitchen Holidays. The humor-filled tome will celebrate year-round holidays with 50 new recipes as well as activity suggestions, each arranged into 12 monthly themes. The book will fete ti
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Disney Streaming Service To Launch In November At $6.99 Per Month
Disney has finally dished some serious details about its upcoming streaming service, Disney+.
First, we now have an official launch date. The service goes live on Nov. 12, 2019 -- but only in the U.S. Wider rollout will happen, but Disney didn't say when.
We now also know that the service will cost $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year when paid ahead in full. (FYI, that's $2 less per month than Netflix's most basic plan, and $1 more than Disney-owned Hulu's most basic plan.)
Disney sha...
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YouTube Is Plotting A New Metric That Would Reward 'Quality Watch Time' (Report)
Amid a ferris-wheeling slew of scandals with respect to objectionable content across its air, YouTube is reportedly developing a new algorithm to reward content of "quality."
According to Bloomberg, YouTube has been developing two internal metrics over the past two years -- one that is straightforward and gauges total time spent on the service (including posting and reading comments; not just watching videos) and a second that is slightly more nebulous, which the video giant is still workin...
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Instagram Launches Moody Camera Effects For Coachella, Billie Eilish
Instagram has released two new filters to fete two of the biggest happenings in music today: Coachella, which kicks off today in the California desert, as well as the debut album of breakout artist Billie Eilish, which is titled When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (which bowed on March 29).
The first effect, which marks a creative collaboration between Instagran and 17-year-old Eilish -- known for her purring vocals and creepy aesthetic -- gives users' skin a plastic glean and also fully...
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In A First, VidCon Will Host Panels, Meet-And-Greets With Internet-Famous Pets
VidCon, under owner Viacom, is set to debut its first-ever co-branded programming venture at its 10th annual gathering in Anaheim, Calif.
VidCon is teaming up with Group Nine Media-owned animal-centric media brand The Dodo for The Dodo's Pet Zone, which will run as part of the Community Track at VidCon. In what could serve as massive draw for animal-loving attendees -- though perhaps less of a pleasurable experience for the animals themselves -- fans be able to interface with the viral pets d...
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Taxes Got You Down? MrBeast — Who Gave Away More Than $1 Million Last Year — Feels Your Pain.
Is tax season causing you to spiral haplessly with mind-numbing dread? Jimmy Donaldson -- the breakout YouTube star known to 17 million subscribers as MrBeast -- is in roughly the same spot.
In a sitdown interview with fellow creators Ethan and Hila Klein on their H3 Podcast, the 20-year-old discussed the most complicated tax season of his young life, given that his YouTube career is predicated on giving away massive amounts of money for video stunts, such as YouTuber Only Airsoft Battle Roy...
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Logan Paul's Latest Podcast Guest Is Banned Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones
Alex Jones, the notorious far-right conspiracy theorist who's been banned from virtually every major platform, made a two-hour return to YouTube this week courtesy of Logan Paul.
Paul, who has 19 million subscribers and nets more than 50 million views per month, featured Jones in the latest episode of his Impaulsive podcast, which counts an additional 1.4 million subscribers and 10 to 15 million views per month on its own dedicated YouTube channel. Now, Paul is facing backlash for giving Jo...
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JoJo Siwa Fetes 16th Birthday With Manny MUA, Joey Graceffa — And Nickelodeon Cameras In Tow
JoJo Siwa doesn't turn 16 until May 19, but that's not stopping the gravelly-voiced and incomparably energetic YouTube star from getting a head start on this year's festivities.
Siwa celebrated her birthday earlier this week at the W Hotel in Hollywood, with the event being filmed for a Nickelodeon special dubbed JoJo's Dream Birthday, premiering on May 18 at 8:00 pm. The word 'Dream' is a nod to other projects that Siwa has in the works, including a five-song EP and accompanying tour, ...
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Smitten With 'Liza On Demand', YouTube Premium Picks Up 2 Extra Episodes
YouTube Premium apparently likes what it's seeing with Liza On Demand, whose second season is currently in production after being greenlit in January.
At a Q&A event last night, YouTube's chief business officer Robert Kyncl surprised his interviewer -- Demand star Liza Koshy -- by sharing that YouTube Premium was adding two more episodes to season two. The first season of Liza On Demand -- in which Koshy's character tries her hand at the gig economy to hilarious results -- compris...
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Insights: Snap Reaction To New Initiatives Is Great, But Can Spiegel Sustain This Win Streak?
It's been a long while coming, but Snap finally had some things to celebrate the past few days. Now to see if the company's beleaguered shareholders and remarkably loyal young user base can keep celebrating for a while.
In its first-ever partner summit last week, the company announced a slate of new episodic original shorts, further investing in keep-'em-around content to help improve user engagement. Initial shows had some successes, though none of the names involved so far are big outside of
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YouTube Axes Four More Series As It Overhauls Original Programming Strategy
YouTube has cancelled four more original series as part of its ongoing programming strategy switch-up.
Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television, Champaign ILL, Sideswiped, and Do You Want to See a Dead Body have gotten the ax. All of the series were scripted and fairly new, with the eldest of them being Ryan Hansen. That series launched in 2017 had two seasons; the rest launched last year and had just one.
"Our goal is to create amazing programming focused on music, education, YouTube creator...
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Hulu Orders Limited Series Based On Disgraced Theranos Founder, Starring Kate McKinnon
Everyone wants a piece of the Theranos story -- the riveting tale of a startup gone awry, which has already spawned a best-selling book, an ABC News podcast, an HBO documentary, a forthcoming feature film starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Adam McKay, and now a limited Hulu series.
Hulu has ordered a project based on ABC News' The Dropout, which chronicles the story of 35-year-old fallen entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, who claimed to have developed technology that could conduct a wide ra
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YouTube Axes Four More Series As It Overhauls Original Programming Strategy
YouTube has cancelled four more original series as part of its ongoing programming strategy switch-up.
Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television, Champaign ILL, Sideswiped, and Do You Want to See a Dead Body have gotten the ax. All of the series were scripted and fairly new, with the eldest of them being Ryan Hansen. That series launched in 2017 had two seasons; the rest launched last year and had just one.
"Our goal is to create amazing programming focused on music, education, YouTube creator...
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In A First, VidCon Will Host Panels, Meet-And-Greets With Internet-Famous Pets
VidCon, under owner Viacom, is set to debut its first-ever co-branded programming venture at its 10th annual gathering in Anaheim, Calif.
VidCon is teaming up with Group Nine Media-owned animal-centric media brand The Dodo for The Dodo's Pet Zone, which will run as part of the Community Track at VidCon. In what could serve as massive draw for animal-loving attendees -- though perhaps less of a pleasurable experience for the animals themselves -- fans be able to interface with the viral pets d...
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Logan Paul's Latest Podcast Guest Is Banned Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones
Alex Jones, the notorious far-right conspiracy theorist who's been banned from virtually every major platform, made a two-hour return to YouTube this week courtesy of Logan Paul.
Paul, who has 19 million subscribers and nets more than 50 million views per month, featured Jones in the latest episode of his Impaulsive podcast, which counts an additional 1.4 million subscribers and 10 to 15 million views per month on its own dedicated YouTube channel. Now, Paul is facing backlash for giving Jo...
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JoJo Siwa Fetes 16th Birthday With Manny MUA, Joey Graceffa — And Nickelodeon Cameras In Tow
JoJo Siwa doesn't turn 16 until May 19, but that's not stopping the gravelly-voiced and incomparably energetic YouTube star from getting a head start on this year's festivities.
Siwa celebrated her birthday earlier this week at the W Hotel in Hollywood, with the event being filmed for a Nickelodeon special dubbed JoJo's Dream Birthday, premiering on May 18 at 8:00 pm. The word 'Dream' is a nod to other projects that Siwa has in the works, including a five-song EP and accompanying tour, ...
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Welsh YouTube Star Ben Phillips To Conduct “The Ultimate Prank War” On U.K. Tour
YouTube prankster Ben Phillips, who recently surpassed 1 billion lifetime views on his massively popular channel, is embarking on a tour with his younger brother, Elliot Giles.
Dubbed Ben Vs. Elliot, the monthlong U.K. show will kick off on Sept. 27 in their native Cardiff, and subsequently hit London, Glasgow, Manchester, and more. While interpreting pranks into a live event may sound like a tricky feat, the shows will see the brothers competing in "the ultimate prank war," they say. Ticke...
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YouTube Exec Ben Relles Named Head Of Innovation, Will Lead Platform's Push Into Interactive Content
YouTube is officially joining Netflix in the realm of interactive content.
The platform revealed today that longtime executive Ben Relles, previously head of unscripted content for YouTube Originals, has been installed in a newly-created role: head of innovation. In this position, he'll develop a slate of choose-your-own-adventure programming and interactive live specials designed to boost user engagement and explore the reach of interactive technology, Variety reports.
"We now have amazi...
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YouTuber Charlie Ross Arrested For Impersonating Police Officer In April Fools' Prank
YouTube star Charlie Ross' April Fools' prank -- in which he impersonated a police officer and attempted to issue a falsified parking ticket to a Florida woman -- may land him in serious trouble with actual authorities.
Ross, who counts 2.1 million subscribers across two channels -- RossCreations and Vlog Creations -- was identified by law enforcement thanks to license plate information gleaned from security footage outside of a Sarasota Steak n Shake, Insider reports. He was arrested today...
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Digital Vets Launch 'UNCMMN' Talent Management Upstart, Repping Jay Versace, Jc Caylen
Two veterans from the world of digital entertainment have teamed up to launch their own talent management startup, which is called UNCMMN.
The firm is the brainchild of Stephanie Piza, a former talent manager at Flip Management (which merged with Select Management in August) and Carla Vionette Santiago, who formerly oversaw digital partnerships at marketing agency United Entertainment Group, where she worked with brands like Toyota, Doritos, and SC Johnson, and more. UNCMMN is being funded by ...
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YouTube Entrepreneur Zoe Sugg Renews Contract With Talent Firm Gleam Futures
Gleam Futures, the U.K. digital talent management company that has lost a number of high-profile clients in recent years, will forge onward with one of its hallmark stars: the lifestyle vlogger Zoe Sugg, who counts 42 million followers across all of her social media channels and is also the proprietor of a successful beauty and lifestyle brand called Zoella.
Sugg has re-signed with Gleam after six years with the company, though Gleam did not immediately respond to request for comment about the
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Taxes Got You Down? MrBeast — Who Gave Away More Than $1 Million Last Year — Feels Your Pain.
Is tax season causing you to spiral haplessly with mind-numbing dread? Jimmy Donaldson -- the breakout YouTube star known to 17 million subscribers as MrBeast -- is in roughly the same spot.
In a sitdown interview with fellow creators Ethan and Hila Klein on their H3 Podcast, the 20-year-old discussed the most complicated tax season of his young life, given that his YouTube career is predicated on giving away massive amounts of money for video stunts, such as YouTuber Only Airsoft Battle Roy...
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YouTube TV Hikes Monthly Price To $50 As It Strikes Carriage Deal With Discovery
YouTube is significantly ramping up the price of its YouTube TV service from $40 to $50 per month -- a 25% increase.
At the same time, the company noted in a blog post that it had added several channels from the Discovery network, including the flagship Discovery Channel, as well as HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, and MotorTrend. "We'll also be adding OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network later this year," wrote YouTube TV's VP of product management...
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Movie Theaters Don't Like Netflix. Netflix's Solution: Buy Its Own Movie Theater Chain.
Netflix's determination to simultaneously (or almost simultaneously) release its films in theaters and on its site has left it locked out of most major theater chains. That's a problem for Netflix, because it really, really wants to win film awards — and for a film to be eligible for major awards like the Oscars, it has to have a theater run.
Netflix's solution? Buy its own theater chain, and do what it wants.
Or, well, at least attempt to buy its own theater chain. A new Los Angeles ...
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Hulu Orders Limited Series Based On Disgraced Theranos Founder, Starring Kate McKinnon
Everyone wants a piece of the Theranos story -- the riveting tale of a startup gone awry, which has already spawned a best-selling book, an ABC News podcast, an HBO documentary, a forthcoming feature film starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Adam McKay, and now a limited Hulu series.
Hulu has ordered a project based on ABC News' The Dropout, which chronicles the story of 35-year-old fallen entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, who claimed to have developed technology that could conduct a wide ra
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Someone Hacks Defy Media's Twitter Account, Promptly Uses It To Troll Everyone (Including Defy)
Someone has hacked Defy Media's Twitter account, and they've made it perfectly clear that they are not a fan of Defy.
Back when Defy abruptly shuttered in November, it left roughly 50 creators (as well as hundreds of employees) in limbo, and an estimated $1.7 million of those creators' AdSense earnings is still caught up in the company's bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings. As a result, there are plenty of folks out there disgruntled at Defy, and @umn, the person who appears to be behind t...
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YouTube Entrepreneur Zoe Sugg Renews Contract With Talent Firm Gleam Futures
Gleam Futures, the U.K. digital talent management company that has lost a number of high-profile clients in recent years, will forge onward with one of its hallmark stars: the lifestyle vlogger Zoe Sugg, who counts 42 million followers across all of her social media channels and is also the proprietor of a successful beauty and lifestyle brand called Zoella.
Sugg has re-signed with Gleam after six years with the company, though Gleam did not immediately respond to request for comment about the
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Movie Theaters Don't Like Netflix. Netflix's Solution: Buy Its Own Movie Theater Chain.
Netflix's determination to simultaneously (or almost simultaneously) release its films in theaters and on its site has left it locked out of most major theater chains. That's a problem for Netflix, because it really, really wants to win film awards — and for a film to be eligible for major awards like the Oscars, it has to have a theater run.
Netflix's solution? Buy its own theater chain, and do what it wants.
Or, well, at least attempt to buy its own theater chain. A new Los Angeles ...
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YouTube TV Hikes Monthly Price To $50 As It Strikes Carriage Deal With Discovery
YouTube is significantly ramping up the price of its YouTube TV service from $40 to $50 per month -- a 25% increase.
At the same time, the company noted in a blog post that it had added several channels from the Discovery network, including the flagship Discovery Channel, as well as HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, and MotorTrend. "We'll also be adding OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network later this year," wrote YouTube TV's VP of product management...
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Someone Hacks Defy Media's Twitter Account, Promptly Uses It To Troll Everyone (Including Defy)
Someone has hacked Defy Media's Twitter account, and they've made it perfectly clear that they are not a fan of Defy.
Back when Defy abruptly shuttered in November, it left roughly 50 creators (as well as hundreds of employees) in limbo, and an estimated $1.7 million of those creators' AdSense earnings is still caught up in the company's bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings. As a result, there are plenty of folks out there disgruntled at Defy, and @umn, the person who appears to be behind t...
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Welsh YouTube Star Ben Phillips To Conduct “The Ultimate Prank War” On U.K. Tour
YouTube prankster Ben Phillips, who recently surpassed 1 billion lifetime views on his massively popular channel, is embarking on a tour with his younger brother, Elliot Giles.
Dubbed Ben Vs. Elliot, the monthlong U.K. show will kick off on Sept. 27 in their native Cardiff, and subsequently hit London, Glasgow, Manchester, and more. While interpreting pranks into a live event may sound like a tricky feat, the shows will see the brothers competing in "the ultimate prank war," they say. Ticke...
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YouTube Exec Ben Relles Named Head Of Innovation, Will Lead Platform's Push Into Interactive Content
YouTube is officially joining Netflix in the realm of interactive content.
The platform revealed today that longtime executive Ben Relles, previously head of unscripted content for YouTube Originals, has been installed in a newly-created role: head of innovation. In this position, he'll develop a slate of choose-your-own-adventure programming and interactive live specials designed to boost user engagement and explore the reach of interactive technology, Variety reports.
"We now have amazi...
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YouTuber Charlie Ross Arrested For Impersonating Police Officer In April Fools' Prank
YouTube star Charlie Ross' April Fools' prank -- in which he impersonated a police officer and attempted to issue a falsified parking ticket to a Florida woman -- may land him in serious trouble with actual authorities.
Ross, who counts 2.1 million subscribers across two channels -- RossCreations and Vlog Creations -- was identified by law enforcement thanks to license plate information gleaned from security footage outside of a Sarasota Steak n Shake, Insider reports. He was arrested today...
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Fullscreen's Talent Unit Signs 10 Creators, Including Sierra Schultzzie, Josh Ovalle
Fullscreen is continuing to build out its 360-degree talent management division, which works with digital creators and mainstream celebrities in all aspects of their careers. This is a more intimate relationship than traditional multi-channel network representation, which is what Fullscreen was founded upon, and which centers around YouTube channel management.
The talent unit, which Tubefilter profiled last June, and which has been overseen by Mahzad Babayan since 2015, has announced a trio of
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Loaded, A Talent Firm For Top Gaming Stars, Signs Dakotaz, Skadoodle, and Sjokz
Loaded, the digital talent management company that reps some of the top gaming creators on earth -- including Ninja and DrLupo -- has added to its roster today with three new signings.
Loaded will now rep Brett 'Dakotaz' Hoffman, Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham (pictured above), and Eefje 'Sjokz' Depoortere in the realms of entertainment opportunities, brand partnerships and endorsements, personal appearances, book publishing, and more. Collectively, the three creators count more than 350 ...
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Digital Vets Launch 'UNCMMN' Talent Management Upstart, Repping Jay Versace, Jc Caylen
Two veterans from the world of digital entertainment have teamed up to launch their own talent management startup, which is called UNCMMN.
The firm is the brainchild of Stephanie Piza, a former talent manager at Flip Management (which merged with Select Management in August) and Carla Vionette Santiago, who formerly oversaw digital partnerships at marketing agency United Entertainment Group, where she worked with brands like Toyota, Doritos, and SC Johnson, and more. UNCMMN is being funded by ...
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Liza Koshy Nabs Cameo In Drax Project Music Video, Cover Of 'Mood' Magazine
Liza Koshy may have made a triumphant return to YouTube in her own Dollar Store-themed music video, but now the 23-year-old is co-starring in somebody else's.
Koshy is teaming up with the New Zealand band Drax Project on the clip for their latest single "Woke Up Late," which features guest vocals from Hailee Steinfeld. The four-piece Drax Project band formed in 2014 and have hit the road as openers for Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello. Koshy shared a teaser for the music video on Instagram ahe...
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Beyoncé Is Dropping A Netflix Documentary Next Week (Trailer)
Beyonce Knowles, the iconic entertainer who keeps a notoriously tight lip on her creative works -- and who has released past surprise visual albums and documentaries in conjunction with Apple and HBO -- is teaming up with Netflix on a new doc chronicling her 2018 headlining Coachella performance.
The film, titled Homecoming, will debut on April 17 -- coinciding with the launch of this year's Coachella music festival, which kicks off in the California desert on April 12. Homecoming will cove...
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YouTube Will Livestream Blackpink's Coachella Performance In Times Square
This year marks YouTube's ninth as Coachella's exclusive streaming partner, the platform is trying something new when the festival kicks off this Friday.
For the first time, in addition to livestreaming the entire music festival online, YouTube will also stream a single Coachella performance to the largest screen in New York City's Times Square, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The artists behind that performance? None other than K-pop girlband Blackpink, whose newest music video dropped l...
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Diary Of A Web Series: How I Accidentally Became A Director
I didn't go to film school. I don't know anything about blocking or lighting or anything remotely useful with regard to capturing motion images of humans and their environs. I don't know how to operate equipment (I struggle with setting up lights or a simple tripod). I don't even know the jargon, which is crucial when attempting to sound smart. So how did I end up the director of several web series? By complete accident.
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Boutique Talent Firm Rare Global Signs Amber Scholl, Cydnee Black, Jessica Vu (Exclusive)
Rare Global, the boutique digital talent management company that says its fleet counts 1.8 billion lifetime views and 50 million cumulative subscribers, has signed three new creators to its roster across the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle verticals.
First up is Amber Scholl, who counts 2.8 million YouTube subscribers, and is best known for her comedic Broke Bitch Tips series. Scholl has collaborated on sponsored content with the likes of Reebok and Amazon. Cydnee Black, a beauty vlogger who wa...
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Teespring Makes “Dramatic Turnaround” After Years Of Struggling, Will Hit $1 Billion In Lifetime Sales This Year
When custom merch platform Teespring installed new CEO Chris Lamontagne in January, it was part of an overall effort to pull off a "dramatic turnaround after years of turbulence," the company revealed today. Teespring now expects to hit $1 billion in lifetime sales this year.
The business, which works with some of YouTube's top creators and also has a partnership with YouTube itself, launched in 2013 after being backed by startup incubator Y Combinator. Three years later, in 2016, Teespri...
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Viacom Taps 'Bleacher Report' Vet Rory Brown To Serve As MTV's Head Of Digital, Social
Viacom has recruited Rory Brown, the former president of Turner-owned digital sports brand Bleacher Report, to serve as the new head of digital and social media for MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo.
In this role, Brown will help charge MTV's resurgence as a top youth media brand, according to Viacom, and will also oversee MTV Studios -- which is developing reboots of classic MTV shows (like Daria, Aeon Flux, and The Real World) for distribution on streaming services. Brown will also oversee live event...
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K-Pop Phenoms Blackpink Snatch Biggest YouTube Music Video Premiere Of All Time
K-pop is thriving on YouTube -- particularly a four-girl group dubbed BlackPink, which just snatched the 24-hour viewership crown from American pop princess Ariana Grande.
BlackPink's latest music video for "Kill This Love" dropped on Friday via YouTube Premieres -- a feature that enables creators to schedule releases in advance so that fans can gather to watch and comment on video debuts in real-time.
Today, YouTube confirmed that "Kill This Love" is officially the most-viewed music vid...
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Netflix's DVD Rental Service Brought In $212 Million Last Year From 2.7 Million Subscribers
Last year, DVD and Blu-Ray rentals accounted for 1.34% of Netflix's revenue -- roughly $212 million. No, seriously.
While the days of Netflix shipping out discs to customers in its small, square, signature red envelopes may seem like a thing of the past, for 2.7 million subscribers in the U.S., that's what Netflix is.
When Netflix first began mailing DVDs back in 1998, the service offered subscribers an alternative to hiking down to their local video rental stores. But, perhaps more import...
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YouTube Photographer Peter McKinnon Gets Photo Minted On Canadian Currency
Toronto-based YouTube star Peter McKinnon, who creates content about photography and cinematography for 3.4 million subscribers, has just clinched what he calls "the greatest honor of my career."
The 33-year-old has been tapped by The Royal Canadian Mint -- the corporation responsible for minting and distributing circulation coins in Canada -- to create a two-piece series of collectible coins. For the first coin in this series, McKinnon has photographed Moraine Lake -- a Canadian landmark l...
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Frederator, 'Tigtone' Creators, More To Headline 4th Annual RTX Animation Festival
Rooster Teeth's fourth annual celebration all things animated, the RTX Animation Festival, has announced its initial programming lineup.
The breakout event, which has been hosted during the digital giant's annual RTX Austin convention since 2016 and is open to all RTX Austin ticket holders, will feature panels and screenings frotned by Benjamin Martian and Andrew Koehler, the creators of Adult Swim's medieval parody series Tigtone, as well as anime luminaries Ian Jones Quartey (a noted w...
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Sports Supergroup Dude Perfect Sets Cities, Dates For 'Pound It Noggin Tour'
YouTube trick shot supergroup Dude Perfect (40.9 million subscribers and 250-300 million views per month) has unveiled details about its very first live tour. Called the Pound It Noggin Tour -- after their signature video sign-off "Pound it! Noggin!" -- it'll be a 20-city circuit with a 90-minute live show in each city.
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Prince Harry Says Fortnite “Shouldn't Be Allowed,” Calls Social Media “More Addictive Than Alcohol”
Prince Harry, who is expecting his first child with wife Meghan Markle and is sixth in line for succession of the British throne, has long made known his disdain for the blockbuster video game Fortnite, sharing concerns about the title while visiting young schoolchildren in Sussex late last year.
Now, however, the Duke of Sussex has ratcheted up that criticism, calling for an outright ban of the game across the U.K. -- despite the fact that Fortnte remains one of the most popular titles on eart
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Insights: Twitter's Trump Lawsuit, Fox's Twitter Absence, And Posting On Social Like It Matters
What if we treated social-media accounts like a public trust, an enduring and official record of what we're thinking, doing and planning?
It's an essential question at the heart of a lawsuit now in federal appeals court, challenging whether Donald Trump should be able to block people from his Twitter feed. Trump has turned his feed, with nearly 60 million followers, into the less-filtered but more or less functional equivalent of White House news releases.
He's used Twitter for everything from
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The LaBrants Apologize For Prank On 6-Year-Old Daughter: “We Think We're Awesome Parents”
Cole and Savannah LaBrant, whose family vlog channel counts roughly 9 million subscribers, are addressing the litany of hate they say that they have received after posting a prank video on April Fools' Day -- that many interpreted as unnecessarily cruel and even psychologically damaging -- in which they told six-year-old daughter Everleigh that they had to get rid of Carl, the family dog.
While mom Savannah says that 90% of their viewers "have had our backs" through the ensuing backlash aft...
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Snapchat Unveils Gaming Platform, New User Features, 10 Upcoming Originals At First Partner Summit
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 o...
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Here's How The Warp Zone Survived Defy Media's Collapse — And Regained Control Of Its Content
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.
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Alex Wassabi Is Getting Witchy With Role In Hulu, AwesomenessTV's 'Light As A Feather'
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 Crunchyr...
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Rising YouTube Star Emma Chamberlain To Showcase Her 'Stupid Genius' On New Podcast
One of YouTube's most promising -- and chatty -- young personalities, Emma Chamberlain, has just expanded her 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 onio...
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YouTube Millionaires: Danielle Cohn Got Her Start On Musical.ly — Now, Her YouTube Music Videos Are Viewed By Millions
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...
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Shani Hilton Departs BuzzFeed To Take Over As The Los Angeles Times' Deputy Managing Editor Of News
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 B...
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Brittany Furlan Launches 'Worst Firsts' Podcast With Studio71
Early Vine star Brittany Furlan has announced her next venture -- a podcast called Worst Firsts inspired by a former YouTube series of the same name 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 rol...
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David Dobrik Wraps Up With Chipotle In Honor Of 'National Burrito Day'
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.
Chipotle will let fans order the same chicken burrito that Dobrik favors: complete with brown rice, black bean...
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IAB's Second Annual NewFronts West Will Return To Los Angeles In September
The NewFronts West -- a Los Angeles-based digital media event established by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) after it slashed its corresponding New York gathering in half last year -- is returning for a sophomore season.
The second-ever NewFronts West will be held on Sept. 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 shar...
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Jeffree Star Says “Major Player” Was Arrested After $2.5 Million Makeup Burglary
Jeffree Star, the YouTube phenom and makeup mogul, has revealed in a top trending video (8 million views in less than 24 hours) that one of the warehouses housing his lucrative Jeffree Star Cosmetics line was burglarized.
In addition to the fact that roughly $2.5 million worth of makeup was stolen, Star says, the perpetrators -- who are attempting to sell the products on a black market of sorts -- also allegedly nipped a product that Star had yet to release, thus spoiling the reveal. As a resu...
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Netflix's Biggest Price Hike Will Roll Out To Existing Subscribers In May
Netflix's biggest subscription price hike to date, first announced for new subscribers in January, is slated to roll out to existing users on their next billing cycles, in May. This is the company's fourth price increase since its inception.
The streamer notified U.S. subscribers via email this week that the changes were slated to go into effect, CNN reports. Prices will increase by between 13% and 18%, depending on the plan. A basic plan that includes one screen will increase from $ to $9 ...
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YouTube Video Essayist Lindsay Ellis Has Been Nominated For A Hugo Award
In what marks a substantial accomplishment for the YouTube community at large, resident creator and media critic Lindsay Ellis has been nominated for a Hugo Award -- an awards franchise established in 1953 that marks one of the highest honors in the science fiction and fantasy space.
Ellis' nomination comes in the 'Best Related Work' category and recognizes Hobbit Duology, a series of three videos that serve as a critique of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film, painting it as a disappointing mi...
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Department Of Justice Warns Academy That Banning Netflix From Oscars Could Violate Antitrust Laws
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that enacting rules to bar Netflix from winning Oscars could violate antitrust laws. The DOJ suspects Netflix being barred from the awards could result in financial losses for the streamer, since winning an Academy Award can can substantially increase a film's sales.
Last month, Hollywood luminary Steven Spielberg (who's on the Academy's board of governors) said he planned to propos...
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