- It’s not just “Beast Games.” Streamers are ramping up the search for influencer-led content.
- Agents, producers, and creator-side execs report an uptick in interest, mostly in unscripted shows.
- The space is still relatively small, however.
YouTube superstar Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson made a splash in December with his Amazon Prime Video series, “Beast Games,” but he’s not the only creator being courted by Hollywood. Industry insiders tell Business Insider that streaming services and studios have been on the hunt for influencer-fronted content in recent months.
Donaldson’s reality competition show was a big bet for Amazon. Donaldson has said the show cost more than $100 million to make. While the show drew controversy over its filming conditions in the lead-up to its release, that didn’t seem to dent its reach. “Beast Games” got 50 million viewers in its first 25 days, becoming Amazon’s second-biggest series debut of 2024 after “Fallout,” the company said.
The show’s success with viewers comes as agents, producers, and creator-side executives tell BI they’ve seen a general uptick in studios and streamers wanting to work with creators. Buyers’ mandates change frequently, but in recent months, they’ve expressed interest in creator-led travel and sports projects and ways to use YouTube talent in live entertainment. Industry insiders said most of the calls are for unscripted projects.
“You’re going to see more opportunity for creators to get bigger platforms and work with bigger media companies,” said Jon Skogmo, CEO of Lost iN, a creator-driven media company. “I know they’re being pitched for shows by independent producers.”
The market has been building over the last few years, said Ed Simpson, chief strategy officer at Wheelhouse Entertainment. His company produced the “Hype House” series at Netflix and projects starring David Dobrik and Mark Rober for Discovery+.
Talent manager Lisa Filipelli said she’d seen increased interest in creator-driven projects following the success of Hulu’s 2024 series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which she executive produced.
Despite the upswing, Simpson added that creator-driven content makes up a small fraction of nonscripted show commissions.
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Adam Wescott — who most recently produced the Fox-owned Tubi romcom “Sidelined: The QB and Me” starring TikToker Noah Beck — said the space still feels somewhat “piecemeal” with one-off tests rather than comprehensive deals between streamers and creators.
But he feels the tides are turning.
“I see this convergence of what’s happening in our world and what’s happening in the old world, and at some point, there has to be a real leveling,” he said.
An increasingly crowded sandbox
“Beast Games” joined a growing number of creator-fueled entertainment projects on streaming services.
Netflix, for one, has been mining YouTube for talent.
“I do find that the short-form services also are a great breeding ground for new storytellers,” co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Netflix recently aired a Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight that saw 65 million households tune in, and would like to do more creator-led live entertainment.
The streamer greenlighted a new season of The Sidemen’s reality series and announced it’s bringing on a four-episode season of kids educator Ms. Rachel. It also sees YouTube as a source of animation, picking up hits “CocoMelon” and dark comedy “The Amazing Digital Circus.”
A top unscripted agent said Netflix had discussed putting podcast interviews on the platform. These could serve as a new spin on the talk show format. This agent, along with some other industry insiders, spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect business relationships; their identities are known to BI.
The unscripted agent said Amazon had been slow to move forward on buying decisions but wants to do more with creators, preferably something with a large built-in audience. This person said the streamer was encouraged by the audience “Beast Games” attracted with relatively little promotion.
“When they take a swing, they want to take a really big swing,” the agent said.
Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024/ Getty Images
At Disney, there’s interest in casting creators in shows built around its IP, an unscripted buyer told BI.
“They realized their audience has a large crossover with the audience that’s watching YouTube and ingesting all this TikTok and Instagram content,” this person said.
More and more, the lines between creator and traditional content are blurring, EMARKETER senior analyst Ross Benes said. Creator production quality has improved, and cost-conscious streamers have increasingly leaned into more low-budget reality content.
Creators are even making their own films. For example, the cult horror hit “Talk to Me” was directed by Australian YouTube twin duo RackaRacka and released in the US by A24.
Can studios avoid mistakes of the past?
Big media has had some misses when it comes to creators. See: Disney’s ill-fated acquisition of YouTube network Maker Studios and NBC’s short-lived Lilly Singh talk show.
Hollywood insiders said that recently, such companies have started seeking out creators for their ideas rather than simply looking for a piece of their audiences.
Netflix is looking at YouTubers as producers as well as on-screen talent, the unscripted agent said.
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Streamers today also generally feel that creator-led projects work best if the creators play themselves. One result of that thinking has been interest in game shows and reality shows like Amazon’s competition show “Buy It Now,” which cast creators as hosts and judges.
Filipelli said that a “co-viewing experience” on social media that can tap into offscreen drama can also provide fuel.
“People want to know how things got made,” she said. “They want to know who’s hooking up with who. If you don’t have artists who are going to give that to you, it becomes less interesting.”
Still, there are limits to the relationship on both sides.
Creators often want data and interactivity that streamers can’t or won’t always give them. They can sometimes chafe at being behind a paywall or the time a traditional production takes.
A producer who’s working with creators said streamers are also only cracking open the door to certain influencers.
“Almost to a T, all the platforms are being run by people with a legacy mindset, and they’re only open to creators with 20 million or more followers,” this person said. “It’s a little grudging. It’s: Who has billboard value?”
Wescott said he felt less-entrenched players might have more appetite for risk.
“If anyone’s going to do it, it’s going to be the Tubis or the Rokus or even Pluto TV — the people that are fighting for eyeballs, and they see where it’s all headed as far as younger audience and where their attention is,” he said.
