Fox-owned Tubi has marked another step in its strategy to bring creator-led content to the platform. On Wednesday Tubi announced a deal with Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat entertainment company for four original, creator-driven film titles that will debut exclusively on the free ad-supported streamer next year.
The multi-title film deal represents an expanded collaboration with Hart (building on a prior relationship that previously brought a range of Hartbeat-produced TV series and films to the platform) and Tubi’s first-ever exclusive creator content slate as part of its Tubi for Creators initiative since launching in June.
Including the addition of 5,000 episodes of creator content over the summer, Tubi’s collection of digital-first creator content has now grown to nearly 10,000 titles – where the FAST service has taken a few different avenues to bring new voices and storytelling to the platform and has stated a mission of expanding access to Hollywood to talent and diverse voices that may be outside the traditional TV ecosystem.
Today’s announcement is the latest approach to creator content for Tubi, where it’s also leaning on the well-known and established name of Kevin Hart and his company’s entertainment expertise.
But the films themselves are led by digital-first creators, including Kinigra Deon, who wrote, directed and will star in the supernatural thriller original film SUNDOWN – the first title to kick off the Tubi deal with Heartbeat.
Deon is a creator that has around 5.5 million followers on her YouTube channel and 8 million TikTok followers. She is also one of the inaugural creators in the Tubi for Creators program, with series Vampire Siblings and College Life among the first creator-led titles that the FAST added to its library.
The second original film coming to Tubi under the Hartbeat deal is a satirical horror-comedy about a Southern road trip gone off the rails, called 85 South: Dead End, featuring digital creators DC Young Fly, Chico Bean and Karlous Miller of the “85 South Show”.
The 85 South Comedy Show channel has about 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.4 million followers on Instagram and the podcast trio previously had a one-time comedy event 85 South: Ghetto Legends on Netflix in 2023.
The two additional films coming to Tubi will be announced at a later date.
“At Tubi, we’re building a space where emerging and established creators can bring bold, breakthrough ideas to life and reach new audiences on our platform,” said Rich Bloom, general manager of Creator Programs & EVP of Business Development at Tubi, in a statement. “This first slate of exclusive titles under Tubi for Creators is an exciting milestone, and partnering with Hartbeat ensures we’re working with top-tier talent and voices that truly reflect our diverse audience. We’re proud to create a pathway for creators to break into Hollywood while staying true to their authentic voice.”
As mentioned, Tubi recently brought creator content on with repurposed YouTube videos from popular names like MrBeast and Jomboy Media.
It’s also sought to bring in new storytellers using non-traditional channels like its fan-sourced Stubios initiative where communities can follow and weigh in on projects, some of which are greenlit by Tubi as new TV series and films for the platform.
And Tubi previously struck partnerships like that with the Black List in 2023 to commission five original films – which wasn’t so much digital-first creators but a way to tap emerging and established writers outside of Hollywood who had the chance to submit screenplays for development, production, and eventually distribution on Tubi.
Tubi’s latest deal comes as free streamers alike are seeking out and striking different deals to make content from creators part of their programming mix.
As creators coming to Tubi, it could be a particularly good place to extend reach as the free streaming boasts more than 100 million monthly active users, regularly shows up as a leading FAST in Nielsen’s monthly The Gauge share tracker of U.S. TV time. Tubi also regularly touts that its audience as younger-skewing and more diverse, and Bloom recently told The Hollywood Reporter that 31% of the Tubi audience is not on YouTube, according to third-party data.
“Hartbeat has always been about championing the creators who shape culture and move audiences,” said Jeff Clanagan, president and chief distribution officer at Hartbeat, in a statement. “Through this partnership with Tubi, we’re excited to give talent like Kinigra Deon, DC Young Fly, Chico Bean, and Karlous Miller the space to bring their authentic voices — and their audiences — to a global streaming platform that celebrates creator-driven storytelling, delivering smart, funny, and fresh films that reflect the culture.”