FilmRise and Future Today have teamed up to launch a new app that features content from YouTube creator and personality Nathan Milner and his popular Unspeakable channel, curated and formatted into broadcast-ready episodes for connected TV.
FilmRise already started making a play on creator content with the launch of its Creator Partner program in 2021. Since then, FilmRise has curated and repackaged 500 videos of YouTube content into broadcast-ready episodes. Future Today – a FilmRise OTT tech partner and AVOD player with its own FAST channels such as HappyKids - is designing and hosting the new branded app for FilmRise. The app intends to feature 200 hours of video content from across Milner’s YouTube channels and is initially launching on Roku and Amazon Fire TV in early July, with plans to expand to additional CTV platforms worldwide.
Milner started the UnspeakableGaming YouTube channel in 2012, which has since rebranded to UnspeakableReacts and now counts 11.4 million subscribers and over 5 billion views. His flagship YouTube channel, Unspeakable is focused on family-friendly challenges like building Lego towers and now has over 17.5 million subscribers on the YouTube platform. He also started UnspeakablePlays , where the creator plays pranks and as he moves through levels of popular video games like Minecraft.
"I am so excited that fans will have access to curated content right on their home TV,” said Milner, CEO and founder of Unspeakable, in a statement.
Over the past three years FilmRise worked with creator representative Night and adapted 13 seasons with 194 episodes of 30-minute broadcast-ready Unspeakable content from the YouTube channel library (episodes which are already in distribution. FilmRise also curated three seasons worth of episodes from the spinoff UnspeakablePlays channel. Reformatted episodes for kid-safe programming from the YouTube creator, dubbed Unspeakable for Kids, are also slated for the app, alongside a linear FAST channel.
Episodes adapted for the TV screen from Unspeakable and UnspeakablePlays will see additional distribution as they’re included in lineups via single-series IP FAST channels on The Roku Channel and Amazon’s Freevee.
In announcing the new app, Jonitha Keymoore, head of content for FilmRise, pointed to an appetite for CTV-ready formats of creator content, while noting excitement of venturing into creator programming with Future Today.
“The demand for this app underscores the ever-growing appetite for digital-first series tailor-made for a traditional viewing experience,” Keymoore said in a statement. “This effort solidifies FilmRise’s position as the go-to destination for digital-first properties seeking wider distribution opportunities.”
David Di Lorenzo, SVP of Content and Partnerships at Future Today, in a statement emphasized success of the creator program and convenience of collocating Unspeakable content in its own dedicated app.
“Through our longstanding collaboration with FilmRise, we’ve observed the rise and increased popularity of their Creator Partner Program from its inception in 2021,” Di Lorenzo stated. “We are excited to unveil this app and provide audiences with a streamlined experience to enjoy all of the curated ‘Unspeakable’ content in one convenient location.”
The dedicated app from FilmRise and Future Today represents one example of creator content being reformatted and built into TV-style episodes. While social media influencers and content creators can generate significant followings on digital-first or social platforms, it’s still early days of experimentation to see whether that audience and content can successfully transition into more traditional TV environments or formats like serialized-TV programming made for the living room.
Speaking during a fireside chat keynote session at the StreamTV Show in Denver this week, Stefan Van Engen, who overseas programming and partnerships for Xumo, wasn’t exactly sold on the approach, suggesting fans likely already have their viewing home of choice to watch social creator content including on CTV via YouTube and that it doesn't necessarily translate to typical TV-style programming. While it’s still an evolving area, Van Engen views deals like Amazon’s with YouTube personality MrBeast (who currently has 291 million subscribers to his main channel) for a reality competition series on Prime Video as more of an outlier at this point.
Other FAST platforms, meanwhile, are looking at fan communities to help fuel new stories and long-form programming.
Fox’s Tubi for example last month launched a beta program called Stubios, which is an interactive platform where creator participants (known as Subiorunners) with engaged fan bases can get TV and film projects greenlit, with production support from and distribution on the Tubi FAST service. It’s worth noting that in launching the effort Tubi emphasized it wasn’t a user-generated content (USG) play, or popularity contest for TikTok personalities, but instead the effort is aimed enabling diverse storytelling from independent filmmakers and creators who might not have an opportunity to bring their projects to life through traditional Hollywood channels.