While there is undoubtedly money to be made from ad revenue share on social media platforms, one of the key insights to have emerged in recent years is that the way for creators to unlock real value is to offer their fans multiple opportunities to engage.
Engagement comes in many forms, ranging from live events to licensed product, subscription tiers to signed memorabilia. But one thing that has become clear is that there is a powerful amplification effect in combining social and traditional media.
A case in point is this week’s story about French YouTube creator Inoxtag (youtube.com/@inoxtag, 8.4M subs, 22 years old), who decided to realise his ambition to climb Mount Everest. Having initially started out making Minecraft-themed video, he gave himself a year to get in shape for the challenge of a lifetime.
The journey was filmed and turned into a documentary called Kaizen. Working with French movie distributor MK2, Inoxtag then released the film in cinemas on Sept 13. To everyone’s astonishment, the film sold 350,000 tickets across 500 screens, making it the biggest YouTube creator launch in the history of French cinema.
The next day, Inoxtag released the full 2.5 hour movie on his YouTube channel for free. At time of writing (5 days in), it has reached 26.8m views and 1.8 million likes. Fede Goldenberg, YouTube’s global head of TV & film AVOD Partnerships, spotlighted the story, describing Kaizen as “a major accomplishment that highlights the power of creator fandom. It’s a treat to moviegoers, and a treat to fans around the world at the same time.”
This is not an isolated example of collaboration between YouTubers and the cinema business. And perhaps it’s going to prove key to the survival of the big screen. Cinemas have not fully recovered from the combined impact of Covid-19 and the launch of streaming platforms. But by showcasing great content from social media stars there may be a way to pack out theatres with young audiences once more.
