Last week, YouTube announced they were the No. 1 streamed platform on TV. As part of their annual results, Channel 4 also reported that, under the inspired leadership of Matt Risley, digital content was responsible for nearly a ⅓ of revenue. A pivotal moment and an undeniable, monumental shift in viewing habits.
It’s a moment After Party Studios has steadfastly believed would arrive ever since YouTuber Callux and film director RVBBERDUCK incepted the company back in 2016. The ambition – to create hyper-engaging online content with the high-end, finessed production values sorely lacking at that time.
Fast forward eight years and those foundational values remain, yet much has changed. The wider industry no longer sees digital content as the poor relation with broadcasters, streamers and brands prioritising quality, entertaining content that meets next gen audiences on their terms, exactly where they are.
We have gone from a team of four in a dingy Haggerston basement office to a team of 20+ showcasing the absolute best of production talent with creative, strategy, production and distribution arms, creating the likes of hit docuseries SCENES for Sky Sports (with a 72 million+ views and counting and multiple award nominations), one of JD Sports most successful ever activations, ‘Tucking In’ a branded entertainment chat show in collaboration with WingStop and fresh, original work for Netflix, Adidas, BBC Studios as well as the recently-announced comedy panel show Hear Me Out for Channel 4.0 – all from a much bigger (and brighter!) building in Highbury.
In the midst of all this hard work, we came to the realisation that After Party Studios has evolved and our brand no longer reflected our offering. For the past few months, we have dug deep into our core values to create a new look and feel that conveys exactly who we are, what we offer and supercharges After Party Studio’s next stage of continued growth. But the rebranding is much more than just a logo change.
It reflects our identity as a creative production company that creates content that online audiences want to share, who innovates with the world’s biggest platforms, brands and talents; our creator mindset that understands how to be culturally relevant and the lightning-quick speed required.
As we look to the future for After Party Studios, we see huge opportunities, not least with the continued exponential expansion of branded entertainment content. Brands and indeed talent will take on the role of commissioner as audiences head to wherever they feel most engaged and entertained – footasylum’s Locked In being a great example of that.
Sports Ents is a real growth area for us, with a second season of SCENES for Sky Sports underway as well as another season’s worth of content for Sky Bet and EFL’s League of ‘72, including a box fresh launch of their TikTok channel that surpassed 1 million views just days after launch.
We will continue to invest in our people and truly believe we have the best in the biz. It’s pretty awful out there for freelancers at the moment and we strive to always understand the effort behind the ask. We know true creativity stems from when the team are having fun on and off screen.
It goes without saying, we’re also embracing technological advances in Virtual Production and AI with open arms. Ben recently shot an ad which crossed 5 different countries (and another planet) from the comfort of one VP studio – these breakthroughs allow us to bring even more engaging storytelling to screens at pace, and we’re just scratching the surface.
But above all, the future of After Party Studios will be powered by our love of the process, the people and always, the final product.
Joshua Barnett is Managing Director of After Party Studios
