Maker Studios incubator program goes live

The Disney-owned network has invested in more than 100 new concepts and pilots from creators across YouTube, Vine, Facebook and more.
February 26, 2016

Disney-owned multiplatform network Maker Studios has launched Maker Studios Spark, an incubator program designed to produce new original content from up-and-coming creators.

The program, which has already been underway for several months, was officially unveiled this week when Maker announced the inaugural class of the Spark program, which features creators from all major video platforms – YouTube, Vine, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat – who have all formulated pitches for new online original series.

As a result of the program, Maker has agreed to fund more than 100 projects, which will be broadcast across social video platforms under the creators’ own channels.

Among them is Intro To (pictured)a new unscripted comedy show by the Holderness family, which operates a vlogging channel that has 172,000 subscribers. The Holderness family featured their of two children, Lola and Penn Charles, portraying candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. It bowed this month and marks the first new series for Spark.

Other creators in the inaugural class include child comedian Sophia Grace (who rose to fame following her appearances on The Ellen Show), gamer Chris Pirillo and Viner Nampaikid. All together, the talent boasts 2.6 billion lifetime views on YouTube, 19 million subscribers across YouTube and Vine, more than five million Facebook followers and four million Instagram followers.

The projects will premiere at an official screening in Culver City, California on February 29. Maker has not confirmed whether or not this program will continue in future years.

The launch of Spark follows on the heels of Maker Studios’ debut of Revelmode, a digital network that offers a home for established and emerging influencers in the gaming and pop culture genres that was established in collaboration with YouTube superstar Felix Kjellberg (better known to his 41 million subscribers as PewDiePie). Revelmode, which also exists under the Maker Studios umbrella, focuses not just on creating original multiplatform content, commercial partnerships and merchandising, but also on fundraising programs (a popular pursuit of many young digital infuencers), as well as original gaming development for its members.

From Stream. 

 

 

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