Houston Howard, Transmedia Author/Speaker: I think maybe Mr. Beast because he has a community
may not go to paramount pictures to make the Mr. Beast movie or maybe even not even Netflix.
Film Courage: Youtuber Mr. Beast spends four million dollars a month to make what three or
four YouTube videos what do you think about that well I think if the market watches it
and it works for him I think that's great I mean I think you know if his if he gets a return on his
investment if we get if the roi makes sense mazel tov I think that's amazing and I am presuming that
you know if you look at his numbers and the subscribers it seems like the market
is bearing out his approach and so so I think it's great I mean you know again with with any
with any budget right I mean with with you know game of thrones spending 10 million dollars
for one episode of tv for the lord of the rings series spending you know 20 million dollars for
one episode of television or him spending four million dollars for YouTube video if if if that if
that creates a positive roi and creates something that people enjoy and the audience responds to
I think it's awesome I think it's awesome I don't think it's it's a necessity for everybody
I think uh the trap is to think is well that means I have to spend four million dollars on the up
on an episode or or on a YouTube video or if I don't spend four million dollars then I can't do a
good YouTube series or I think people get in their head about that stuff and try to create rules and
things like that but his brand is built around these super complicated expensive stunts and
crazy things that he does and and I think you know that's that works for him and obviously
he gets results from that and so you know I don't want to criticize that I think it's great
and it's working you know but but at the same time I think other people
may can do a very successful YouTube series for zero dollars I don't think it sets a sets
a bright line rule for everybody to follow but for him he's making it work for sure
have you studied Mr. Beast at all have you sort of done a deep dive with some of his videos
sure yeah i've i've I i don't I don't I wouldn't say I'm a fan I'm not one of his fans that that
subscribe to his channel and watch all his stuff but definitely aware of all the different things
that he has done and how he's grown his brand and diversified his brand in a really interesting way
and the philanthropy he's he's done he does a lot of really cool philanthropic initiatives
so so definitely aware and appreciative of of his approach for sure what do you think other
creators can learn from his success I think what creators can learn from the success of
Mr. Beast is use the platform that you have in front of you use the platform that is there and
for free that you don't have to you know wait for cbs to give you a tv deal to be able to
to start building your audience and this is a refrain that I always go back to is use the tools
that you have attack the market with what you have and and if then if your stuff is good enough then
you're gonna start building building that audience out and so that's what I love about Mr. Beast is
is he just used what was in front of him whether it's YouTube whether it's twitch whether it's tick
tock whatever it is use the tools that you have also you look at volume I think you know Mr. Beast
you know he he produces a lot of content and it's not just one thing every now and then like
it's it's you know his big stunt prank things uh you know are windowed but there's a lot of content
that comes through the variety of his channels because he doesn't just have one channel he has
multiple channels right and so basically he's his own network if you look at it in the traditional
sense and so volume of content in a commoditized market is a strategy that's super super important
if you only do one thing every now and then in a commoditized market there's so much new content
that hits the market your one thing just disappears because there's too much stuff
that that sort of buries it right so you have to be able to take a volume based strategy to be
able to compete in in a commoditized market and that's what Mr. Beast is doing lots of content
on the platforms that are that are available to him that the platforms that
that he's on and what I like about him is is is diversification is is he has different
channels and different types of things he tries different formats it's not just a one-trick pony
it's he's willing to try new and different things on different platforms in different
styles and different formats and genres and and and really diversify the brand and if you look at
if you listen if you read Warren Buffett and listen to Warren Buffett which I don't know if
mr b's listen to Warren Buffett or not but Warren Buffett says he never he never suggests that
investors invest into companies that that operate and commoditize markets because it's just too this
is just too difficult for them to compete unless they have the right strategy of competing in the
commoditized market which he says is creating a branded ecosystem based on diversification
diversification and volume and synergy is your stuff tied together are you creating lots of
stuff and are you diversifying the type of stuff that you're creating and the platforms that you're
creating on and if you look at what Mr. Beast is doing he's really doing a great job of the synergy
of volume and diversification and so I think that's why he's able to to to compete in the
commodities market which is that's the big takeaway that as a filmmaker for me is that's
what I learned from from him he's not waiting on anybody to give him permission to create his stuff
and now that he's created it himself on this platform guess what he owns the brand
nobody owns that else owns his brand and if CBS or ABC or Amazon or Netflix or whoever
decides to come and say hey we want to do a whole you know Mr. Beast movie or a Mr.
Beast cartoon or a Mr. Beast series he's now in a leveraged position to where he will decide uh
how how that deal will play out because he owns his own brand look what happened with with Joe
Rogan and Spotify you know like he did a 500 million dollar deal with Spotify for his podcast
because he owned his podcast because he launched his podcast before he got getting involved with
Spotify and grew his own audience and that's that's what I love about Mr. Beast is Mr. Beast
owns this brand it's his he doesn't have any any uh you know of these of these studios or networks
uh divvying up the rights or or controlling him or dictating the content like he's in the
driver's seat of his brand which as a creator I I'm always going to root for and I'm impressed by
and and so that I'm a fan of that and that's why I think filmmakers can learn from him as well
is own your brand use the tools that you have in front of you diversify and and attack the market
with volume he's doing all those things and and and it's working for him it's playing out in the
market what do you think about mr b's purchasing 100 acres of land and building a 10 million dollar
studio it's 23. I think it's I think it's amazing I mean I think if you look at if you look at
what Tyler Perry did if you look at what Robert Rodriguez's of what he did mean he's following
in those footsteps as a Youtuber which is amazing and it the more you could disintermediate other
people that control your stuff and control your content or control the way you produce the content
or or how you produce the content when you produce the content where you produce content the more
that you can just own your own brand in every way that's always going to be better right and and you
know it's it's an asset I mean it's it's you know he's now a real estate magnet right like it's the
fact that I mean that gives that's that's valuable that's financially valuable but the fact that he's
creating his own studios is it just shows nobody's going to tell him how to create window create
and why to create so if you're using YouTube studios there's strings attached if you use
as well there should be because they're they're it's YouTube studios right if somebody's coming
to my studio or your studio of course there's you know you're going to tell me how I should act I
should tell you how you should act and how you there's always going to be strings attached and
which means ultimately you don't really own your stuff yeah you know I mean it's like it's like
moving into a neighborhood with a with with with a really aggressive hoa right the fact that you know
if you can't let your lawn grow more than six inches high else you start getting fines do you
really own your lawn at that point I mean there's like an interesting like for me I
don't like that I don't like people telling me how like when I need to cut my grass or I can't
how quickly I need to remove my trash cans from the curb before I get the ticket I don't like
that right I feel like there's my trash cans this is my lawn I should be able to do with
what I want right I feel like that's the american way and that's and and so I love the fact that
an independent creator doesn't have to go to some giant conglomerate to be able to make the stuff
and this is a refrain that I always go back to yeah is is how does the how does the filmmaker
not wait for permission from a giant multi-billion dollar international conglomerate to to say you
can you can create the stuff that's in your heart how do you just go ahead and do it yourself and by
creating his own production facilities just like Tyler Perry just like Robert Rodriguez
just like you know M. Knight Shyamalan just just like any of these independent creators that go
and do their own thing he he's doing that and he's gonna he's gonna have his destiny in his own hands
that doesn't preclude him from working with any of these other people but it just puts him
in more of a leveraged position because he just has more ownership over everything literally has
more ownership over the whole thing we think it's only a matter of time before Mr. Beast will make
a movie and it'll gross 100 million dollars plus
what do you think about that oh yeah I'm certain of it I think uh
he will be able to continue to grow the brand to the point where if there's demand for a
feature film or or for something like that or even a tv series of course I mean you look at
something another YouTube breakout the hot ones which was an interview show on YouTube that was
wildly popular and it was a very basic concept where this guy he interviews a famous person and
they eat hot wings as they as they as they interview and the hot wings get hotter as they go
right super clever concept right that just you know that slowly built a very massive
audience that 100 million people subscribe to the channel and eventually then he gets his own real
reality show and own real on actual tv he now has an interview show and he gets called up to the
major leagues because that's usually the way it goes but he owns the brand he established it first
so that typically is is the the the path that that that brands go in now does that
does that necessarily mean that he'll have to do it no I think you know he you know I obviously
I don't think he would need to do it for any financial benefit necessarily I don't think
at this point he's super motivated by money because he's been very financially successful
which I think is a good thing so I think Mr. Beast will look at look at the options of
I don't have to do it for money so the reasons i'll do it is it are the reasons that will help
grow the brand feed the fan base in the right organic way that makes sense for the brand
where people I think where where brands get off is is it off track is when they
do it for a money grab and it it's not coherent to the brand and it doesn't feel like it's contextual
in in in in a in a way that that adds value to the fan base it just feels like a sellout payday
right and sometimes it can feel like that but I think with Mr. Beast taken ownership the brand
in the way that he's done and been able to amass the serious wealth that he's been able
to amass with the brand that the motivation won't be money it'll be something else
and it doesn't mean it's going to be great this doesn't mean it's going to work but I do think
he'll probably follow that path you look at something you know a board game
that was that was created called throw throw burrito is and exploding kittens and
there was there's there's something that that created these indie board games on kickstarter
and and they got to be super popular and now they're being turned into cartoons and
you know and and tv shows and movies and things like that because that's the way the entertainment
industry works right is eventually you get you get that big break for the big platforms I think
Mr. Beast will will do something non-traditional I think maybe Mr. Beast because he has a community
may not go to paramount pictures to make the Mr. Beast movie or maybe even not even Netflix
I think maybe Mr. Beast does something very non-traditional like like launching a movie as
an NFTon the blockchain and pulling the community in participation of of of the movie through the
NFTso they could actually now participate as as equity partners in the exploitation of the film
and and try something different because there's no downside for him to try that
and there's no reason he has to go to traditional hollywood I think you know just the fact that
he's been so new media with everything and so outside the quote-unquote system of hollywood
I i I would guess that before he would go to a universal pictures or or or paramount pictures
or disney or something like that or nickelodeon I think it would be I think you would explore
something non-traditional like launching it on the blockchain which I think would be great because
the thing that makes NFTs work is community having an established community that can jump in
and purchase the NFT purchase the tokens that then monetizes the the product the movie or
whatever it is monetizes the whole project and then gives them that profit participation and a
stake in the actual brand that where NFTs fail is a lack of community is is they launched NFT
and there's nobody nobody there to buy them because they haven't built community first the
NFTs that are really working are the ones that have community first then launch the NFT and so
the fact that Mr. Beast has amassed so many subscribers amass this huge community I would I
would be shocked if he didn't explore something like an NFT to be able to launch a series or
launch a movie and you're already seeing craters kind of moving into that so it's not completely
like untested waters but I would I would guess that there would be some sort of willingness to
do something non-traditional outside the system as a way to create that movie or create that tv show.