From “Beast Games” to “Paul American” to Ms. Rachel, Hollywood wants a piece of YouTube.
But the video giant, which stopped making its own original content in 2022, isn’t sitting idly by while streamers like Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Netflix court its creators. Behind the scenes, the company is working to elevate its native content within Hollywood and prove its creators are worthy of the industry’s highest honors.
One key component is YouTube’s Emmys push. A creator has never won a Primetime Emmy — TV’s most prestigious award — in a main, televised category for their show, a YouTube spokesperson said.
While creators have nabbed nominations and wins in the past, the company is pulling out all the PR and marketing stops for a different outcome.
In addition to the cultural cache, a win could sway more ad budgets reserved for premium TV in YouTube’s direction, as The Wall Street Journal reported.
For the first time this year, YouTube hosted a “For Your Consideration” event in Los Angeles, escalating its efforts to nab an Emmy for its creators. It’s not alone; earlier this month, Amazon pushed YouTube’s most popular creator, MrBeast, for Emmy consideration at its own FYC event.
These events convene awards voters — in this case, members of the Television Academy — to screen content and introduce them to prospective nominees. Emmy nominations are set to be announced on July 15.
This year, YouTube is backing three creators who self-submitted for Primetime nominations, including Sean Evans’ “Hot Ones” in the Outstanding Talk Series category; Rhett and Link’s “Good Mythical Morning” for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series; and Michelle Khare’s “Challenge Accepted” for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
YouTube’s event, held on Sunday, featured screenings and conversations with each of the creators. There were also themed food trucks — such as the “be your mythical best” bean burger and “Challenge Accepted” fuel bowls — and recreations of each creator’s sets for guests to take photos at and tag on social media.
YouTube does not fund individual creators’ Emmy submissions or FYC campaigns in their entirety, a spokesperson told Business Insider.
It’s providing PR and marketing support, as it did last year. In addition to the event, this support includes drumming up press for the shows, and running billboards timed to the Upfronts and Cannes Lions advertising events, as well as across Los Angeles this summer.
A win for the creator economy at large
Khare, who has 5 million YouTube subscribers, told BI she isn’t sure whether her series “Challenge Accepted” would have been greenlit in the traditional studio system. The show sees her try out difficult jobs like FBI hostage negotiation and joining the traveling circus. The challenges can be dangerous and the shoots long.
That’s why she said an Emmy nomination would mark a win for the creator economy writ large.
“Anytime a creator in the digital landscape does something, it’s paving a new way for everybody exterior to the traditional Hollywood system,” she said.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said in a Hollywood Reporter op-ed that YouTubers deserve Emmys and the Television Academy should consider expanding its categories.
The Emmys “should reflect what viewers are actually watching on their TV screens,” he said — a nod to YouTube’s growing dominance in the living room.
Many creators “operate as full-fledged studios with writers’ rooms, production teams, and genre-defining formats,” Angela Courtin, YouTube’s VP of marketing for connected TV and creative studio, told BI in a statement. “It is only fitting that their creative achievements be honored alongside Hollywood’s most celebrated figures.”
In addition to its FYC efforts, YouTube has helped creators get into film festivals, the spokesperson said. Khare had a screening at the Montclair Film Festival last year, and Evans and “Good Mythical Morning” were both at Sundance and SXSW this year.
YouTube’s efforts to position its content alongside traditional TV don’t stop there. YouTube is also readying a “Shows” feature for its TV app to give episodic content more of a polish. First announced in September and touted at YouTube’s Brandcast advertising event, Shows organizes YouTube series into seasons and episodes on dynamic landing pages.
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