The Sidemen are used to creating content material for YouTube, however say they’ve now “hit the restrict” on what they will obtain on the video sharing platform so are transferring “to one thing even greater”.
The British YouTube superstars have introduced that the second season of their actuality present, Inside, will debut on Netflix subsequent yr. The streaming large will even make a US model.
The Sidemen – the seven-strong group that features content material creator, rapper and boxer KSI – have greater than 146 million YouTube subscribers between them.
Vik Barn – aka Vikkstar123 – advised the BBC the transfer was “formidable” however it was “thrilling to beat a brand new problem”.
He stated: “Netflix is the gold commonplace and a part of us working with them is to say that over the previous decade we have managed to go from filming content material in our bedrooms to working with the largest streaming platform on the planet.”
The Sidemen began creating YouTube content material within the early 2010s.
They began by enjoying and reacting to video video games, however up to now decade the group of associates have branched out to comedy sketches, journey challenges, podcasts and a relationship present.
They now make use of a manufacturing workforce of greater than 100 individuals who assist create the movies and generate concepts, Vik stated.
One concept that has “massively taken off” is Inside, which launched in June on YouTube and racked up 14 thousands and thousands of views for its opening episode.
The competition’s first season noticed 10 influencers locked in a home for every week as they battled for a prize with as much as £1m.
Its success caught the eye of Netflix bosses, who’ve now commissioned a second UK season and a US model of the present. Each shall be on Netflix as an alternative of YouTube.
‘Join with new audiences’
“YouTube opened so many doorways for us so we will not diminish its energy and it is nonetheless unrivalled in some methods,” Vik defined. “However working with Netflix is a cool alternative for us to succeed in a brand new viewers.
“We’re at a ceiling with YouTube – we usher in 20 million UK viewers every month and now we’re fascinated with the best way to join with completely different folks.”
Apart from Vik and KSI, the opposite Sidemen are Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL, Behzinga and W2S.
Vik stated the group, who’re aged between 27 and 32, had some reservations about bringing their work to a brand new platform as a result of “we have by no means executed it earlier than and we’re all very explicit about the way in which we work”.
“We additionally transfer at a very quick tempo – generally we shoot on Wednesday and by Sunday we could have uploaded a two-hour video. So we needed to ensure Netflix have been pleased with the quick turnarounds and us being very dynamic.”
However the seven members vote on the whole lot and have been unanimous within the determination to maneuver their actuality present to Netflix, he stated.
The group will function govt producers and have “full management to make the brand new season greater and higher than the final”.
They don’t seem to be the one on-line stars to take their very own big-money recreation present to a traditional streaming platform as an alternative of placing it on YouTube.
MrBeast, the world’s hottest YouTuber, will launch Beast Video games on Amazon Prime Video on 19 December, though that present has been on the centre of controversy.
As one of many UK’s greatest YouTube content material creators, 29-year-old Vik could be very conscious of what number of younger males look as much as him. However he stated it isn’t his job to be a job mannequin.
“In our movies we’re simply ourselves, we’re not aiming to make certain characters, and at the beginning we’re content material creators who make enjoyable movies.”
He added that the Sidemen had a “unified stance on not talking about political and social points”.
“Typically we really feel stress to, however we might reasonably depart this to the consultants.”
A part of the explanation for this determination is the extraordinary media scrutiny they face.
KSI lately confronted backlash after he shared a video of Donald Trump ingesting a bottle of Prime, an vitality drink he co-founded.
Some noticed that as selling and supporting Trump forward of the US election. Nevertheless, Vik responded by saying the group “attempt to not over analyse issues”.
“Every thing we do will all the time upset a small group of individuals however you simply have to maneuver ahead,” he stated.
‘Individuals thought I used to be bizarre’
The Sheffield-based creator additionally stated the group had acquired higher at “ignoring the trolling and hate”.
“The web has turn out to be a really turbulent place lately and infrequently issues do get to us.
“We attempt to simply take into consideration how proud we’re of the whole lot we have constructed and that helps us cancel out the negativity.”
Vik stated “folks thought I used to be bizarre” when he first began making content material a decade in the past.
“In school folks would suppose I used to be unusual for videoing myself enjoying video games and that there was one thing flawed with me once I was recording myself on my cellphone in public.
“And my mother and father weren’t glad in any respect with how a lot time I used to be spending on YouTube, however they stated so long as I acquired good grades in school then I may keep on.”
The Sidemen have been working collectively for greater than a decade, and in latest months there have been rumours that the group could disband quickly.
Nevertheless, Vik quashed these rumours, saying: “Proper now the whole lot is implausible.
“We by no means actually know the place we’re going sooner or later however there may be completely no finish in sight proper now.”
