At least some of Maker Studio's star creators won't be locked into producing videos just for the Disney-owned multichannel network nor only on YouTube, thanks to a new collaboration with Vimeo, the two companies announced Thursday.
Under the agreement, Vimeo will fund video content production by a select few of Maker Studio's top creators, according to a Reuters report. It's not known which of Maker's stars are on the list. However, their content will be available exclusively via Vimeo On Demand.
The content producers will be able to set their own prices for those videos, giving them an additional source of revenue beyond the YouTube platform. Vimeo will take a 10 percent cut of any revenues, Reuters reported; it's not known whether Maker Studios will take a cut as well, and no financial details of the deal have been disclosed.
Time described the deal as a new way for Vimeo to "poach" top stars away from YouTube. But the deal apparently doesn't do that; as Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainer told Reuters, the agreement gives Maker Studios content creators an additional way to bring in revenue and reach new audiences.
Vimeo's ability to host up to 4K-quality, long-form content, along with the funding boost, will also give Maker Studios' top talent the opportunity to produce longer, more expensive content.
For some time now, Vimeo has positioned itself as an online outlet that's friendly to independent filmmakers. It has budgeted $10 million to support indie filmmakers, who receive funding and advice on marketing their movies in return for making that content available exclusively on Vimeo for the first 30 days.
Maker Studios, in the meantime, is likely trying to make good on the $500 million-dollar-plus investment Disney made in purchasing the MCN. Opening doors for its content creators is most likely a strategy to keep them in the fold while exploring other OTT possibilities beyond YouTube.
For more:
- see this Reuters story
- Time has this story
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