We’ve hit YouTube limit so are moving to Netflix

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 larger”.

The British YouTube superstars have introduced that the second season of their actuality present, Inside, will debut on Netflix subsequent yr. The streaming large can 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” nevertheless it was “thrilling to overcome a brand new problem”.

He stated: “Netflix is the gold customary 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 most important streaming platform on this planet.”

The Sidemen began creating YouTube content material within the early 2010s.

They began by taking part in and reacting to video video games, however up to now decade the group of buddies have branched out to comedy sketches, journey challenges, podcasts and a relationship present.

They now make use of a manufacturing crew 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 per 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 can be on Netflix as a substitute of YouTube.

“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 achieve a brand new viewers.

“We’re at a ceiling with YouTube – we herald 20 million UK viewers every month and now we’re occupied with how you can join with completely different individuals.”

Except for 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 specific about the way in which we work”.

“We additionally transfer at a extremely quick tempo – generally we shoot on Wednesday and by Sunday we may have uploaded a two-hour video. So we wished to verify Netflix have been pleased with the quick turnarounds and us being very dynamic.”

However the seven members vote on every little thing and have been unanimous within the resolution to maneuver their actuality present to Netflix, he stated.

The group will function government producers and have “full management to make the brand new season larger and higher than the final”.

They are not the one on-line stars to take their very own big-money sport present to a standard streaming platform as a substitute 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 at the centre of controversy.

As one of many UK’s greatest YouTube content material creators, 29-year-old Vik may 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 task mannequin.

“In our movies we’re simply ourselves, we’re not aiming to make certain characters, and in 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 strain to, however we’d quite depart this to the consultants.”

A part of the rationale for this resolution is the extreme media scrutiny they face.

KSI lately confronted backlash after he shared a video of Donald Trump ingesting a bottle of Prime, an power drink he co-founded.

Some noticed that as selling and supporting Trump forward of the US election. Nonetheless, Vik responded by saying the group “attempt to not over analyse issues”.

“Every little thing we do will all the time upset a small group of individuals however you simply have to maneuver ahead,” he stated.

The Sheffield-based creator additionally stated the group had acquired higher at “ignoring the trolling and hate”.

“The web has turn into a really turbulent place lately and sometimes issues do get to us.

“We attempt to simply take into consideration how proud we’re of every little thing we have constructed and that helps us cancel out the negativity.”

Vik stated “individuals thought I used to be bizarre” when he first began making content material a decade in the past.

“At college individuals would suppose I used to be unusual for videoing myself taking part in video games and that there was one thing incorrect with me after I was recording myself on my telephone in public.

“And my mother and father weren’t pleased 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 at college then I might keep it up.”

The Sidemen have been working collectively for greater than a decade, and in current months there have been rumours that the group might disband quickly.

Nonetheless, Vik quashed these rumours, saying: “Proper now every little thing is incredible.

“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.”