Big Frame

Big Frame
Type Online content
Country United States
Availability International
Founded 2011
Slogan Not Every Channel. The Best Channels.[1]
Headquarters Culver City, California[2]
Owner AwesomenessTV
(DreamWorks Animation/Hearst Corporation)[3]
Key people
 Steve Raymond (CEO), Sarah Penna (Head of Talent)
Affiliates AwesomenessTV DreamWorks Animation
Official website
 Bigfra.me

Big Frame is a Multi Channel Network that focuses on bringing YouTubers and advertisers together.

Big Frame was founded in July 2011 by Sarah Penna and Steve Raymond. The company has over 300 partnered YouTube channels and 135 million monthly views.[4] Big Frame aims to work only with YouTubers producing high quality content, rather than aggregating as many channels as possible, a strategy networks such as Fullscreen and Machinima have been accused of implementing.[5]

Channels and productions that are partnered by Big Frame include DeStorm, and MysteryGuitarMan.[6]

History

The precursor to Big Frame, The Cloud Media,[7] was to be one of the first “YouTube-centric management companies.”[8] As it became clear to founder Sarah Penna that “just being a management company was insufficient. [The Cloud Media] either had to be a massive management company or it had to get into the other facets of the YouTube business.”[8] The Cloud Media was turned into a media company and rebranded itself as Big Frame.[9]

In February 2012 BAMMO[10] was launched as the first channel produced by Big Frame as part of YouTube's $100 million investment in new YouTube channels.[11] It features content from YouTube stars like Mystery Guitar Man and Mike Diva.[12]

A high profile Big Frame success is Chronicle, a 20th Century Fox movie that was exclusively marketed online. It took $22 million on opening weekend.[12][13] Big Frame have also created media campaigns for brands including 20th Century Fox, BBC America, Disney, Levi’s, Home Depot and Sony Electronics.[8][14]

In June 2012 Big Frame announced $3 million in seed funding from a large group of investors including Anthem Venture Partners, Daher Capital, DFJ Frontier, LaunchPad LA, New World Ventures, the Media Farm and Social Starts.[11][12]

Big Frame was a sponsor of VidCon 2013. [15]

In April 2014 Big Frame was acquired by AwesomenessTV, the digital media division of DreamWorks Animation for 15 million dollars. [16]

Media Brands

In early 2013 Big Frame launched subsidiary media brands, or vertical sub-networks. This vertically orientated strategy sets Big Frame apart from other big multi channel networks, many of which have thousands of channels and there is “less emphasis on funneling them into overarching brands.”[17]

Wonderly, is the first YouTube network to focus on innovative female creators.[18] It is currently partnered with channels such as Squaresville, Kristina Horner and Overly Attached Girlfriend.[19]

Forefront, the second vertical network was started by DeStorm Power focuses on urban lifestyle and music. [20] [21] Forefront partnered with Karen Civil, Issa Rae, VIBE, Broken Equipment Productions aka FILNOBEP, LatoyaForever, MrDeshawnRaw, Peter Chao, and The Hodge Twins amongst several others.[22][23] Forefront are notable for their use of livestreams to showcase their partners.[20]

Polished is a vertical network focused on beauty, fashion and lifestyle. [24]The Meetup is a weekly show on the Polished YouTube Channel, hosted by MakeUpByMandy24 and directed by MissGlamorazzi. The show features special guests including Tyler Oakley, GloZell, and Miranda Sings. In January 2014 the show was renewed for a second season [25]

Outlandish is vertical network focused on LGBT+ creators. In June 2013 Outlandish was featured by YouTube's #ProudToLove campaign. [26] [27]

Custom Platforms

Viewfinder is Big Frame's custom community dashboard. Creator earn points for sharing their peer's videos within their vertical network. The points can be redeemed for a featured video placement or cash. [28]

In December 2013 the Polished Viewfinder was opened to the public. [29]

Big Frame's "Challenge to YouTube Multi Channel Networks"

In December 2012, as the Ray William Johnson versus Maker Studios controversy[30] became public, BigFrame released a blog post[31] in which they cautioned other YouTube networks about overly short term thinking, lack of transparency, bad contracts, unhappy YouTube channels and unsustainable growth rates. The blog post was regarded as Big Frame distancing itself from “unethical YouTube network practices.”[32]

New Location

In April 2013 Big Frame HQ moved from West Hollywood to a single, 13,000 square meter facility in Culver City with a dedicated production space.[33] Grant Gibson, head of audience development at Big Frame said of the change: “After a year of ‘making it work’ across 3 separate buildings, we are looking forward to all being in the same space.”[34]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Big Frame Official Website". BigFrame. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Ed Carrasco, "Big Frame Moves Into Larger Headquarters With Dedicated Production And Sound Studios", New Media Rockstars, April 2013
  3. ↑ http://www.twst.com/update/49526-dreamworks-animation-skg-inc-awesomenesstv-to-acquire-youtube-mcn-big-frame
  4. ↑ "SocialBlade Big Frame Profile". Social Blade. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  5. ↑ Coyle, Jake. "'PREMIUM' IS SUBJECTIVE FOR YOUTUBE'S BIG NETWORKS". Big Story.
  6. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/big-frame-is-representing-youtube-stars-2012-5
  7. ↑ "A Field Guide to YouTube Talent Companies". Giaom. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/youtube-stars-align-their-caa-digital-set-37371
  9. ↑ "How Digital Agent Sarah Penna Makes Holly and YouTube Click". Fast Company. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  10. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/user/bammo
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/27/big-frame-3m-youtube-stars/
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Bond, Paul (June 27, 2012). "Big Frame, Which Makes Money Off YouTube Videos, Raises $3 Million in Funding Round". The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1jFzJRz9qw&feature=player_embedded
  14. ↑ http://newmediarockstars.com/2012/06/big-frame-gets-big-money-exclusive/
  15. ↑ http://vidcon.com/2013/sponsors
  16. ↑ "AwesomenessTV Buys YouTube MCN Big Frame for $15 Million". Variety. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Big Frame brands top channels together as forefront". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Big Frame Launches Digital Lifestyle Community Wonderly". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Squaresville Season 2 Big Frame Wonderly". TubeFilter. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Forefront.TV hosts first ever live stream forefront comedy night". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Big Frame brands top channels together as forefront". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Big Frame and Destorm launch multi platform urban network forefront.tv". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Forefront TV launches with YouTubes biggest urban stars". 'Rap Basement. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  24. ↑ "How YouTube Network Big Frame Focuses On Big Stars With Four Vertical Brands". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Big Frame Re-Ups ‘The Meetup’ for a Second Season on Polished". 'Video Ink. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  26. ↑ "We’re #ProudToLove the LGBT community on YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  27. ↑ #ProudToLove=YouTube. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Big Frame’s Viewfinder Platform Turns Social Sharing Into A Game". TubeFilter. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  29. ↑ "WeBig Frame Opens Cross-Promotion Tool Viewfinder to the Public". Video Ink. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  30. ↑ http://newmediarockstars.com/2012/12/why-i-left-maker-studios/
  31. ↑ http://www.bigfra.me/blog/a-challenge-to-youtube-multi-channel-networks/
  32. ↑ http://newmediarockstars.com/2012/12/big-frame-manifesto-distances-company-from-unethical-youtube-practices/
  33. ↑ "Big Frame moves into larger headquarters with dedicated production and sound studios". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  34. ↑ "We Moved". Big Frame. Retrieved May 17, 2013.