I grew up in high school watching Machinima. Not just actual short movies made from game movies — the genre known as “machinima” — but the actual brand. I spent entire summer afternoons watching Red vs. Blue like any respectable teenager growing up in the mid-aughts, and Arby ‘n the Chief which was nothing more than a dude playing with Halo figures and making them talk with automated voices. I didn’t have a lot of sex in high school, clearly.
With the massive growth in streaming games and free-to-play MMO tournaments and gamer/geek culture as a whole, I shouldn’t be shocked at how much of a viable brand Machinima has actually become. Yet, I totally am.
Yesterday I attended their upfronts in midtown Manhattan. The booming music, the attractive part-time models serving finger foods, the open bar and the attendance of men and women who looked like they leaped off the pages of GQ and Details legitimately astounded me. It was a complete 180 from what I imagined the collective brand to actually be when I spent those lazy, adolescent days of mine on YouTube. I thought Machinima was just a really professional group of guys operating in a basement, with someone’s mom cooking spaghetti in the kitchen above. I couldn’t be more wrong.
Machinima is still barely second, maybe even third or fourth fiddle to the bigger online networks like Netflix or Hulu, but they have a targeted audience that neither of those major players have: the younger, gamer-centric millenial. While Netflix and Hulu attract a wider range demographic, Machinima are zeroed in on the gaming 16-25 year olds. There’s actually a small overlap with Generation Z, who are just now getting their first jobs at Dairy Queens everywhere.
Such major growth over the last ten years, combined with the current, Twitch-zeitgeist ripe for conquering via shorter, snappier content that is easier to consume than even Netflix (you can’t exactly watch House of Cards riding on a bus, but you can watch Super Power Beat Down), Machinima’s newest slate of orginal and returning programming will most certainly make stuffy, older industry leaders take notice.
The full press release is below, and I go a little in-depth with my impressions.
LOS ANGELES, CA, May 4, 2015 – Machinima’s debut at the Digital Content Newfronts was nothing short of “heroic.” The first global many2many programming service focused on fandom and gamer culture, Machinima unveiled a programming slate designed to elevate and celebrate a global community of gamer, comic and hero fans through the most innovative content on the Internet. Partnerships with Blue Ribbon Content and DC Entertainment,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Clive Barker, Roberto Orci and Bunim/Murray Productions, along with some of Machinima’s leading creator talent, showcase Machinima’s commitment to developing content across all genres, formats and platforms.
“Fandom and gaming engenders so much passion and engagement; it’s a cultural shift uniquely connecting with the most valuable millennials,” said Chad Gutstein, Machinima’s CEO. “It’s this deep connection to our audience that has made Machinima the ninth largest video entertainment platform in the United States, and the second most watched programmer on YouTube. With our new slate, we are reminding our fans and our clients of one very important fact: Machinima is back!”
Machinima’s programming slate includes:
Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles Season 2
From visionary producer and animator Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series), Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles turns the DC Universe upside-down. In this dark, alternate world, telling the good guys from the bad guys is never easy: Superman is not the son of Jor-El, he’s the son of General Zod; Wonder Woman is not from peaceful Themyscira, but rather the warring nation of Ares; and Batman is more vampire-bat than man…and he’s not Bruce Wayne. It is unclear if our greatest heroes are here to protect us…or to rule us. With Season 1 set to launch in June, Machinima, Blue Ribbon Content and DC Entertainment have already begun development on Season 2, a 10-episode follow-up to the initial limited series.
This is probably the one project I’m most excited about. It’s a genuine Bruce Timm series that takes Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman in entirely new directions. Speaking to Timm (interview coming soon), he told me that the online distribution means they don’t have to abide by any broadcast standards and practices, and that Timm had more final say over these characters than even DC. Stay tuned for our interview later this week.
DC’s Hero Project
Machinima, Blue Ribbon Content, and DC Entertainment are setting out to discover the next great creator for the world of DC Comics. Eight contestants compete in elimination challenges to develop a live-action short video based on their own interpretations of characters from DC Comics’ Starman comic book series. Well-known guest judges and celebrity special guests will join bestselling writer and DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and a panel of esteemed judges to oversee the entire competition.
They chose the semi-obscure Starman. With the proliferation of fan film projects hitting the web, it’s nice to DC actually embracing fan-creation culture and actually giving the OK for people to make expensive fanfiction.
#4Hero
A modern adaptation of DC Comics’ cult-favorite classic “Dial H For Hero”, #4Hero is a live-action, VFX-heavy action-comedy about a young woman named Nellie Tribble who is quietly desperate to make her mark on the world, but wholly unprepared to do so. Nellie stumbles upon a life-altering smartphone app that allows her to instantly become a Super Hero for a short amount of time. The problem is her super powers are dictated by whatever is trending on social media at that moment, and they are always only semi-useful.
Dial H For Hero is indeed a classic amongst a certain group of comic fans, but this one is so of the time I’m afraid at how dated it could actually become. The preview video referenced Katy Perry’s sharks from the Super Bowl, as an example.
Clive Barker’s Creepy Pasta
For the first time, horror legend Clive Barker is stepping away from the creatures of his own imagination and entering into the world of Internet horror fan fiction, affectionately known as Creepy Pasta. Starting with viral urban legends (e.g. Jeff the Killer, Slender Man and Ben Drowned), Clive Barker’s Creepy Pasta is an original series of live-action, blood-curdling short films. These new tales will be curated and adapted by Barker from submissions obtained through the creepypasta community, and produced by Machinima to scare you to your core.
The second thing I’m most excited about, and if it weren’t for Bruce Timm this would probably be my number one. I’ve always been fascinated with folklore, even in the age of the internet such stories survive and thrive in ways even sages around the campfire couldn’t imagine. They definitely highlighted Slenderman but he wasn’t the only story. I question the legalities of this, but no one really questions the legality of the Jersey Devil or Bloody Mary either. The logo looked a little cheap, but it also had the DIY aesthetic that these stories were bred from anyway, so not a big deal. Can’t wait.
RoboCop
“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.” OCP’s Security Concepts Division’s RoboCop program is back in an all-new, short-form limited web series, based on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1987 classic action film. RoboCop returns to Delta City where viewers ride along with the now standard-issue RoboCop officers as they respond to calls from dispatch. Tapping into current themes of the surveillance state, the series is shot from the first person point of view of the RoboCop officers’ heads up display, along with security cameras, dash-cams, and drones.
Literally COPS but with RoboCop officers.
Happy Wheels
“Choose your inadequately prepared racer, and ignore severe consequences in your desperate search for victory!”
– Happy Wheels
Machinima will bring audiences an all-new original animated series based on Jim Bonacci’s hit online game Happy Wheels and produced by BMP Digital, the digital division of Bunim/Murray Productions (‘The Real World’, ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’). This must-see 10-episode short form series, which will feature fan-favorites such as Wheelchair Guy, Irresponsible Dad and Lawnmower Man, will expand upon the game that has more than 8 million players a month and showcase its notorious dark humor and penchant for blood and gore. Additionally, with over 3.1 billion video views amassed, BMP Digital is looking to leverage the voiceover talents of YouTube influencers such as Toby Turner (15.2M YouTube Subscribers, Cartoon Network’s The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange) and others who have made this game so iconic.
This is where Machinima began to lose me, despite being their target demo. The promo video was funny enough, but I didn’t play Happy Wheels and it’s supposed to be a dark satire cartoon. They didn’t show too much beyond actual game footage, so I’m still kind of confused as to what the final product will look like.
Jerome ASF’s The Baka Chronicles
Adding to the gaming fervor, Machinima’s iconic Minecrafter Jerome ASF (3.6M YouTube Subscribers), will be teaming with N00b Adventure creator Jim Schwerfeger for an all-new series – The Baka Chronicles. Featuring Jerome ASF’s most beloved character, Baka, the series follows two unlikely server admins who problem-solve the hilarious antics of griefers, trolls, and kids who wreak havoc across their favorite multiplayer Minecraft server. Little do our heroes realize this job is a massive headache.
Out of all the projects announced by Machinima, this one is actually machinima. Can’t say I’m too interested, and the title reeks of weeaboo (which is the point, I guess). It’s a Minecraft series in the same sense that Red vs. Blue was a Halo show. There is an untapped market for kids and Minecraft, and while The Baka Chronicles could skew older, they’re missing out on a lucrative 9-12 year-old demo on broadcast.
Also, the presentation made it clear that their audience totally gets it. These upfronts are attended by much older, wealthy executives who totally don’t understand young gamers who are much like their own nieces and nephews. During a brief preview of an episode, one character literally stopped to jump in front of the character and (in a goofy, dumb bear voice) told the brand execs that while you don’t understand these jokes, our fans do. “So give us your money,” he told them, and everyone laughed semi-uncomfortably.
High School 51
Created and produced by Roberto Orci (Transformers, Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek, Sleepy Hollow, Lost, Fringe) and Legion of Creatives, and starring Orlando Jones (Sleepy Hollow, Tainted Love, Drumline, MADtv), High School 51 is as out of this world as the name implies.
Hidden away in the heart of Area 51, Dream Lake High School is filled with mind-blowing technology, top-secret government programs and a student body that is cool, quirky, attractive, and…well, alien. No one from the outside has ever been allowed into the school and no human has ever attended…until now.
For 16-year old Alex Valencia, the first and only human ever to attend Dream Lake, high school is going to be tough. Fitting in will be one thing but his biggest challenge just might be saving the human race!
I spoke to Orlando Jones about this series so be prepared for the interview later this week. I can’t get too excited at the name Roberto Orci (during the announcement, Power Rangers was curiously mentioned amongst Orci’s credits) but the brief preview we saw looked intriguing and fun enough. It’s evocative of Roswell and Smallville, but for a very current audience that’s fully tapping in to the mainstream geek culture in ways that Roswell only accidentally attracted.
It’s definitely an Orci product though, as that man can’t get enough of government conspiracies.
Returning Series
Additionally, Machinima is announcing the return of some of its most popular shows including AFK, Chasing The Cup, Realm, Battlefield Friends, Sanity Not Included, Deck Wars, and ETC.
Stay tuned for the interviews with Bruce Timm and Orlando Jones later this week.