Disney Digital Network
Disney Digital Network was an American multi-channel network located in Culver City, California. It was originally the successor to Maker Studios, co-founded by Lisa Donovan, Danny Zappin, Scott Katz, Kassem Gharaibeh, Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson II, Ben Donovan,[3][4] Philip DeFranco, Glasgow Phillips, Michael Gallagher, Matthew Clawson, and Paul Ballon in 2009. Maker Studios was originally conceived as an incubator for YouTube talent through the use of Super Channels like The Station. Maker Studios adopted the multi-channel network (MCN) model after the initial model failed to take root.[5][6] Maker Studios was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2014 for $500 million,[7][8] and was absorbed into the newly formed Disney Digital Network in 2017.[8]
Formerly
Maker Studios Inc. (2009–2017)
Entertainment
2009
- Ben Donovan
- Danny Zappin
- Scott Katz
- Lisa Donovan
- Shay Carl
- Philip DeFranco
- Kassem Gharaibeh
- Derek Jones
- Glasgow Phillips
- Matthew Clawson
- Paul Ballon
- Dave Days
- Michael Gallagher
April 30, 2019
- Andrew Sugerman (CEO)
Polaris (formerly The Game Station)
makerstudios
ddn
Outside the United States, the former Maker Studios had significant audiences in the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia, and was aiming to expand its Asian operations, where it once had 700 million monthly unique views. Run by René Rechtman (who now runs Moonbug Entertainment), president for the international division, Maker had plans to build a headquarters in London for its commercial, production and marketing activities outside the USA. An Asian hub had been established in Singapore, which offered limited commercial and marketing support before the company was sold to The Walt Disney Company.[9]
Following the Disney acquisition, the company suffered multiple rounds of layoffs, executive shuffling, and partner cut-offs.[10][11]
Key personnel[edit]
Courtney Holt was the chief strategy officer of Maker Studios.[36] Due to Danny Zappin stepping down as the company's CEO, Ynon Kreiz, former CEO and chairman of Endemol became the CEO of Maker Studios in May 2013.[37] Prior to Kreiz becoming the CEO of Maker, he was the company's chairman.[38] Ryan Lissack is the current CTO of Maker Studios.[39] In December 2015, Courtney Holt replaced Ynon Kreiz as CEO, coming a year after Disney's acquisition of the group.[7]
Content[edit]
Maker Studios produced videos for channels on YouTube, including Consider the Source, Tessa Violet, Chuggaaconroy, Yves Bole, KassemG, Timothy DeLaGhetto, Shimmy AP, Peter Shukoff and Lloyd Ahlquist's Epic Rap Battles of History (seasons 1-5), Joseph Garrett's Wonder Quest and I Wonder,[41] KingManProds,[42] Sam Macaroni, along with several others[43][44] that have almost as many viewers as Nickelodeon.[4] Maker's first three channels produced for YouTube included Maker Music Network, Tutele, and The Mom's View, with both Maker Music Network and Tutele channels shutting down within six months of their launch.[36][44][45] Maker Studios have also signed celebrities such as famous rapper Snoop Dogg and his YouTube channel WestFestTV,[14][46][47] actor Robert De Niro's Tribeca Enterprises,[48] and Kevin Smith.[49]
In 2013, the most popular Maker production was Epic Rap Battles of History, which averaged 30 million views an episode.[50] Maker's most successful channel was PewDiePie, who was the most-subscribed user on YouTube. He was signed under the Maker sub-network Polaris and later Revelmode until February 13, 2017,[51][52] when Maker dropped him as a result of the international backlash to jokes and actions that media outlets widely described as anti-semitic.[53] During his time with the network, Maker produced his YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium) show Scare PewDiePie with Skybound Entertainment.[54][55] Disney Digital Network in 2017 produced Hyperlinked, a series distributed on YouTube Red and based on the story of the social network Miss O and Friends, and Club Mickey Mouse, a reboot of The Mickey Mouse Club airing exclusively online on social media.[56][57][58]