Casey Neistat is one of the most influential and recognizable creators on YouTube, and he’s about to use that power to generate a YouTube factory of sorts.
Neistat announced today that he’s using his old studio space, which originally operated as the headquarters of his app-turned-CNN-partnered-news-program, Beme, and turning it into a collaborative working area for YouTubers. The company and space is called 368, and the idea is to bring creators together, many of which Neistat knows personally and who he’s helped grow their own channels, and start collaborating together.
“The idea was this: In New York City, I would find a gigantic space,” Neistat says. “A space that I could turn into a factory or gigantic studio — a space that was huge. A space that invited collaboration; a space that I could invite all of my friends to come work and make videos and do stuff in with me.
“That would be the narrative of the core of my new daily show.”
Neistat refers to his space as a kind of factory, but his announcement comes attached with a few other interesting details. Neistat is also returning to the daily vlog, which means he’s looking to put out more videos than he has in the last year or so — and he wants people to star in those videos. This may come across a couple of different ways. Neistat is collaborating with his friends to boost their own channels; Neistat is looking to profit off his friends’ appearance in those videos; Neistat is literally looking to create a factory of YouTube talent that he can hone and possibly buy into.
It could also be, however, that Neistat is paying attention to the ever-changing YouTube landscape and wants to figure out how to set up his own. Neistat is no stranger to collaborations. He partners with Jesse Wellen’s every year for their elaborate prank that takes over the streets of New York City. Neistat and vlogger Sam Sheffer often pair up for each other’s videos.
Look at the Los Angeles YouTube scene. Team 10 and Clout Gang are just two of the vlogger groups who have built a lucrative career and lifestyle collaborating with each other. The trend in Los Angeles is to buy a fancy house — somewhere in Calabasas (home of the Kardashians) or West Hollywood — and turn that house into part of the narrative. Jake Paul, RiceGum and Faze “Ricky” Banks, leaders of the aforementioned vlogging groups, turned a household of vloggers into a successful business model.
Neistat is proposing something similar. Although the studio won’t act as a home for eight or nine different creators, Neistat will incorporate the space into his daily narrative. People will swing by and, I’ll wager, those guests will become a point of interest for people tuning in to see what Neistat gets up to. Whether it’s hosting an interview about YouTube practices with Philip DeFranco, welcoming comedian Elle Mills for a Q&A, creating a new kind of electric skateboard with Sheffer or, yes, even talking about Team 10 with Jake Paul, Neistat will certainly have an array of well-known creators popping in.
Every creator is looking into ways to try and collaborate with other big names. Keemstar, host of DramaAlert, hinted at possibly setting up his own talkshow. Liza Koshy, one of the most popular vloggers on YouTube with more than 14 million subscribers, partners with her friend Corinna Kopf, who has just under one million subscribers, all of the time. Even celebrities like Josh Peck are collaborating with popular YouTubers like David Dobrik for collaborative stunts.
“My life is now building this new thing; this new entity,” Neistat said. “Call it a company, but I’m not sure what the business is behind it yet. I’ll figure that out later.”
Neistat’s first new vlog as part of his company 368 will premiere on YouTube on Friday, April 6 at 8 a.m. ET.
