YouTube will be the dominant media platform in five years according to Dreamworks CEO as the company prepares a family orientated channel on Google’s video sharing site.
Speaking at Cannes Lions, Jeffrey Katzenberg CEO of DreamWorks Animation described YouTube as a fantastic platform for studios to discover new talent and said that companies should be looking to invest in it as soon as possible.
The announcement comes as the studio behind Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon, has launched a family-oriented YouTube channel.
The channel will feature familiar characters such as Shrek, Puss in Boots and Po, but most of the programming will consist of new characters aimed at the Internet generation.
Among the new shows are reality TV programs “Prank My Parents and “Record Setter Kids,” as well as animated Web series such as “Jimmy Blue Shorts,” “Gorillaville” and “Report Card.”
The channel will also feature characters from the Classic Media library that DreamWorks acquired in 2012 for $155 million. For example, a new series called “Richie Rich” will premiere this summer.
Watch a trailer for Dreamworks TV below:
The move follows rival Disney’s $950m acquisition of YouTube channel Maker Studios back in March.
The new ‘DreamWorksTV’ channel is part of an ongoing strategy to tap into the world’s most popular online video platform. The channel will include a mix of original animated, live-action and reality shows, mostly two to five minutes long.
DreamWorksTV will be operated by the same team that produces AwesomenessTV, the fast-growing YouTube network for teens that DreamWorks acquired a year ago.
‘Bottom of the pyramid’
Discussing the new channel, Katzenberg stated that he was very excited to bring his company into a more consumable platform – especially for kids.
He said that studies showed that kids were consuming television, firstly through Netflix and then YouTube, conventional channels were much further down the list.
“YouTube has established a foundation that will in five years be the biggest most valuable media platform by far and there will not be anything remotely close to it.
“They have created the bottom of the pyramid and over these next few years we’ll watch the pyramid grow. The advertising community must get in there today on the ground floor and experiment – just the way we are.”
View a video of the Cannes presentation (featuring Katzenberg among others) below:
Bigger than TV and cinema in five years’ time?
Speaking about the merits of YouTube at Cannes Lions, Katzenberg said: “It gives a platform or voice for all kinds of creators to be able to express themselves and tell stories,” Katzenberg said. “The barrier of entry into the business is lower than ever before and that is a great thing.”
Comparing the cinema and viewing video content on mobile devices, Katzenberg said: “I love movie theatres and making movies for the big screen but these little devices have sharabilty, snackabilty and connectivity. It is so completely unique; we are still at the beginning of the beginning of this evolution.
“Mobile content provides a much more personal experience in that you learn about people and follow them and become a fan… you become a friend.
“There is a much deeper connection in this world of blogging and short form content that is becoming a little bit of a cliché but you are leaning into that experience instead of sitting back.”
Watch this backstage interview with Katzenberg below:
It’s not about ad revenue, it’s about building a future brand
In some ways, the Hollywood studios are following in the footsteps of TV personalities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, who host their own TV shows but turn to YouTube to build large fan communities.
The channel also represents an ongoing effort to make DreamWorks Animation’s operations less reliant on the volatile movie business by diversifying into television and other areas. The company last year signed a landmark deal to produce episodic TV shows for the global-streaming service Netflix.
Although DreamWorks will receive a share of advertising revenue from the TV channel, the venture is not expected to be a big moneymaker for the studio.
The goal is to use the channel as a testing ground for potential new TV shows and movies. It can take at least four years and more than $100 million to produce a single animated movie. A typical show on DreamWorksTV would cost a few thousand dollars a minute.