Stubios has four inaugural projects in production. A fifth will be voted in by fans from over 2,000 applications sent in during open submissions; 14 finalists will have three weeks to rally support and win their greenlight. Tubi has committed to funding and producing the top-voted title, distributing it to over 80 million Tubi viewers, and greenlighting a second venture for the successful Stubio runner.
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- Build Amazing Brands
How our fan-fueled studio is helping nontraditional creators and forward-thinking advertisers connect with modern audiences
If you’ve tuned in to the streaming world lately, you may have come across an interactive, fan-fueled studio program called Stubios, launched by Tubi on October 22.
No, that’s not a typo. The name Stubios, like the concept, shakes up the typical Hollywood development pipeline, which can be difficult for nontraditional creators to break into. With Stubios, Tubi fans (not studio executives) call the shots—sometimes literally. By logging in to the Stubios experience on mobile, fans can follow popular creators, view behind-the-scenes footage, vote for their favorite projects, and offer ideas and opinions on projects currently in production.
By breaking down the studio wall, creators not only get valuable feedback, they get access to new onramps and resources that can help them bring long-form content to life.
Tubi’s head of brand strategy and operations, Seth Shamban, explained how the Stubios model doesn’t just bring creators and audiences together. It makes room for fresh, original content that reflects contemporary culture—something most of today’s viewers (61%) need to feel engaged.
“Younger audiences are hungry to see stories that reflect their lives,” said Shamban. “In the traditional development process, it can take a long time for boardrooms to catch up with contemporary culture. Stubios bypasses that by passing the camera to up-and-coming creators.”
– Seth Shamban
The First Live Stubio Audience
Tubi recently hosted Stubios Live: How Brands Can Harness the Power of Creatives and Their Fandoms at the Fast Company Innovation Festival. In addition to discussing the impact of fan-fueled content, it served as a live demonstration of how Stubios actually works.
Comedian Cris Sosa kicked off the event, treating the audience to 15 minutes of stand-up about his experiences growing up as an Afro-Latino in Texas.
At the end of his set, Sosa had the audience connect to Stubios in real time via a QR code and choose which of two jokes they liked better. (Spoiler: A joke about bartending won with 58% of the vote—but, as of this writing, Sosa’s joke about Corn Flakes has pulled ahead.)
The event also featured a panel with Shamban, Fast Company’s David Salazar, and Grant Gibbs and Ashley Gill of the musician-influencer duo Grant & Ash (otherwise known as A Twink and a Redhead). Gibbs and Gill are show-running and starring in the new comedy series Mo’ Waffles, one of the four projects selected by Tubi to kick off the Stubios program.
During the panel, Gibbs and Gill discussed their long-running partnership with Tubi—and how, unlike other studios, Tubi grants them considerable autonomy during the production process, allowing them to “run wild” and be their most authentic selves. They also recounted working with Issa Rae, whose production company Color Creative provides vital support and mentorship to Stubio runners as they make the daunting transition from short- to long-form content.
According to Gibbs, it’s a recipe that sets creators up for success—and ensures their loyal social media audiences will flock to the new films and series they put out.
“This is the future of content. It’s genius to take popular, nontraditional creators and insert them into long-form content, because their built-in social media audiences will follow them to your platform. I guarantee that other streamers will be following in Tubi’s footsteps soon enough.”
– Grant Gibbs
of Grant & Ash
What About Advertisers?
Stubios doesn’t just benefit creators and their fans. As Gibbs pointed out, it gives discerning advertisers an opportunity to instantly tap into pre-existing audiences and die-hard fandoms who will follow their favorite creators across every channel. Plus, it allows advertisers to finally connect with highly desirable but notoriously hard-to-please young viewers by collaborating with artists who already speak their language.
With Stubios, brands and products can be integrated seamlessly into content during production. That allows them to build powerful associations with trusted influencers in a way that feels more authentic and natural than a straight commercial pitch.
Consider Stubios’ first sponsor brand, PepsiCo’s Starry®. Starry will be organically woven into comedic storylines for Mo’ Waffles, which match the brand’s cheeky, irreverent tone. It’s a perfect fit, and one that will help Starry shine in a fun, relatable way.
Like Starry, brands must be willing to share the reins a bit and work with the style and vision of emerging creators if they want such collaborations to work. But, at a time when consumers prefer buying from brands that reflect their personal and ideological values, the cachet they get in return is advertising gold.
