After Party Studios' Joshua Barnett | TellyCast Podcast

Buy tickets for the TellyCast Digital Content Forum 2024

Join host Justin Crosby as he sits down with Joshua Barnett from After Party Studios, a pioneering force in digital content production and distribution. 

From the roots of multi-channel networks to After Party’s rise as a next-generation production powerhouse, Josh shares insights into the studio’s journey, standout projects like Channel 4’s “Hear Me Out” and Sky’s “Scenes,” and collaborations with top platforms and influencers. 

Explore how After Party Studios navigates the evolving digital landscape, pushing YouTube content beyond the screen. Perfect for fans of digital media and emerging content trends.

Plus - a preview of TellyCast Digital Content Forum 2024.

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Transcript

Welcome to TellyCast, the show where we dive deep into the world of content production and distribution and all the incredible talent shaping what we watch. For more videos featuring the movers and shakers of the content industry just click the subscribe button below. I'm Justin Crosby and on today's episode I'm joined by Joshua Barnett from Afterparty Studios, a next generation content production company.

How you doing Josh? Good to see you. 

Doing well back from a few, uh, days in Sunny Tenerife . That's nice. Been refreshed and yeah. Ready to go for, you know, the next couple months. Yeah, towards the end of the year. 

Good. Oh, well you've, yeah, you've got a bit of color. I've got a studio tan. I thought I'd 

like to Definitely helping me out

Yeah, 

no, I've got Studio Tan after, yeah. Uh, mip com live streaming for a, uh, for a week or so. But, uh, um, great to have you on the show. Thanks for joining us. Um, now you are, uh, a sponsor of the, uh, digital content forum this week, so thank you for that. Um, and we're going to be talking a little bit about digital content form and, and previewing that a little bit later in the show.

But first of all, let's talk about after party studios. And as I said in the intro, a next generation production and distribution company, I would say, um, really interesting business. Tell us about. the genesis of the business and, and, and then we can maybe get a little bit up to date as well. 

Sure. Well, yeah, I think, um, probably have to go back a step, I think, to sort of get to where we are today is after party.

Um, it didn't happen overnight. We actually just celebrated our eighth birthday as a company, uh, which seems absolutely mad, but. I actually met, um, two of the other founders, rich Mansel and Calx, um, at a previous company. So one of the sort of UK and Europe's first original largest MCNA multi-channel network.

Um, launched know right at the kind of birth of YouTube if you like. In fact, I was working on ITV, I'd been the TV side of things, and then jumped into itv.com at the boom of, uh, VOD Video on Demand. Came about and, uh, worked within the digital team at ITV for about six months, and then got approached for a role.

from a company that was essentially bringing content rights holders onto YouTube when YouTube was first a thing. When YouTube started, it was, you know, cats on pianos and, um, holiday camp footage and Charlie bit my finger and all that stuff. Um, two guys, guy called Ashley McKenzie and a guy, Richard Mansell saw the niche, the angle to bring white soldiers onto YouTube, you know, sports federations, production companies, record labels.

We worked with anyone from sort of, you know, the FAA through to end them all and optimum Zodiac. managing this plethora of content on YouTube. Um, and then we fell into the world of seeing, you know, channels popping up on, original channels popping up on the platform, uh, that quickly became known as YouTubers.

And we started working with this sort of new wave of, of channels and talent right at the early stages. Um, people like SBTV and Colin Furze and even Callum McGinley, who's Callux. You know, these guys had sort of 30, 40, 000 subscribers on these new, fast growing channels. And we wrapped our arms around them, Um, and invite them to join the network of premium content channels we managed.

And we essentially built one of the biggest YouTuber networks in the whole of the whole of Europe, I'd say. 

When you, when you say YouTuber networks back then, what does that mean in practical terms then? 

So it basically meant we had, you know, uh, about three and a half, 4, 000 channels that we managed on YouTube.

Um, that go, you know, from then it was, you know, sort of optimization of the channels, sponsorships and rights management and all that kind of stuff. Um, we built one of the biggest YouTuber networks in terms of actual talent and their channels that were part of our network that we had the right to go and uh, kind of sell brand opportunities against.

Um, and it was great at the time for helping people start these channels. We were helping them to get premium. ad revenue whilst also layering in live stream money and sponsorship money. And then we, you know, first forays into kind of branded content as we now know it, we were being asked from brands, you know, can we actually pay money to have our brand kind of feature in the content somehow in a bespoke way, which we kind of, yeah, did the first, um, I said, the first movement in that space.

Um, so that was kind of the groundwork if you like, and where I met, um, you know, Callum Callux and, and rich man. So we actually built that business and sold it back in 2014. Um, I then had a taste of this sort of talent management world working James Grant, which is now called YMU, headed up content partnerships there for a couple of years.

And then Rich and Cal had actually started to launch after party studios because they met a young creative Ben or Calum met Ben on a shoot with KFC. They kind of gelled. Ben started working with Callum, shooting a lot of his content. He was then getting asked from some of Callum's pals, Oh, can I use your guy to film my content?

And it was actually Ben that said, It feels like we should maybe start like a little, a little production company here, like rather than me just like going to work for them freelance. We build a production company, um, we can start to do these productions, you know, these slightly higher level productions for this talent around us.

Um, rich man's was then, you know, sort of on board and the three of them started it. Um, and then I joined, um, almost sort of a year later, once they'd started to, I guess, really drive the business forward, it felt like they had something. Um, and even though I enjoyed my time at James Graham. I kind of felt like my time had left too early in the creator space or the, or the, I think then it was the influencer space.

We'd gone from YouTubers to influencers. Um, and when the guys approached me about joining the business, I just felt like, yeah, like there's such a gap in the market. No one is doing this kind of slightly higher level of production around YouTube talent for their YouTube channels. And importantly for me, um, they were looking to kind of push YouTube talent beyond the realms of just YouTube.

mm-hmm. . And that really was, um, showcased. Brilliantly in the documentary we made behind the KSI, Joe Weller, then Logan, Logan Paul fight, um, you know, one of the reasons I was attracted to join is they were spending a lot of money making this documentary behind those fights without anywhere for it to go.

So it could have just ended up in, you know, JJ's YouTube channel, but I felt like, no, that, that fight, that moment feels like it's going to be mega and we should get this documentary distributed from a big player and I had links to so many pictures at the times. So, um, I came in, one of the first tasks was getting that picked up.

Sony came on the journey. KSI beat up Joe Weller, called out Logan Paul, and then essentially we filmed the documentary all the way up to the first KSI Logan fight and dropped it two weeks out before that fight and had huge success. So from quite early on, like you could, you know, you could see the want and need for better content from YouTubers.

Coming to a place like ours, but also the crossover potential with, um, big YouTubers like KSI pushing really like massively into the mainstream. Um, and that, yeah, that is the, I guess the, the, the Genesis you say of, of sort of how the business started and formed. And I guess the, the drum that we've been beaten for the last sort of eight years, um, with things now luckily moving slightly more.

Sort of towards us rather than us trying to push it on other people. 

Yeah, very much so. Well, well, um, fascinating story and really, really interesting business. Bring us up to date then, because you've also been involved in some other massive projects in the last year or so in particular. So bring us up to date.

What's been the recent things on your plate? 

We, well, most of the press that's been announced recently is our first commission with 4. 0. We had a commission with Channel 4 last year as part of the Untold Strand, which was amazing, even aired on TV. Um, but yeah, for 4. 0 being the first commission, um, with a show called Hear Me Out, uh, hosted by Specs Gonzalez, you know, a talent we've championed for a few years now, um, and bringing in, you know, a plethora of amazing talent, some of the sort of 4.

0 fam, as they say, with some new talent that you've not necessarily seen on the channel before, um, really exciting for us, just, you know, we, we. Uh, big champions of 4. 0, the mission they've set out. Some people kind of come along in this space and, um, they'll try something, pick it up and put it down. 4. 0 have been dedicated to the cause and they know that to build an audience truly on YouTube, you have to be regular and bring the content the audience wants to see and really invest in the talent, which they've done and some.

So it's great to now have a first under the belt that's in the edit at the moment. We shot a couple of weeks ago, um, that will air kind of end of November, early December, hopefully all being well. Or maybe slightly closer to Christmas. I'm really excited and hopefully it's the start of our journey with 4.

0. Um, and then Sky, you know, new season's kicked in. So our show Scenes is back, um, for That's a football 

show, yeah. 

It's a, well, yeah, it's a, um, a show based around key fixtures throughout the Premier League season. Uh, what we class as like an elevated match day vlog. Um, we didn't feel like we were changing the, you know, changing the wheel.

with this style of show, but no one had seemingly done it. You know, we got the brief last season from Sky, then wanted to hit a next gen audience with content. Um, we took the bait, came up with this show, uh, did really well last year, you know, 72 million views across the series, series one. So yeah, fortunately got renewed for, for, for season two across this season.

Um, and we're, yeah, three apps in and so far so good. Sky's a really big, big client of ours. You know, worked with them closely for the last few years. Um, I mean, you know, I mentioned just before we started, I mean, it feels, I feel in a privileged position to be sitting here recording a podcast with you, knowing that we've got two crews out on the road today, one shooting, um, at the O2 for a Netflix WWE something, uh, WWE has just been announced to arrive on Netflix in a big way, we're shooting with some WWE superstars at the O2 today and some really exciting content.

And then we've got another crew up in Manchester filming for another Sky show called Big Night In with Ella Toon, um, arguably one of, you know, England's most recognisable footballers. So, um, yeah, it kind of feels mad that, you know, sitting here with you, we've got these two projects going whilst working with the likes of, of Channel 4 and Sky.

Um, and also BBC Studios. We just had a series, um, around some of the BBC Earth science stuff go out in the last couple of weeks. It's going to feed out over the next, you know, sort of few weeks. 

So, um, lots of sports or sports related, uh, programming. Um, how would you define yourself as a business then? Um, because, um, you're, you're making shows for traditional broadcasters.

But you're also very, very much into, uh, in particular, the YouTube space, both in, both in terms of original content and also, uh, Calix and working with some amazing talent across, uh, uh, who are known for, uh, for YouTubing. How would you define your business? I mean, I, I said at the top that it was, you know, you're a next generation entertainment business.

Is that right? Or would you define it? you know, in slightly narrower terms. Christ, that's a big question. 

Uh, I mean, I think we, I guess with us, it's about having, you know, sort of that creator mindset and that creator lens. That's how we approach most content, no matter what form it's in or where it's on or what platform.

Um, but we, we kind of, you know, we stick to our strengths. Um, a lot of what we do is talent first, you know, unsurprisingly, you know, we're founded by one of the YouTubes, uh, one of the UK's biggest YouTubers in cow. So, um, a lot of what we do is talent first. Um, but you know, for us, we're, we're kind of just, you know, where the audiences are.

And right now, um, you know, that sort of digital mainstream crossover, it's leading a lot of people to YouTube again, back to the heritage we have from the previous business. You know, we've, we've been on YouTube since sort of day one. So. Um, I'd say yeah, a lot of it sparks from YouTube and having that create a mindset into the work we do.

But in all honesty, like it's I don't feel we're ambiguous. I also don't really want to pin us to anyone masked. I mean, to be honest, the way the world is changing and moving again, we spoke before starting, um, traditional media being slightly slow on the uptake of where digital is pushing to, um, you know, we're still a small, nimble, nimble, agile business that needs to move at a time.

So in all honesty, um, I'll keep moving and shaping a mold in the business into where the platforms are, where the audiences are, and we'll take the content to them. 

Yeah. Well, I think we've got a, uh, a sizzle for after party studios. Let's take a look. Hello, friends. That's the minor effect.

That's what we just said. Yeah! I'm 

happy to have you. I'm happy 

to be here. What an absolute winner. What's going on here? Harry. You can't take this long every round, mate. We'll be all night. All right, mate. Just push the button.

So before, uh, the break, we, we, you were talking a little bit about, um, the traditional part of the industry and starting to maybe catch up a little bit, or starting to cast its gaze towards the digital first, uh, environment. Do you think that You know that a lot of the industry is very late on the uptake.

Well, I mean, I think they are very late on the YouTube uptake, certainly when we've seen how YouTube's become, you know, a key player in the living room now, particularly in the States over the last few years. Um, how do you see the market overall, the content industry, you know, because I think you've still a very clear dividing line between the traditional TV industry, And a lot of the TV industry is ignoring what's going on.

It's almost like Evan Shapiro has talked about the fear of finding out, right? The fear of knowing there is a cliff in maybe in two, three years time, when a lot of these businesses are going to fall off it. Um, How do you view it? Because you're, you know, you've really been digital first. Um, you're in a native YouTube business, but making shows for traditional businesses, and you're helping them really communicate with a younger audience.

How do you see it developing over the next year or two? I 

think, look, firstly, you know, we've, we've always tried to work with and against, you know, sort of traditional media. Like, it feels like it's becoming at times in certain conversations a bit us and them. And it doesn't, it needs to not be that. Like, it needs to be like, let's come together.

Let's work through it together. Um, you know, one thing we talked about most recently, like the amount of freelancers out of working in sort of from the traditional TV side. Um, we get a lot of people approach us wanting to work for, for, you know, work with the company, which is, you know, quite humbling to be honest.

And, and, um, you know, brings a lot of confidence to what we're doing, that we're a place that people would look to want to come to. Um, but yeah, we need to embrace each other. Um, what we've tried to do is never, you know, we've tried to sort of do the, the education piece, if you like, like I said, we've been going eight years, knocking on those doors eight years ago, even, even prior to that, to be honest, when I was at James Grant, um, championing kind of digital content, um, a digital first content, um, it's trying to go out and just educate people on, on the creators from these platforms, you know, the talent born from online that people need to embrace a lot more.

It feels like we're getting there a little bit. You know, last year, two years ago, everyone said, yeah, if it's KSI or if it's Amelia de Moldenberg, we're interested, otherwise we're not. And you kind of go, that's two talent out of like, uh, like a vast array of amazing talent on these platforms that do millions and millions of views, more views than you're doing on most of your regular slots on TV.

So I think we're starting to see a bit of a change on, on how people are embracing online talent, which I think is key. Um, but then, yeah, just just working together, working through it, um, you know, going up to different events, you know, around the country in Europe and stuff, people are, they're talking about it more.

It's not as taboo. Um, there's more panels talking specifically about digital content. Um, so, you know, I used to work at ITV, like TV's not dead. Like I know that everyone, that's such a headline, but it's not like TV's changing. I remember seeing Kevin Ligo, ITV talk on a panel within the last year or two when ITVx launched and they made a bit of a hash in that launch because everyone was like, what is ITVx?

Is the hub still there? I don't really know. And the way that I saw Kevin Ligo talk about it was in a few years from now, you're going to turn on your TV and you're going to have apps. That's what you're gonna have, like, in terms of the normal terrestrial TVs, we know it will change, you're gonna have apps and ITVX is going to be the app you go to if you want to watch ITV content.

And I've really thought like they should have come out initially and talked about that as the headline of ITVX because it just makes so much sense. And I think that is the future that we are hurtling towards. You're going to go on and you're gonna have apps on your smart TV. Like you said, 27 percent of all adults 16, are watching YouTube, right?

ITV 6%. of that audience. So I think that's, that's the change. Um, people need to be going to, um, audiences where they want to consume content, you know, across all the age groups, which is why I get 4. 0 have done so well building 4. 0 over the last sort of two plus years because they realized that's where they've got to play to.

Well, they had the 

vision, right? And the, the confidence to know that, that putting long form content And there's still this, this misunderstanding that, uh, YouTube and, and content on digital platforms is all short form, right? There's still that, I think, belief in the, a lot of the TV industry, which, which is, it drives me a bit crazy, but, um, You like content 

you should, that what I love about, Online digital is that you can make the content as long as the content needs to be.

Yeah, we see all the time, whether that's a 90 second type, something that's going to really entertain someone or a five minutes, or if you've got enough content in there and we see it with scenes, you know, our sky sports show it like we will shoot. A load of content across the day, as you can imagine, but we're not rigid and formed to it being a 30 minute show of 10 minute show or 12 minute.

We basically cut the content ago. Do you know what? Like, yeah, 17 minutes feels great on this episode because there's loads of content. There's no downtime. It's action packed. You don't want anyone, there's no time for people to look away because they should be engrossing the content. So yeah, I think we need to definitely banish the thought of fitting content into time slots.

And at the point it was, it was. I was going to go on to make was, um, Channel 4 and 4. 0 have realized that, um, you know, that those audiences are not being cannibalized. It's new audiences. It's different audiences on YouTube and, and also on their, their other platforms. I mean, do you think ITV and the BBC and a lot of the traditional broadcasters have got to follow that, that model?

I think so. I mean, you're seeing it with BBC, um, a bit more here and there. And I think, um, you know, the way that they're now refocused on digital with three coming back and stuff. Um, you know, even some briefs that we're seeing and conversations we're having, I think they're starting to, um, to get involved in that a lot, a lot more.

You know, you saw, um, Tom Goldservan and Strongwatch having ranked came out recently. Got a lot of time for Tom. He's championed us for years through when he was at Channel 4 Digital. Um, just seeing a slight turn. I mean, ITV is the one, again, it, it pains me to say it because I used to work there and my family worked there for years.

Like they just need to move quicker. They need to, to do something different. They're having real great success on the kind of brand of brand of content, brand funded side. You know, again, um, uh, Pal Bhavit Chandrani sort of leads the charge on that side and they do some great things, but digitally they kind of feel nowhere, like I don't know why they're not trying to follow suit.

with a 4. 0 and try and strike a chord with the younger audience. Cause outside of, um, kind of Love Island and some live sport, it doesn't feel like they're hitting a youth audience at all. Um, like I said, 6 percent of all adults, 16, 34 right now in the UK. So, uh, yeah, they've, they've got a, a definitely make a move.

I was excited by the news of, Zoo 55 that launched recently. But then when you kind of read a bit deeper into Zoo 55, it's, it's just like them kind of managing their rights and launching fast channels and stuff. It doesn't feel like there was anything in there that was quite unique or. 

Well, we'll see.

Cause we're, we've actually got an exclusive, uh, at the digital content forum this Thursday, uh, with Zoo 55. So I'm sitting down with Graham Haig. And, uh, Ruth Berry, and we're going to have an in depth fireside to really get into the detail of Zoo55. Wicked. 

I've had, I've had a couple of chats with, with Graham and, uh, great guy had a really good chat, you know, a few months ago.

And yeah, I look forward to, cause it feels like from his, the conversation with him, they're trying to do a lot more in this space. I'm hoping that we can be part of that journey, to be honest. Um, so we'll see, put a good word in for me when you're sitting, 

sitting 

fireside 

chatting. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Well, talking about the digital content forum, obviously it's this week. Uh, only a couple of days to go. And as I mentioned at the top of the show, you're one of our sponsors. So thank you for that. 

I want to thank you. Actually, I've said it on LinkedIn most recently, but, you know, what you've done for, um, the space, how you championed it, you know, I, the conversation, I remember it quite clearly, you know, a few years ago when you launched and we were trying to come up with a little sponsorship thing for us that worked for us and yourself.

And, um, great to be involved in that event as again, we talked about even quite recently, you know, we. Pitched at the drop session, um, BBC studios marched up to us to, to want to chat after that. We had a commission that we announced that last year's digital content forum. So, uh, yeah, like thanks for continue to champion the space.

Well, I mean, it's, it's, uh, it's an area that's been, I think, long overlooked by, uh, trade media and the industry as a whole. So, um, you know, I find it a fascinating area, really stimulating area, exciting, you know, lots of young companies pushing the boundaries. There's no rules, trying different things, working with amazing talent.

I mean, it's, it's, it's a really, uh, fascinating. So that's, that's really why I do what I do. Um, so let's, let's talk about Thursday. Let's have a whistle stop tour through what, what's going to be going on. So we're kicking off with a digital doc session sponsored by Quintus Studios. We've got Youssef Omar from SceneTV.

Ben Zahn from Zandland, Gerrit Kemming from Quinter Studios and Serena Jones from The B1M as well. And that's moderated by Sam Barcroft. So that's going to set things off in a, that's almost like a super group of documentary, right? 

I like Sam in particular, man. I love that guy. I said it to him, you know, I doorstepped him at EdTV in the summer.

We've known each other for a few years, but from afar and he's championed us massively online, which I really appreciate. But when I see him talk on panels, I guess maybe because he's built a business and exited it, he could, he could be a bit more brash on these things. But I do love he, he calls it, he calls it as it is.

heart on his sleeve. Um, and I do love, I think he pushes panelists that he's on to get the most. Quintus as well, Garrett and Adam and stuff that they're such a smart business. We've had again, many chats with them looking at, you know, uh, licensing opportunities and format opportunities. And we're, we're hopefully quite close to cooking something up.

I hope so. Cause they're smart, smart business, really looking at changing the game, um, in terms of that distribution model. Yeah, there's a mixed model, isn't 

it? It's really fascinating. 

Not many people doing that. 

Yeah. So we've got some, uh, exclusive digital sector research from Ampere Analysis. We've got, a roundup of new formats.

Digital first formats are from around the world with the wits. So that's going to be something brand new for the, uh, for the digital content forum as well. And then we've got Meta, Dan Biddle from Meta doing the keynotes. Dan's 

another, you know, Stalwart, been there, done it, seen it. Um, we had a good coffee with him a couple of months ago and just got, you know, some really good insight into, um, what was fascinating, the shelves of.

Um, sort of the shelves of engagement across sort of your Instagram and yeah, and Facebook, which you gave great insight to. Um, it's definitely all about, uh, rails. Yeah. People just make sure you're on, on the rails. 

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so we'll be hearing more from, uh, from Dan from the day as well. Um, then we've got the rest of the platforms after the networking break.

Um, Ed Linderman from TikTok. We've got Josh Bloom from Twitch for the first time. Twitch are joining us and we've got Lucy Luke from Snap and Stuart Clark from Deadline Hollywood's going to be chatting with them as well. So, so we get the latest on the platforms. We've got a, uh, we've got StrongWatch Studios.

You mentioned, uh, Tom earlier on. We've got his colleague, Bryony Hopkins, uh, and she's doing a masterclass called Making the Budgets Bang, which is how to, uh, basically shoot smart in terms of multi platform. Um, Uh, 

I mean, this is the thing, you know, the one thing you don't get from the TV budgets that you get in the online is really having to think on your feet with maximizing a budget, um, you know, which isn't always easy.

But again, I think if you've got the right kind of freelancers and crew around you, um, the right talent you can lean on, you can still make content go pretty far, like you said, across multi platform because you're not just shooting for one format. These days, one platform usually trying to shoot for multiple platforms.

Yeah. And then we've got, um, Spirit Studios, Matt Campion. He's going to be, uh, giving us a little bit of a case study, uh, called outsmarting commissioning hell, which is a really interesting development that, uh, uh, that he's working on. And then we mentioned Zoo55 ITV Studios. They're going to be doing a, uh, a fireside.

I'm going to be having a chat with them before the lunch. Then we've got a podcast as TV, which is, you know, we've seen that, um, you know, real movement towards podcast becoming TV content. Um, so we've got Janine Smith from channel four. We've got Susie Grant from listen, Jackie Adedaji is presenter, and Jamie East, uh, from a Daily Mail group now and, uh, ex Holy Moly and, uh, Story journalist and presenter as well.

Um, then we've got a session called sweating the small stuff Uh, we've got annaleigh bridgestock, uh from jungle creations. We've got victor benson from arcade media. He's uh, he's with the side men Uh graham swallow from little dot, uh and annabelle mcleod from love productions. They're going to be talking about how incremental changes and data how utilizing data can make a real difference as you're going forward and and how to Um, how to make decisions based database decisions, essentially, which is really, really key in a kind of a new, um, a new skill that digital first creators need to know or, um, uh, or people coming to the digital first sector need to know as well, which is slightly foreign to, you know, it's good man.

Victor, 

you know, Victor is from move from head of content to manager, director, uh, Um, you know, we work very closely on the Sidemen football charity match every year or wasn't, was last year and it's coming up in early next year. But yeah, smart guy. Um, and he's, you know, really all about the detail that team, you know, like most big teams behind the scenes on YouTube, you're looking so closely at the analytics, like the drop off points, the view times, um, it is.

Pivotal to then help reshape and reformat the content going forward. Basically, 

that's almost a starting point as well as the creative, isn't it? It's about, you know, using, using that data and to the, to the millisecond, uh, how you craft, uh, that. So it's, it's all about data, uh, driven decision. So that's, uh, that's going to be great to hear from them.

Then we've got YouTube versus TV friend. Frenemy or Foe, sponsored by 4studio. Um, Neil Price from YouTube is going to be there. So the first time YouTuber on stage. It's brilliant to welcome them to the digital content forum. And we've got Tafma Koper from Wall of Entertainment. We've got Matt Risley, uh, from, uh, 4studio and also Joe Harbinson as well, who's going to be chairing that.

So that's going to be really interesting discussion. And then two more sessions, branded social content. You mentioned. Branded content, how important that is to this sector. Uh, we've got Chloe McCulloch from JD Sports who are doing some amazing stuff on, uh, YouTube. Um, We'll be part of that as well. Yes.

Yeah. 

We've, we've made some, yeah, some really fun series with them. Most recently this year, we did a, um, a series called tucking in with the diary room girls, um, had a, again, a few different talent pop up in that series, which went really well. One of the, you know, sort of best performing series I think they've had on the channel this year.

Um, and as you said, they're doing some great stuff and have been, um, you know, doing it for a few years now. 

Yeah. So, um, so it's gonna be really fascinating. I'm really glad that we've got JD Sports, a really, uh, active brand in this space, a really brave brand, uh, who, uh, who have got amazing channel and origin and create original content.

Luke Vernon, who's, uh, uh, a very, really well known actor and TikToker. Uh, we've got Joe Churchill from channel four and Donamick. Dominic de Turville, he's, uh, he's going to be chairing that one. And then finally, we've got the return of the drop as the last session of the day. We decided to move that earlier into the, uh, into the main body of the show, uh, as opposed to have that, uh, later in the evening.

Cause I think since we first started, People, people's movements in and out of London has changed quite a lot, right? So, uh, so we've reacted to that. Um, and we've got SceneTV, Zandland, Strongwatch Studios and Forks Digital are all going to be presenting 10 minutes each, uh, and they've got to pitch, they can pitch whatever they want to the buyers in the room, which, which is really exciting.

There are at least 10, but there's probably going to be about a dozen, if not more, that we know of that are going to be there. Um, and we also have a buyer's lounge, which is upstairs. Uh, so we've got nine different companies, uh, delegates can pitch their, uh, their projects directly to, uh, to digital buyers for the first time.

So it's the industry's, uh, First, um, market, digital market, market. I'm excited. I 

need to, my head of originals told me, I need to ask you after this. How do we, uh, we need to find the insight scoop on how we connect to those buyers is a couple in there we haven't quite met before. So I'm looking forward to utilizing that for the first time.

All right. Well, everybody that registers, they'll get sent a, uh, get sent a buyer's guide with all the contact details and, uh, all the information about each buyer and what they're looking for. So, um, so we're hoping to stimulate a little bit of, uh, business there. Um, Joshua, thanks so much for joining us.

And, uh, I know you're busy. As you said, you've got shoots going on at the O2, Manchester. We've got the digital content forum coming up on Thursday. Um, thanks for being part of the event. Uh, thanks for coming on the show. Been brilliant to chat with you and, uh, all the best with everything that's going on at Afterparty Studios.

Appreciate it. Thanks for having me, mate.

Well, that's about it for this week's show. As always, thanks for watching. TellyCast was produced by Spirit Studios and recorded in London. Don't forget to subscribe to TellyCast on YouTube for weekly videos featuring interviews with the movers and shakers of the TV and digital content industries. Just hit the link below.

If you're going to the Digital Content Forum on Thursday at the BFI South Bank in London, we'll see you there. You can still buy tickets at digitalcontentforum. com. Until next week, stay safe.