working title:

Like And Subscribe

They say 10,000 hours makes an expert.. but what does 10,000 subscribers make?

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Genre: Lifestyle / Documentary

Project Greenlight meets A Spirited Man Youtube Channel
Runtime: 16 x 22 Minutes
Production Company: Fieldwork

EP’s: Ben Rayner & Ian Carleton

Log Line.

Two commercial filmmakers break away from their day jobs in search of creative freedom in the Wild West of YouTube. Follow Ian & Ben as they learn from industry experts and stumble through the success and failures of a do or die challenge to build a 10 000 subscriber channel in just 16 short weeks.

Concept.

Ben and Ian are independent Canadian filmmakers. They’ve had fortunate careers which have yielded some incredible opportunities and experiences, but together they feel as if something is still missing.
After a decade of working in the industry, it feels as if they are both still just starting, and now they want to take control.
In a world of clients and grants, bosses and products, cheap commercials and compromised creative, it will take a drastic change in direction to finally make the content true to their voice. That change in direction needs a home, a platform, and an audience. That change in direction needs to succeed.
YouTube is the home to an astounding 700,000 hours of new content every day. In a sea of guilty pleasure; fail compilations, repackaged late-night clips, and cat tributes, there are also content creators producing some of the highest art forms and entertainment of this generation. These content creators have the freedom to express their voice on their terms, and they get paid doing it.. but how did they arrive at this place of success?
*Like and Subscribe* explores the universe of YouTube and the path to the all-powerful leverage of community building through the vantage point of creating a channel from 0 to 10,000 subscribers in 16 weeks.
The show follows Ian and Ben, as they investigate the culture of YouTube through interviewing industry experts, influencers, and platform advertisers as they themselves strive for subscriber success.
In each episode, they debate the advice and direction learned through their research and interviews as they embark on their weekly YouTube channel creation. Incorporating the core tenets learned each week, Ian and Ben will race to meet the grueling upload schedule as they strive to make content, now not only in their vision but in the vision of the YouTube algorithm.
This ultimately begs the question, has anything really changed?

Episode Arc.

**Opening & Recap**
Each episode of *Like and Subscribe* begins with a recap of where the channel is presently at from the perspective of subscriber count, and growth from the previous week. These metrics are visualized in different poetic, analog formats throughout the season. For example, in one episode we may present the channel growth by a glass of water being poured from a jug. The next week we may show the growth by building a lego tower, or by blowing up a cluster of balloons.
Ian and Ben then break down and discuss how the expert advice from the previous week’s video performed and whether or not they would reapply the same idea in the future.

**Video Creation**
The guys then move to this week’s video creation by brainstorming an idea that they want to make.
These ideas will be abstractly introduced by a series of fun stylized sequences. The way a concept is created may also be visualized through lighthearted reenactments of how the concept came to mind.
Example:
While walking through the park pitching ideas to each other, Ian suggests a video idea about dogs having momentary “shower thoughts”. He describes coming upon this concept one afternoon when he caught his family dog staring at a painting of a dog in his home, and wondered what was going on. The audience then sees a reenactment of Ian… staring at his dog… who is staring at a painting of a dog. These comedy beats will be quick, cut-away scripted moments that will help visualize the process surrounding video concept creation.
Additional secondary research will be presented through further discussions and reference videos, then the episode’s treatment is drafted.
The section is wrapped up with a rough treatment outline for the week’s video concept.

**Expert Interview**
The guys then embark on interviews with industry experts.
These experts will speak broadly about the history of the platform, as well as a specific key tenet to a channel’s success, from their professional position. The idea is to gain insight through the advice of our expert while acknowledging that each piece of advice does not fit all types of content.
Ian and Ben will then challenge themselves to take the learned tenet and apply it to a now, reimagined creative, from the previously created video treatment.
An example of this could be the tried and true advice of YouTube channel collaborations. The boys could then take the comedy dog script and approach a successful dog-training channel and ask them to participate in the video as scripted characters.

**Video Production**
The “behind the scenes” as well as the ongoing challenges of video production will introduce natural conflict, drama, and comedy beats as the boy's race to hit publish by their end-of-week deadline.
The episode will complete with a highlight look at the final product of this week's uploaded video.

Style.

Like and Subscribe is presented in a hybrid first-person type doc-u-style format. These segments are accompanied with sequences that more closely resemble traditional doc and scripted.

The subjects will be interacting with the camera as another character in many scenes throughout each episode because often one of the two subjects may actually be operating it, or interacting with it in a confessional style tool. In scripted or interview settings the format shifts to the more traditional style of lifestyle and scripted content that viewers are accustomed to. The intention of the break-down in format is to create a behind-the-scenes feel to the conception and construction of content that will ultimately result in each week's YouTube video.

Episode Breakdown.

A conversational recap of where Ian and Ben are in their journey of their YouTube Channel.
This includes a visualization (which changes each week) of where the channel currently is at in subscriber count, and how much it has grown since last week’s video release.
An example of the visualization could be coffee beans being added to a grinder. Are there enough grinds to make this week’s coffee?
(1.5 minutes )
This discussion includes quick cut away’s of last week’s video production key moments, while the guys narrate the high and low moments, and how it may relate to the week’s subscriber count growth (or lack there of)
(2 minutes)
A brainstorming session which includes, pitching ideas between the guys in a series of fun sequences and scripted cutaways.
This is a high-paced, condensed version of idea creation.
(3.5 minutes)
Experts ranging in experience and insight will be tapped to offer a key tenet for each episode. This interview format is produced in a traditional doc-style interview look.
(5 minutes)
The boys discuss other examples that presently exist which can inform their video’s creative. This will help to influence the look and approach for this week’s video.
(1 Minutes )
Ian and Ben discuss and plan how best to incorporate the newly learned YouTube tenet offered by the expert.
This lively debate results in a creative re-approach, which ultimately forms the final creative for this week’s video.
(3 minutes)
Ian and Ben move into production. The pitfalls, unforeseen issues, momentary inspiration, and ultimately execution of the scripted vision are all captured in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this week’s YouTube video.
(3 minutes)
A highlight look at the final product of the YouTube upload for the week.
(3 minutes)