Khaby is Coming to America

TikTok's top creator crosses the pond.

Author

Emily Burton
July 01, 2024

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and the next generation of influencers has arrived. According to a new study, more than half of Gen Zers now self-identify as content creators.

BON VOYAGE

TikTok’s most-followed creator is Coming to America as the star of a new Tubi series

The creator: Khaby Lame is one step closer to achieving his Hollywood dreams. After attracting 162 million fans, TikTok’s most-followed creator is venturing beyond silent comedy as the star of a three-part, Tubi-exclusive travel series.

The series: Each 20-minute episode of Khaby is Coming to America will transport Lame to a different U.S. city, where he’ll chat it up with soccer player David Beckham, sports pundit Stephen A. Smith, musician Jon Batiste, and other celebs.

  • Like the main character of Eddie Murphy’s 1988 film Coming to America, Lame is journeying to America in pursuit of a larger goal. The Hollywood hopeful has already directed a short film and gotten the green light for a spy comedy called 00Khab. Now, he’s taken another step in his quest to become a “full actor.”

The bigger picture: Creators are increasingly turning to free, ad-supported TV hubs like Tubi to bring their content to new audiences. Khaby Is Coming To America—which is co-produced by advertising company Group Black and consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble—is just one recent example of that trend.

  • Last week, content brand Unspeakable announced a new app that will bundle its YouTube clips for distribution on FAST channels. One of the firms involved in that project, FilmRise, frames itself as “the go-to destination for digital-first properties seeking wider distribution opportunities” (per FilmRise Head of Content Jonitha Keymoore).

  • FilmRise isn’t alone in helping creators capitalize on the rise of free streaming channels. Creator services provider Jellysmack has worked with dozens of partners on FAST-focused apps, while influencer talent agency Viral Nation helps creators distribute content across FAST channels and other streaming hubs.

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Ready to start building your members-only community?

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

COLUMNS • MILLIONAIRES 📈

Full Squad Gaming is pysched to be your “uber competitive” friend group

The Millionaire: Avalanche was determined to be a pro gamer—until he wasn’t. After years of climbing the ranks in Call of Duty, the creator did something totally unexpected: he joined NRG‘s casual gamer content group, Full Squad Gaming, with fellow 100 Thieves vet Classify.

  • Together, they teamed up with Full Squad president Hung Tran and previous members Nick Dallas and Mikeoofs to supercharge the group’s online presence. The result: Full Squad’s TikTok account now reaches 4.2 million followers, while its YouTube channel has grown to 1.2 million subscribes and over 80 million monthly views. Check out our chat with Avalanche and Hung Tran below (edited for length):

Data from Gospel Stats.

Tubefilter: I’m really curious what you think about the importance of having a casual organization.

Avalanche: “…I feel like casual gaming, it caters to just way more people. The people who have work, they get off work, they come home, they just want to have fun, play for a couple hours, go to bed.”

Tubefilter: Any other cool plans you guys have for this year in terms of developing content…that kind of stuff?

Hung Tran: “Like Ava alluded to, celebrity imposter is our newest property…We’ve got other properties coming as well. Again, the cool part about these guys in the squad is, it’s your friend group. What do you do with your friends? You’re uber competitive with your friends, right? We’re going to create other series where the four guys are just competing at everything together.”

Tubefilter: Perfect. Ava, you want to add anything?

Avalanche: “Hung is way more well-spoken than me, but that’s pretty much it. We don’t want to leak. We have good stuff coming, but…”

Tubefilter: No spoilers.

COUNTER CLAIMS

This YouTuber’s 4-hour Star Wars hotel review went viral. Then Disney filed a claim against it.

The review: Jenny Nicholson isn’t afraid to speak her mind—especially when it comes to Star Wars. As one of YouTube’s foremost authorities on nerd culture, the creator has offered thoughtful critiques on everything from The Joker to Dear Evan Hansen. 

  • That prominence is precisely why Disney encouraged Nicholson to visit its (now closed) Galactic Starcruiser hotel. But despite extending an invitation based on her online reputation, Disney wasn’t prepared for the four-hour review that followed Nicholson’s stay.

  • In a 245-minute video, the creator offered various criticisms before questioning whether carefree luxury and fascism-themed gamified experience can successfully coexist in one venue. That review has now earned 8.6 million views, with Esther Zuckerman of The New York Times deeming it “one of the most captivating pieces of entertainment” she’s seen this year.

The response: Disney could have ignored Nicholson’s review. Instead, the media giant filed a copyright claim based on “the music playing in the background” of included clips and released a statement defending Galactic Starcruiser as “one of our most creative projects ever.”

  • Nicholson expects Disney to let its claim expire after 30 days rather than releasing it following her appeal—meaning she has “no idea” how much revenue her video has earned or when she’ll receive it.

The takeaway: Nicholson says situations like hers make YouTubing “an impossible job for people who rely on the Adsense.”

  • As a YouTube rep noted earlier this year, the platform gives “copyright holders tools to make claims and uploaders tools to dispute claims” in order to keep conflicts “between the parties involved.” That insistence on neutrality likely stems from the impossibility of moderating such a vast number of claims—but it also gives rights holders a significant advantage.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

Festival circuit: From Cannes Lions to VidCon, convention season is in full swing.

  • Tune into the latest episode of Creator Upload to find out all about this year’s International Festival of Creativity—and stick around as industry experts Josh Cohen and Lauren Schnipper break down the real reasons influencers are earning less in 2024.

  • It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.eC