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The YouTubers Building Big Studios

The YouTubers Building Big Studios

Promise's NinjaPunk, Luma's Reframe Tool

May 13, 2025

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FBRC posted another survey to create a quarterly report on the state of AI creators. If you fit into that bucket, fill it out.

In today’s edition:

Big studios are getting built in Hollywood (and elsewhere)…by YouTube creators
Promise studio teased the workflow behind their new project, blending live action students and AI
Team2Films might’ve found a decent grading monitor for under $2K

And more - let’s get into it!

Joey

The New Studio Moguls: YouTube Creators

Digital creators are building their own professional studio systems that rival traditional Hollywood, with YouTube stars like Dhar Mann and Alan Chikin Chow establishing full-scale production facilities complete with multiple sets, professional equipment, and staff from major studios-all while producing content at approximately 1/100th the cost of traditional productions.

Dhar Mann's Burbank campus spans three buildings and 100,000+ square feet with multiple film sets, including schools, restaurants, a shopping mall, city streets, and even an airplane fuselage section, employing nearly 200 staff members who produce about eight videos simultaneously.
Creator studios are attracting veteran Hollywood talent, with Mann's company hiring Sean Atkins (former MTV president) as CEO and Alan Chikin Chow recruiting a casting director from Nickelodeon.
Wall Street and advertisers are taking notice of this shift, with sports creators Dude Perfect raising $100 million and MrBeast seeking $200 million at a $5 billion valuation, while major brands increasingly shift advertising budgets toward creator content.
The phenomenon extends beyond Los Angeles, with MrBeast transforming Greenville, North Carolina into a "company town," Kinigra Deon building a scripted entertainment studio in Birmingham, Alabama, and Dude Perfect constructing an 80,000 square foot headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
These creator-led studios represent a fundamental shift in entertainment production, with YouTube executive Brian Albert noting that "creators are truly next-gen media companies" functioning as writers, producers, and directors combined into single entities.

Big Picture: The rise of YouTube studios is less about replacing or competing with big-budget theatrical films, more about replacing what we used to find on daytime cable, like Nickelodeon or Disney Channel.

But the lines could continue to get blurred - MrBeast's Beast Games was just renewed for two more seasons.

SPONSOR MESSAGE

ARwall Simplifies Virtual Production

ARwall is making virtual production accessible to filmmakers at all budget levels with a solution that scales from smartphone-based setups to professional LED walls.

Check out our recent video breakdown on the entire ARwall ecosystem:

The system uses Scenepacks of pre-built 3D environments that filmmakers can navigate and adjust using a simple game controller, eliminating the need for Unreal Engine expertise
Camera tracking options range from using just an iPhone to professional trackers
Their ARFX app works with displays of any size—from 4K TVs and projectors to professional LED walls—using the same software ecosystem throughout
The newly launched Infinite Studio AI tool can generate complete virtual environments in seconds, with depth mapping that allows camera movement within AI-created scenes
Unlike green screen workflows, ARwall focuses on in-camera visual effects (ICVFX), meaning what you capture is final pixel with no post-production compositing needed

Download the ARFX App for free today and discover how ARwall can transform your production workflow, whether you're an independent creator or part of a professional studio.

Inside Promise’s Hybrid AI Film Project

Promise Studios is offering a look at what potential hybrid filmmaking workflows may look like in the future with NinjaPunk - a hybrid production that merges generative AI with traditional artistry.

NinjaPunk combines GenAI, 3D environments, and live-action performances, showcasing that human creativity remains central even as technology evolves. The project highlights how advanced tools can expand, not replace, the craft of storytelling.

NinjaPunk is set in a futuristic Los Angeles and follows a cybernetic ninja’s quest for vengeance, blending sci-fi action with noir aesthetics.
The film’s workflow integrates GenAI-generated characters and environments with live-action footage from actors and Hollywood stunt teams, captured over intensive shoots on LA soundstages.
VFX veteran Rob Nederhorst leads the technical side, combining motion capture, 3D VFX, and AI to enable rapid iteration, flexible camera work, and new creative possibilities.
The team emphasizes that AI is a tool for enhancing human expression, not a shortcut-requiring technical expertise, artistic vision, and deep collaboration to achieve cinematic results.

Tutorial: Luma's New Reframe Tool

Luma’s new Reframe feature lets you expand, resize, and adapt videos or images to any format-without cropping or losing key content.

Reframe is here. Outpaint and resize any uploaded video, image, or #DreamMachine creation into every format you need. Customize and reposition freely on the canvas to make every version of your story fit perfectly. Goodbye cropping. Hello creative freedom.
— Luma AI (@LumaLabsAI)
3:11 PM • May 9, 2025

Upload your content: Start with any video, image, or Dream Machine creation. Open the expanded view and click “Reframe,” or use the Editor tab on Web/iOS.
Position and scale: Move and resize your original content on the canvas to highlight your main subject and decide where the AI should extend the scene.
Choose your aspect ratio: Instantly adapt to six common formats: Square (1:1), Portrait (9:16, 3:4), Landscape (16:9, 4:3), or Cinematic (21:9). This makes it easy to reformat for social, cinematic, or digital displays without manual cropping.
Set custom sizing: Adjust the frame in any direction-vertically, horizontally, or diagonally-to fit unique creative needs. The canvas gives you precise control over output dimensions.
Optional prompt: Add a text prompt to guide how the AI fills the new edges, ensuring the outpainted areas match your vision.
Generate and review: Click to run Reframe. The AI will generate a new version in your chosen format, with the main subject intact and the scene naturally extended.

Reframe is currently available for Unlimited and Enterprise plans.

Team 2 Films breaks down a new monitor from Asus ProArt and whether it's high-quality enough to be a sub $2K color grading monitor.

Stories, projects, and links that caught our attention from around the web:

🚫 Minecraft has officially ended support for virtual reality (VR) headsets, marking the conclusion of its VR experience after several years of inconsistent performance.

📺 The interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch is being removed from Netflix, marking the end of the platform's foray into interactive storytelling in favor of gaming.

©️ The head of the U.S. Copyright Office was fired by US President Trump shortly after her office raised concerns about using copyrighted materials for AI training, signaling growing tensions around AI’s legal and ethical boundaries in media.

🦾 Article from Newsweek highlights concerns about AI’s transformative impact on Hollywood’s traditional model, featuring media analyst Doug Shapiro.

✝️ Pope Leo XIV selected his name partly due to the historical significance of Pope Leo XIII's handling of industrial changes, which he parallels with today's AI-related challenges.

Netflix rolls out ChatGPT-powered search and a vertical short clips feed—we break it down, along with Runway’s animated film pilot and a clever new way to control ComfyUI with a gamepad.

Read the show notes or watch the full episode.

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