A deep conversation on storytelling and studio building with Kinigra Deon and Alan Chikin Chow

Summary

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Outlines

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Keywords

💡Scripted Content

Scripted content refers to any form of media where the dialogue, actions, and story are pre-planned and written out by creators. In the context of the video, the creators discuss their experiences and strategies for producing scripted content on YouTube, which is often perceived as a platform for unscripted or spontaneous videos. They share how they transitioned from short-form to long-form scripted videos, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and character development.

💡YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts is a feature that allows users to create and share short, vertical videos on YouTube. The creators in the video mention their experiences with Shorts, highlighting how they use them to complement their longer, scripted content. They discuss strategies for making Shorts that engage audiences and drive them to watch longer videos, showcasing the versatility of content creation on the platform.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity in content creation means being genuine and true to oneself. The video's creators stress the importance of authenticity in their work, suggesting that while they create fictional stories, they infuse their own perspectives and experiences into their content. This approach helps them connect with their audience on a deeper level and maintain a consistent voice across their work.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of telling stories, which is central to the creators' approach to making content. They discuss how they craft narratives that evoke emotions and keep viewers engaged. Storytelling is used as a tool to drive the plot, develop characters, and create a compelling viewing experience, as illustrated by their emphasis on emotional journeys and audience retention.

💡Cinematic Videos

Cinematic videos are characterized by high production values, including professional camera work, editing, and sound design. The creators mention their aspirations to create cinematic videos on YouTube, which goes beyond the typical home video or amateur content. They discuss their journey from simple setups to more complex productions, aiming to deliver a movie-like experience to their viewers.

💡Community Guidelines

Community guidelines are the rules set by platforms like YouTube to ensure content is appropriate and safe for viewers. The creators discuss the importance of adhering to these guidelines, especially when creating scripted content that involves sensitive topics or scenes that could be misinterpreted. They highlight the need to balance creative freedom with the platform's requirements for safety and appropriateness.

💡Emotion in Content

Emotion in content refers to the feelings and responses that creators aim to evoke in their audience. The video's creators emphasize the role of emotion in retaining viewers, arguing that emotional engagement is more effective than fast cuts or flashy visuals. They share how they craft scenes to make viewers laugh, cry, or feel suspense, using their scripted content as a vehicle for emotional storytelling.

💡YouTube University

YouTube University is a colloquial term used by creators to describe the process of learning and improving their craft through the platform. The creators mention 'YouTube University' to illustrate how they've educated themselves on various aspects of content creation, from camera techniques to editing and lighting, by watching and learning from other creators and online resources.

💡Reinventing Content

Reinventing content means evolving and adapting one's content to stay fresh and relevant. The creators discuss the need to periodically reinvent their content to keep their audience engaged and to reflect their own growth as artists. They share their experiences with transitioning from one type of content to another, such as moving from comedy skits to scripted drama series, while maintaining their authentic voice.

💡Studio Expansion

Studio expansion refers to the process of growing one's production capabilities, often by acquiring more space, equipment, and team members. The creators in the video talk about their plans to expand their studios, aiming to create a more professional and efficient production environment. They discuss the importance of having a dedicated space for shooting, editing, and other aspects of content creation, which can enhance the quality and scale of their work.

Highlights

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Transcripts

my name is kener Dion and I create short

features on YouTube highly cinematic

videos that gives storytelling hey I'm

Alan chicken chow I'm a creator with the

mission to inspire my audience to be a

hero I have the number one YouTube

shorts channel in the country and I also

create a scripted drama series called

Allen's Universe on my channel and I'm

Renee Richie I am a longtime Creator who

now works inside YouTube to help YouTube

better understand creators and help

creators better understand YouTube and

this is a Creator Insider

podcast let's talk about scripted

content because a lot of people will say

there is no scripted content on YouTube

or you can't do scripted content

successfully on YouTube you prove

otherwise how did let's go how did you

get into scripted content on YouTube I

just that's the only thing that I knew

um I met a couple of creators who were

doing scripted content and then I was

just an actress in their videos and then

from there I started doing my own videos

and it's it's what I love so it's like

making your own movie and your own

storytelling and I love like sci-fi and

fantasy books and so to see it written

and then out it's like yeah it's amazing

so and what about you um I started as a

short form Creator first and scripted

content is actually very common uh for

short form videos um and then I decided

after having like a a health problem in

the beginning of last year thinking a

lot about life and death and I was like

what is going to be my legacy when I

pass away and I was like I want to make

something that I've always dreamed of

which is making Amazing Stories uh on

YouTube and that's why I decided to make

Allen's universe and just to be clear

when people say scripted content like it

can be a few minutes long but you have

uploaded very lengthly scripted videos

and quite a lot of them yeah um it's not

intentional it's more for the

storytelling so however long it it takes

to get the story out there like to

express the emotions to make sure like

my audience feel exactly what we're

conveying so it may be 30 minutes it may

be an hour and a half it's rare that

it's less than 20 minutes because I

don't know how to really create short

form it's like my mind is just

constantly writing and it's like I can

see this full story so if you ever need

short form advice I have like a recomend

I I actually I text him all the time I

suck at short form and he like he saw

one of my like videos he's like you did

good yeah super

good yeah we chat yeah all the time so

the conventional wisdom like if you ask

a lot of people how to be successful on

YouTube they'll often tell you like lean

into your own voice be authentic be real

talk about you unscripted content you're

deliberately leaning into storytelling

and character if someone to ask you how

to be successful with scripted content

what's the advice you would give them it

is still the same truth like it is it's

even more about storytelling than I

think Challenge videos or Vlogs because

when you're watching scripted content

you're following the emotional journey

of a character so you're really the

retention tactic is literally just

telling a really really compelling story

and like to add on to that it's it's

still being yourself you just get to

create your world or whatever it is that

you see and you get to represent like

for me I get to represent like I'm a

black woman and it's so many little

black kids who watch me and and they see

us in these fantasy videos when they

normally don't see us in those type of

that type of content so for me it's

still being who I am it's just I get

to I get to write a a story basically

people often mistake retention with Fast

Cuts but like emotion is is retention

like if you get somebody to feel to be

suspenseful to be tense they're riveted

to your content yeah it's about the

emotion if if I'm like if I have a

comedy I want my audience to laugh right

and then if I have a drama I want you to

cry if if it's a sad moment I need them

to cry I want like oh my gosh that was

so sad and I and we get that feedback in

our comment section so um yeah it's

definitely about just making a really

good story that they can feel I don't

really look at analytics that much I

should but like it's not I don't look at

retention time I just really try to make

the best story so how do you like when

you once you've made a video do you go

back and look at it and say like I want

to work on these things for the next

video or do you like you said you don't

look at analytics but do you look at

like comments audience reaction what

sort of things are important to you I

think for me I when I look back at the

video I'm like oh my gosh the continuity

what was that so mine is not really more

so than are oh my gosh I should have got

a shot where they were looking at each

other eyes to really show that they were

really like in love with each other and

I'm like I missed that shot cuz I direct

the video as well so it's like those

small things that could have made the

video or the emotion or for the audience

to understand that scene better yeah so

all the time so like for me we have

different directors on our set but I'm

like the love Storyteller so my uh shots

is they stop like and the kids like the

actors they're like how long do we have

to look at each other until they

understand that you love each other you

know so yeah um I love that yeah um yeah

uh similar I I have like a lot of things

that I look at after every shoot like

from a production standpoint like how

shoots could have gone more smoothly how

we can be more efficient with our time

um that's actually just as important as

the analytics side um one really good

example is I used to do an intro for my

series that was like music and it was

like little teasers of of what was to

come in the episode but then we tried

one episode without the intro which was

my favorite part by the way and we saw

it performed better so we started to

remove the intro and um we don't have it

uh moving forward so it's like things

like that that we study in the analytics

and really Implement I noticed that you

did that but I love the intros they were

so cute I was like what he films a

freaking intro and it's completely

different it's not like inside the

actual film that he's shooting I was

like this is so dope this is cute and it

works I know so it was like so it was

basically kind of like six scenes that

gave a clue to the story that was to

come but I think something psychological

about having a song and the song ends

makes people want to swipe away after

the song is over so instead we have a

very and you have this too the first

scene is always very very um engaging

one of the most engaging scenes um that

tells you what's going to happen in in

the it basically sets up the conflict of

the story um we found that that works a

lot better for keeping an audience um

for the whole that's a very classical

storytelling technique when you like you

force yourself to Kill Your Darlings you

have these things that you just love but

like you know you if you ruthlessly want

to serve the audience and the story you

sometimes have to take the things you

love out to make rooms for the things

that they love true that's true and you

can revive it in a different way just

yesterday I performed the theme song and

three other songs here at VidCon You Can

Have Your Darlings and in in other ways

yeah so maybe we'll revive that by

having a tour or something it's so

catchy sorry the it's so catchy it's

like it stays with you you carry island

with you like all day after you seen the

video uh one of the other things that

you do particularly successfully is move

people from short form to long form and

I think the key for me has always been a

lot of just want it to happen but you

make me want to do it and that seems

like how does that work for you when

you're thinking about those transitions

so we make a long form episode and then

uh so we shoot that for a couple days

and then we have one day dedicated to

shooting shorts related to the episode

um and um it's pretty simple actually so

if we have a Vampire episode we have

seven or eight shorts unique shorts not

cut Downs that um have the same theme

and then we say go watch the long video

um and works really well cuz you're

really intrigued by the short the short

has a lot more reach than long form um

and then they go over to see a long

version of it I think there's the two

key things I heard there is one is you

make specific shorts you don't just cut

down the long I think that's fine for

like interviews and things but it

doesn't motivate you when you make that

specific call to and I've seen you put

the thumbnail sometimes too and it's

like I know what I'm going to get and

you we' talked about this before like

people don't always remember the video

but they remember the feeling it gave

them and you promis me more of that

feeling that I'm enjoying cuz like some

people like I'm in the short feet I just

want to keep looking at shorts but like

oh this is really great I could feel

like this more and then I and you tell

me to click that button and then I click

it and then I you immediately make me

happy when I land on the video it's not

like a slowburn it's like I'm

immediately happy you rewarded me I'm in

oh thank you no I think that's brilliant

I think like people can adopt that

strategy ACR like I was watching real

engineering and he's like this is how

the sale on a satellite works if you

want to see how the whole satellite

works like click that button and it's

the same thing it's like I do want to

know how that whole sale works and I

think that's really like a great way to

make the audience want something rather

than just the Creator want it and I

think it's really impressive that you

started as a shorts like Creator and was

able to take your audience to long form

cuz a lot of creators that I do talk to

that is hard for them they struggle with

that but I think your content is so

unique and even how you do like your

shorts even how you do your shorts like

you said the the emotion that you put

into your shorts it still matches your

long form so I want to go in and

continue watching it longer so yeah I

think it's it's really really dope like

thank you yeah you did you've done I

mean I I brag about him all the time I'm

sorry like I do seriously to everyone

because he really yeah he he's your

content is amazing like my gosh the same

to you dude we're like each other's

biggest fans and we're meeting for the

first time in person here so the vi

works like the vibe totally works uh

when often sometimes people think about

doing YouTube they Wonder like is it

saturated did I miss my window with

scripted content I think people worry

that it's too difficult like I'm not a

studio how do I do this but now I didn't

go to school for this so I'm not going

to say it's easy I'm not going to say

like oh yeah you could yeah no it takes

a lot of hard work but it does have to

be something that you love doing and so

if you're into movies or TV or acting or

you know filming if that's like your

passion then it may be hard work but

you're going to enjoy and love doing it

so and I don't think anything is

saturated whatever you are like no one

is you right so it's not a a ton of use

out here so it isn't saturated you're

going to put your unique spin on it so

true yeah um it it is hard work we're

not going to sit here and say that it's

not hard work it's so hard to make what

we make um but if you have like great

people around you and you love what you

do it's like fun you know

being on set is like the best time ever

and you get to make like awesome stories

like the feeling of writing something or

having somebody else write something and

and see it come to life is like

awesome and and she works hard cuz when

we first talked on the phone she was

pregnant and she was shopping for props

for a video and giving me advice at the

same time I was like oh my gosh she's

like Super Woman here so yeah for me it

was always like I had this idea in my

head and I felt like it wasn't real

until I put it out

and that was like it just drove me to do

it I had to get it out into some

physical form or another the other thing

you just mentioned reminds me too like

I'm not like these are great jobs like

being a Creator is like the best job

I've ever had it's fantastic but it is a

job and I think that's the other thing

that people sometimes don't realize it's

like I can make a video get a a billion

views billion dollars I'm out but like

it like it is constant work yeah it's

it's consistency and so even if like say

you know you're asking um whether or not

this person need to be well vered the

filming no you don't but you do have to

be consistent because the more

consistent you are you'll start oh

what's this camera and you'll start like

shopping and you'll start researching

and then eventually you become better

you it's like and then we have YouTube

University you'll start researching oh

what's that light like well they can't

see but I love that term YouTube

University that's fantastic so then you

learn so many different types of

equipment that you can add to your own

collection and then it builds and it

builds

the the other the flip side of that also

is relevancy like you get a channel you

start making a channel you start getting

a certain amount of views and you start

expecting those certain amount of views

but then like you see uh it's like

staying static or it's going down and I

think like YouTube is new and novel and

it's exciting and like we're creators

but like entertainment is entertainment

and I think we've seen like in music

like artists have to reinvent themselves

and like television and movies they have

to reinvent themselves do you feel like

that that's a common truth on YouTube as

well

I think yes and no because like for me I

really enjoy the content that I create

and I'll say the only time where I've

had to shift would be to the community

guidelines so it's more like shifting

for that but I'm still telling the same

great stories and I feel like as long as

you're really putting in your time and

the effort and if you love that product

at the end then I proom your audience

more than likely is going to love that

product too so I think I I think it's

have to do with like passion and I think

once the passion leaves it it leaves

your content so it's not you Reinventing

yourself it's somewhere you forgot and

you left yourself in the first place MH

so yeah I think like um the

transformation or Reinventing yourself

has to be really authentic I did make a

really big transition um from when I was

just doing short firm content um and

comedy skits to making the drama series

in Allen's Universe like a lot has

changed my content and people have noted

about it but the audience has all joined

along for the ride um and I think it's

because it came from a really authentic

place like it's still me if you watch my

old videos and my new ones there's a

really like common through line through

all of them because I don't know like I

I create it you know with my team and so

if you always keep that authentic

authenticity um even as a writer or a

director it shows it really does you

mentioned Community guidelines one of

the things I I've been thinking about is

like again like YouTube is like this

cool place where everyone can go like if

you can hit upload there's no

Gatekeepers you can put your voice your

vision online but I think at the same

time in traditional Industries in in

traditional media you have like like

generations of producers who can like

give you advice for example if you're a

new recording artist they can say hey if

you use explicit lyrics you won't get

like this much radio play or hey if you

make an R-rated version of the movie

you'll get half the box office is PG-13

where I think like with creators like we

don't even think about that we just hit

it like it happens when we hit into it

and there's not like the same thing like

someone saying hey you know you've got

to follow this community guideline it's

like it happens and then you got to go

learn about it do you see some sort of

mechanism where YouTubers start sharing

knowledge or something YouTube could do

to sort of fill that void for like

generational knowledge I really think

YouTube does a really good job with

listening to creators and that was one

of the things that a lot of the creators

we were talking about with the community

guidelines and we were feeling as if

like with scripted content our content

is not like reality so you know there

may be a part of there where it's this

kid is getting bullied but it's like

ours is fake it's fictional so um

there's one Community guideline that was

in there that said fictional content

it's still I can't remember what it is

but it has to be the audience still has

to know that it's fake which is one of

the reason why if we did use a gun in

the scene it is orange you know it's you

it's not real right so um I think it's

more

about trying to like cuz it still needs

to be a safe space like so I understand

the community guidelines and why they're

there because you want your audience to

feel safe when they're watching

something you want to you want them to

be your the parents or whoever's

watching to trust that the content that

their kids are consuming is safe for

them so I understand it and I think as a

Creator you have to kind of like shift

with it shift with the guidelines and

you you're going to start learning about

it but it would be nice if there was

like Hey for fictional content do XYZ or

don't do this or this is okay and this

is not okay if that makes sense M yeah I

I think a really good resource too is

other creators like that's where I feel

like I learn a lot a lot of that

generational knowledge are things that

you don't really know when you're

starting out like when I first started

first first started I didn't even know

like clickthrough rate was important you

don't even know about like clickthrough

rate and attention and suggested video

traffic like this stuff to us now is a

no-brainer but when you first start it

is so overwhelming but other creators

help like to kind of um like uh Fast

Track you through it like really quick

yeah yeah exactly so one of the things

that you've been doing is building out a

studio and like you've been building

these huge like casts we've see that in

traditional media what is that like like

when you're a Creator and you start off

with your own voice your own vision and

then you start adding teams to it and

you start building out production

facilities how do you think about like

making that first tire and then how do

you think about it when it becomes 10

people 20 people having a good team is

so important and it's you you can't do

this by yourself right and in order to

grow you have to add people who are

better than you like I have an editor

now he's amazing and he's he's better

than I am at editing and so for me it's

about just reinvesting in them and

making sure that they're aesome so happy

where they are so like I see us growing

so big but I think it's still important

that all the team members are like they

still see our vision like we're all one

and everything that we're doing is this

one common goal so I think before hiring

it was just all myself and it was really

hard for me to delegate like even when I

hired directors it was like no why would

you do that shot I don't like that shot

this is not and that was their vision

and then I had to sit back and go

KRA move your hand yeah let them be as

creative as they want and then they

start really producing some beautiful

content that I wouldn't have my mind

wouldn't even created it and so it's

like very it's as a team I think the the

biggest thing is to like not micromanage

and let everyone kind of put in their

own creativity so the bigger you get the

more you have

to kind of like sit back and and watch

what you have built I I read a book uh

recently called multipliers um and the

summary of the book is that the best

bosses are just people who hire amazing

people and let them do what they do and

it's really hard especially for creators

because it's our name it's literally kig

you know and so it's especially hard for

creators to have that happen but when

you find great team members like it it

like they become your family like I love

my team so much I could cry about it we

were all just together like last night

celebrating our performance like oh my

gosh we're going to Disneyland this

Sunday like I love my team so much and I

feel just the utmost gratefulness and

and just um joy around them and you can

you can have that you know you can build

that it starts with you um and it allows

you to do moreing and create more cuz

yeah you can't do it yourself but she

did it herself for a long time really W

yeah so we also heard like neelen now I

think it's 12 months in a row depending

on when when this aors that YouTube is

the number one streaming platform so

increasingly when people are turning on

television they're turning on YouTube

and we've also seen that creators are

going into their analytics and looking

by device and then they're seeing not

just like how many views they get from

television but how long the watch time

is and in some cases like the quality of

the RPMs that they're getting on those

videos like television is becoming

YouTube yeah how do you think about that

when you're when you're putting together

your videos do you relax a little about

watch time do you think about like how

are you're going to structure it

differently what is what's the process

for you there honestly I was I did a

panel um yesterday and it's really it's

just a good story so and like honestly

like I just really want to tell a good

story and so I don't really look at like

the watch time or if they because if I

put all my energy into the story and

into the set and into the acting it

comes out as the watch time it makes

sense that they watch this more because

I put so much effort into it so I don't

do it backwards like I look at oh the

watch time was this maybe we should do

this it's no this watch time is this

because we put in all the effort in our

post in in our pre-production so yeah

with the YouTube TV I think it's

incredible and I think it's so cool how

like you know even I'll catch myself

having YouTube on my TV and not

realizing oh wait am I watching like

Hulu or am I watching Netflix or am I

watching Kon you know like it's really

like um they wish and so yeah I think

it's really incredible and we've always

approached um Allan's Universe the long

form episodes as we want to make like um

like a television series on YouTube

that's how we kind of like approach it

um and so it's cool to see that shift on

on the culture too yeah I think so like

when I'm watching like Michelle car or

I'm watching like right Johnny Harris

Cleo like I'm watching these people uh

this is like TV for me like that it's

indistinguishable and I think when we

put together like you building what is

essentially the modern version of

studios and creating the modern version

of television and movies my question to

you is um how do you see YouTube

compared to what people had in previous

generations is this like the new

legitimate form of media for Our

Generation I have such a good uh like

story for this so um I was like

nominated recently for this award it's

called a gold a100 list um and there

were all these like celebrities there

like Lucy Lou and um uh uh Steven young

like traditional film TV stars the

biggest stars that you could imagine and

there was one little girl there six

years old she's playing the new Lilo and

Lilo and Stitch uh that's why she was

there and the whole night all she cared

about was me and my actress like she was

just following us around the whole

entire time she had no idea who these

like traditional stars were and that is

really like the new generation and what

they consume and how it's changing yeah

I agree definitely I think that

it's it's not about the platform where

it comes it's it it's TV is a TV right

it's there and so I think everyone has

to make the shift YouTube is no I I

think a lot of people when they look

think about YouTube It's a viral video

that you filmed in your bedroom still

they still no yeah no it is not that it

is sound equipment it is lighting it's I

have so many lights and so many

different cameras and so many different

setups it is truly a a TV network is

what we're producing and like we have

these Studios and we're putting in that

time and we're putting in all this hard

work which is why we should be nominated

for an Emy right we should I mean yes

please yeah you know and when we think

about

television creators should be in that

conversation right because of the

Michelle oh my gosh her content it's so

good it's like you're watching a show

it's really good hot ones yes Mythical

Morning yeah it's it's so well produced

the quality of it it's like it's a Super

Bowl every week

yeah yeah uh absolutely and I think

Midway La won James Beard awards I mean

like we're seeing like creators I think

like if you look at a certain people

they like oh a movie is this a TV show

is this if you talk to like their kids

whether they're teenagers or college

kids like this is what they're watching

now this is their universe and even like

the challenge videos they're done better

than a lot of the challenge TV shows

like yeah like you watch like a Mr Beast

video or you watch jet lag the game or

you watch one of those shows I am

riveted from the moment that starts till

the end of it and I can't say that about

everything any anymore yeah it's

definitely a shift and I think

traditional media has to shift with us

as well yeah so yeah I mean I think if

they want to stay relevant exactly

they'll go where the relevancy like

they'll skate to where the relevancy is

and and a lot of times they do and but

it's not like for the awards it's more

hey I want this Creator to um talk about

this thing and it's like but this

Creator here that we are about to talk

about this particular show is the show

it's the show they're coming to watch

her or he talk about your show you know

so um yeah um

creators yeah creators here are your

flowers yes yeah I love it I love it

yeah so what is next for you what are

you looking at for the rest of the year

or into into next year right now I'm

working on um I need I want at least 100

acres of land because we're about to

build out a full full-blown Studio I um

Hospital School um a restaurant we want

like an apartment complex um we really

want to go all out with our studio like

a miniature Tyler Perry studio so um

that's what we're really working on and

that's our Focus so that we can bring in

more jobs toward Alabama because I think

that's the hardest thing for us is

finding cinematographers finding cast

like actresses and actors and because

it's not too many people in Alabama who

like choose that as a career so I think

if once we have a studio to bring in

more of that traffic back to my hometown

so I love that I have the same thing I

also just signed a lease for a studio as

well and so for the rest of the year

we're going to be building we're going

to be set Deco and um and yeah all all

my focus is also in the studio so same

thing I mean the acres of land that's

crazy la we have talent but we don't we

don't have space we don't have space

I've been we've been doing our show in a

800 square foot one-bedroom apartment

like the whole the whole thing the whole

thing I mean exide outside of the

exterior shots but we we turned an 800t

one-bedroom apartment into a classroom a

locker room and a and a cafe but that's

La it's in it's literally I have an

apartment on and on the same floor uh

the other apartment that I rented under

my parents name is our classroom it's

like so crazy wait the classroom is an

apartment yeah it's literally as big as

this hotel room right now yeah oh the

shots those are those are video magic

like total video magic yeah it's

definitely my team like they're

incredible we we we one thing about

smaller spaces you can really detail it

so it looks so much more looks good like

it looked really pops so um but yeah

yeah yeah thank you both so much for

joining us I learned a ton from from

this I really appreciate it oh you're

welcome thank you so much I'm so glad I

get to meet you