YouTube Red has been promoting its original shows featuring homegrown talent since the subscription service was announced in October of last year.
Today marks the day its first slate of original programming goes live. Most analysts will tell you that a lot is riding on the success of the likes of Rooster Teeth’s Lazer Team film and Lilly Singh’s A Trip to Unicorn Island. After all, YouTube is expecting you to fork out $10 per month to watch its exclusive content.
For its part, however, the video platform seems confident in the rollout. So confident, in fact, that it’s announced two new projects. These will be added to its upcoming lineup of new shows and films, to be launched over the course of the year.
The first of the brand new projects is an untitled feature-length documentary from YouTube star Gigi Gorgeous and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple. It explores Gorgeous’ life as a transgender woman, “from her childhood to…successful media personality.”
The second new show to be announced is Foursome, a sitcom from Awesomeness TV starring Jenn McAllister (JennxPenn) and Logan Paul. The show follows the trials and tribulations of a sophomore who has an overprotective older brother.
The new originals join YouTube Red’s other projects in the pipeline, which include Prank Academy (from the stars of PrankvsPrank), Alpine Labs’ Fight of the Living Dead, an untitled 360 VR game series from MatPat of The Game Theorists, and Bad Internet (written and starring the cast of CollegeHumor).
Now that YouTube has unveiled its year’s worth of programming, we have a better idea of the type of content viewers will be treated to on the subscription service. Looking at their respective synopses, the shows contain several recurring themes, taken from the concepts behind existing YouTube videos. These include reality TV-style shows based on celebrity, pranks, reactions, and Web culture, alongside fictional shows and genre films.
You can watch the first slate of originals on YouTube Red right now. For those that don’t want to fork out the subscription fee without a taster, the service is offering a one-month free trial.
