When Palisadian Liam Collins envisioned the 41,000 square-foot YouTube Space LA located in the former home of the Hughes Aircraft hangar in Playa Vista, he was looking for a way to bring content creators together to connect and collaborate while giving them the keys to an impressive stash of production and editing equipment. The Space contains production stages, green screens, cameras, lights, sound gear, electrical and grip equipment and post-production resources like private editing suites and voice-over recording booths that have hosted more than 10,000 visitors and 1,500 YouTube channels in its first year. It’s a well-executed circus and Collins is the ringmaster.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
As head of YouTube Space LA, Collins is privy to the many innovative ways people are engaging audiences through video. However, as much as technology connects us all, it can also be very isolating to have thousands of friends you’ve never met, he said.
“The Space was built on the thesis that being in the same room with someone is the best way to really connect,” he said. “We work really hard to make YouTube a positive space and cultivate a healthy community where people support each other and look out for each other.”
The Space is part of the Next Lab, created through the acquisition by Google/YouTube of Next New Networks in 2011, where Collins served as chief operating officer – a position he attained after only four years with the company.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Before joining NNN, the Massachusetts native practiced law at Gunderson Dettmer LLP, specializing in media and telecommunications – only after serving as a Navy supply officer in the submarine service and developing nuclear power plants.
“The common thread through it all has been helping creative people do what they do,” Collins said. “When developers and people who make ideas happen get together, fireworks happen. There is a camaraderie that comes from taking someone’s idea and giving it life.”
Four years ago, Collins helped design Google’s flagship collaborative and production facility where he now directs 30 other employees at Space LA. The contagious start-up spirit can be felt the moment you walk in the door. Instead of working in private offices with closed doors, the Space operates in an open, collaborative environment where ideas are exchanged and creative energy buzzes between sound stages, green screens and conference rooms named after YouTube stars (David After Dentist, Double Rainbow) – and it is all connected in real time to YouTube Spaces in London, Tokyo, New York and São Paulo.
“It is a circus,” Collins said. “Which is exactly how we like it.”
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
THE NEXT GENERATION
Over the past few years, YouTube has emerged as the dominant platform for distributing video online, but Collins recognizes the success of the company relies on the success of the creators and networks that produce content for it.
“Each and every creator makes the site what it is,” Collins said.
Millions of subscriptions happen each day and the number of daily subscriptions has quadrupled since last year. According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more U.S. adults ages 18-34 than any cable network.
“YouTube brings together the most creative people in the world and this space allows us to help those creators develop content by teasing out their ideas and connecting with others who can bring their ideas to life,” Collins said. “The audience is limitless because there is something for everyone.”
At its core, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share original videos and is a daily destination for more than 33 million users, Collins said.
“It has fundamentally changed the video industry and mainstream media,” he said. “We provide everyone the opportunity to contribute to the global exchange of ideas and offer ways for content creators and advertisers to build, grow and interact with audiences.”
Even world leaders are turning to YouTube as a platform to reach the public, demonstrating that YouTube is much more than a trove of viral videos. It is a platform for citizen journalism and a forum for political conversation.
Just two days after the State of the Union address last month, the White House invited three prominent YouTube personalities to interview President Obama. Before the interview went live on YouTube, science educator Hank Green, 52-year-old comedian GloZell Simon and 19-year-old makeup tutorial star Bethany Mota looked to their millions of followers for input on what to ask the President.
Questions ranged from middle-class economics, drone strikes and sanctioning North Korea to racism in America, same-sex marriage, affordable education, ending cyber bullying and more.
“Having our creators involved with the State of the Union was an amazing thing to behold,” Collins said. “That’s the goal, really, with all of this – to empower our users to find their voice, their point of view and to build their presence on whatever they are passionate about.”
Part of cultivating the passion is providing creators with innovative technology to enable success in the video industry. Creators with more than 10,000 subscribers have access to The Space and the tools to produce and distribute video on a professional level. As subscription numbers grow, users unlock more and more access – all at no cost to the creator.
For creators who have yet to reach 10,000 subscribers, the Space also offers academy courses where creators can take lessons and practice new skills like the art of getting viewers, growing your audience and even earning money. More than a million creators from over 30 different countries are now earning money from their YouTube videos, including thousands of channels that make six figures a year.
“Whatever level you’re at as a creator, we have resources available to help you take it as far as you want to go,” Collins said. “[Palisadian] Matt Damon, One Direction and Amy Poehler are all using this space, but if you’re a grandmother and you want to see videos of your 4-month-old grandchild, we’re here for that too.”
With his wife Amy, Collins has two young daughters, a 7-year-old and 4-month-old, and admits he feels a sense of moral responsibility to keep YouTube a family-friendly space.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
“A lot of people at YouTube and Google are thinking about families and how to enrich their experience. It’s a priority for a lot of people,” Collins said. “It’s all about balance – creating a space where expression can happen and new ideas can be launched while ensuring families feel safe bringing it into their homes.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Since the 2005 launch of YouTube’s first video, “Me at the zoo,” an 18-second clip which now has more than 17 million views, YouTube has provided a platform to record historical world events, a stage for the next breakout music star and a virtual classroom for everything from knitting to car mechanics to baking and more. Even Ivy League professors are disseminating their knowledge via YouTube.
Today, more than a billion people (70 percent of whom live outside the U.S.) visit the site each month to log over six billion hours of video and more than 72 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
That’s because the fantastical oasis for creators has something for everyone, Collins said.
“YouTube continues to bring together the most creative people in the world and we’ll continue to be here to help creators create,” he said. “This is your platform to reach the largest audience in the world.”
So ladies and gentleman, children of all ages, step right up because the circus has already begun.
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