Disney Digital Network was an Americanmulti-channel network located inCulver City,California. It was originally the successor toMaker Studios, co-founded byLisa Donovan,Danny Zappin, Scott Katz,Kassem Gharaibeh,Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson II, Ben Donovan,[3][4]Philip DeFranco, Glasgow Phillips, Michael Gallagher, Matthew Clawson, and Paul Ballon in 2009. Maker Studios was originally conceived as an incubator for YouTube talent through the use of Super Channels like The Station. Maker Studios adopted themulti-channel network (MCN) model after the initial model failed to take root.[5][6] Maker Studios was acquired byThe Walt Disney Company in 2014 for $500 million,[7][8] and was absorbed into the newly formed Disney Digital Network in 2017.[8]
Outside the United States, the former Maker Studios had significant audiences in theUnited Kingdom,Brazil, andAustralia, and was aiming to expand its Asian operations, where it once had 700 million monthly unique views. Run by René Rechtman (who now runsMoonbug Entertainment), president for the international division, Maker had plans to build a headquarters inLondon for its commercial, production and marketing activities outside the USA. An Asian hub had been established inSingapore, which offered limited commercial and marketing support before the company was sold to The Walt Disney Company.[9]
Following the Disney acquisition, the company suffered multiple rounds of layoffs, executive shuffling, and partner cut-offs.[10][11]
In June 2012, Maker Studios announced that over 1,000 channels signed under the network have received and accumulated over 1.1 billion views for the month of June 2012.[12][13] At the time, YouTube channels under Maker Studios collectively earned over 90 million subscribers.[14] In October 2012, Maker Studios surpassedMachinima to become the number one independent YouTube network.[15] However, since that time, according to comScore, in December 2012, Fullscreen passed Maker to become the top ranked YouTube-based network.[16]
From late 2012 through 2013, Maker Studios andRay William Johnson were involved in a public feud that received considerable media attention.[17][18][19][clarification needed] Maker Studios formerly produced Johnson'sEquals Three andYour Favorite Martian series.[15] In October 2012, Johnson announced he would be leaving Maker Studios in an episode ofEquals Three.[20][21] Johnson also formed his own production studio, Runaway Machine (formerly Runaway Planet).[22][23] Johnson has stated online that he left Maker Studios due to the pressure the company put on him into signing a contract which gave Maker a 40% share of his channel'sAdSense revenue and 50% of his show's intellectual property rights. He stated that they were using "thuggish tactics" to pressure him into signing the contract, one of which was allegedly leveraging his AdSense account for the intellectual property rights to Your Favorite Martian. He also claimed that Maker Studios CEO,Danny Zappin, is a convicted felon, which he was not made aware of, when teaming up with Maker Studios. Zappin later publicly admitted to this claim.[24][25][26][27] This was one of the first such publicized contract disputes between a YouTube content creator and their multi-channel network.
In December 2012, Maker announced that it had closed a $36 million round of financing led by Time Warner Investments.[28]
On March 24, 2014, Maker Studios, Inc. agreed to sell itself toThe Walt Disney Company for $500 million, rising to $950 million if financial milestones were met.[29][30] On April 14, 2014,Relativity Media submitted a competing bid of up to $1.1 billion, but Maker denied the bid.[31] In 2014,Jukin Media partnered with Maker Studios, giving Maker Studios access to Jukin's library of video clips, and giving Jukin access to Maker's operational resources, The partnership also resulted in the launch of a dedicated website forFailArmy, Jukin's owned and operated entertainment brand.[32] In December 2015, the company became a subsidiary ofDisney Consumer Products and theDisney Interactive division ofThe Walt Disney Company.[7] The Network also partnered withFusion TV in a deal that fell under the corporate umbrella ofThe Walt Disney Company.[33]
In February 2017, Maker Studios had around 60,000 YouTube partnerships, but announced that it intends to reduce this to about 1,000. Many partnered YouTubers had been unhappy with the terms of their contracts, including difficulty with ending contracts.[34] On May 2, 2017, Disney absorbed the studio into the newly formed Disney Digital Network.[8]
On January 19, 2018,Twitch signed a deal with Disney to secure exclusive content from some of the entertainment giant's top YouTubers, includingMarkiplier,Jacksepticeye,Strawburry17 and LuzuGames. A total of four YouTubers (with a combined total of over 44 million subscribers), are involved in the deal, and each will manage their own channels on Twitch.[35]
Courtney Holt was thechief strategy officer of Maker Studios.[36] Due to Danny Zappin stepping down as the company's CEO,Ynon Kreiz, former CEO and chairman ofEndemol became the CEO of Maker Studios in May 2013.[37] Prior to Kreiz becoming the CEO of Maker, he was the company's chairman.[38] Ryan Lissack is the currentCTO of Maker Studios.[39] In December 2015, Courtney Holt replacedYnon Kreiz as CEO, coming a year afterDisney's acquisition of the group.[7]
Animonster was an animation channel co-founded by Maker and Cosmic Toast Studios, which premiered shows such as Your Favorite Martian: The Series, Powerhouse, and Dino Yacht Club.[40] In 2013, the channel ceased uploading.
