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YouTube content creator Maker Studios expands into Asia

The Singapore government asked for Xiaxue's 'kissing a girl' video by Maker Studios to be deleted

The Singapore government demanded that Xiaxue’s ‘kissing a girl’ video by Maker Studios was removed from YouTube

Maker Studios, one of the biggest producers of content on YouTube, has expanded its presence in Asia.

The Los Angeles-based company acquired by Disney for $500 million in March, has established an office in Singapore as a Southeast Asian hub, and is looking to launch next in Hong Kong as a springboard into China, Mumbrella can reveal.

Maker Studios, which has been trumpeting its skills in ad-funded productions, is also exploring opportunities for launch in Australia further down the track either organically or by acquisition, the company’s international president Rene Rechtman told Mumbrella at the All That Matters conference in Singapore yesterday.

“Australia is of major interest to us. The ad dollars are disproportionately big for the size of the market,” Rechtman said. “The talent pool is growing too. There are a lot of YouTubers in Australia.”

India and Japan are other markets of interest, Rechtman said, adding that English speaking markets are the priority.

Maker Studios

Gautam Talwar

Maker Studios’ Asian operations are being led by former FremantleMedia business developement head for Asia, Gautam Talwar, who joined the company seven months ago. He is based in Singapore.

The company recently hired a network development director to manage talent, and is looking for a commercial director.

Rechtman commented: “We are already getting 700 million views per month from our content in Asia, and have been seeing about 400 per cent growth in our audience year on year.”

“By this time next year, I expect us to have generated about three billion views,” he said.

On why Maker Studios’ content was so popular in Asia, Rechtman said: “We know what sort of content works for the internet and what doesn’t. But it is also because a lot of the content out there is either tightly regulated, or it is shit.”

He was referring to a video by Maker Studios called ‘Kissing a girl’, which featured local Singaporean blogger Xiaxue kissing another woman. The Singapore government leant on Maker Studios to remove the video, which has generated 1.4 million views on YouTube.

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