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The Business Side of Mythical Entertainment
The Mythical Crew Video that was released yesterday (01/23/16) got me thinking again about something I've noticed in recent GMMs. Rhett and Link, more than any YouTubers I know, have been so transparent about the business side of their channels. They mention a lot that they are the bosses and that they have the crew do a lot of the heavy lifting. Even behind-the-scenes videos are filmed more like "a day in the office."
On the one hand, it makes me so happy to see how far Rhett and Link have come and how much they have grown. I am a huge fan of the mythical crew members and I always love when they are featured on the show or have segments of their own. I love that Rhett and Link are honest that this is a job and that it is a lot of work. It reminds me too that they have other people in mind (i.e., their families) that they need to support by making money and growing the business. Finally, having such a large crew allows for fantastically elaborate GMM episodes that are incredibly well made.
On the other hand, it sometimes makes me feel a little awkward how obvious it is that Rhett and Link are the face of a show that sometimes doesn't even seem like theirs anymore. I really enjoy watching back the old episodes where they literally just had a conversation and still made it fun and entertaining. It also makes them seem more distant sometimes from the fans. (I even read the official Rhett and Link twitter in Jen's voice now because everything tweeted from there is so Jen.)
I'm not accusing them or applauding them, just presenting two sides of a coin. I haven't even really made up my own mind how I feel about the newer tone, but I thought I would see what everyone else thought, or even if y'all noticed it. (I know I tend to overthink things).
Be your mythical best!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kyle (Anthrimichael) on
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It is now more like a real show. In most talk shows, the stars don't do most of the office work or reasearch.
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Permalink Reply by Millie the Magical Mangatyde on
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I really do agree. sometimes I feel like they just see us as views and money like a lot of other you tubers and I liked that they made us feel important. THIS IS ONLY SOMETIMES THAT I THINK THAT! I STILL LOVE THEIR AMAZINGNESS.
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Permalink Reply by Alice (Hieracosphinx) ✧ on
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I agree with this so much - there's a kind of duality to the situation that is confusing in how it makes me feel. It's so great that they're expanding and growing and they can support such a large crew and employ so many people, but at the same time... They used to be just two guys in a basement, and our local internetainers. The human elemnt of it seemed so nice - they could be reached through the magic of the internet and you could see their hand in everything they did.
Now, they are successful and well-known, but there's not even a guarantee that they'll see this feedback. I really appreciate everything they do, and we the Mythical Beasts will watch them no matter what, but there's still a kind of... Sad nostalgia for that interaction.
I went into this thinking "Now, don't rant!" And that seems to be what I've done...
tl;dr: Yeah.
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Permalink Reply by Grace (Pheasphant) on
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I completely agree with you.
It's not like I hate the Mythical Crew; they're awesome but I do tend to miss what Rhett and Link put into GMM themselves and actually researched things rather than having someone else do it for them and just read it.
I'm probably just being a bit reflective but like Alice, I miss the more human element to GMM. But I do appreciate and realise that the fanbase is expanding and with that comes repetition of what they know their fans like with help from staff and using that to their advantage (that probably didn't make sense).
But yet, sometimes I don't want GMM to grow because then it seems as if they're just trying to get views and paychecks (but I know that that's not what GMM is about). And the newer fans seem to "take over" the older ones. For example, in the Duo contest that was on the Kommunity, newer duos were voted for more as newer members were used to them and did not watch the other ones. GMMoms won because there are many more new Mythical Beasts than older ones and they prefer more recent/"modern" content. Also, RL used to be able to communicate more with Mythical Beasts and managed to acknowledge every one. But since then, their fanbase has grown quite a bit (they got 8 million subscribers to GMM in 2 years after their channel had been there since 2008) and they cannot acknowledge EVERY beast. But they do appreciate all of us; they just can't do it one by one. Sometimes I feel as if they're disconnecting with their YouTube roots and/or older fans but that's just how I feel. Like what Sarah said, I also read their tweets in Jen's (or Stevie's) voice as they don't actually do it themselves like they used to.
I also liked it when they talked about their experiences and their families and whatnot and had a conversation on GMM and laughed about it. That's now something that happens in GMMore (and it's becoming rarer and rarer). It seems as if they're stopping this and just doing food episodes and fact episodes in order to appeal to more people.
Rhett and Link are still the best internetainers in the whole wide world but I do miss "the good ol' days" (even though Rhett once said that not a lot of good things happened in the past and that that phrase is now moot).
I'm going to stop ranting now (maybe)
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Permalink Reply by Sarah (RiverMouse) on
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Thanks so much for the feedback! I liked reading what y'all thought about this, (and honestly I felt better knowing I wasn't alone in thinking this).
But after thinking about it some more, I realized something else that makes me lean towards not minding the expansion so much. I had started out being a little surprised and weirded out by the whole transparency of the business side of things, but maybe that transparency is the very thing that Rhett and Link are using to keep the tone of their content casual and connected? Maybe mentioning that they had Chase go and make something or whatever is keeping the simplicity rather than showing-off the fact that they have a staff. Like, they actually let the viewer in to see that other people are helping. It would be more of a prima-dona move to take credit for everything behind the scenes.
I also realized I should be grateful that Rhett and Link were capable enough to deal with growth and fame. Some YouTubers unfortunately have breakdowns when they suddenly make it big, but Rhett and Link managed to channel everything into more elaborate content.
I wonder if that viewpoint is more balanced or I'm just looking for a way to justify them?
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Permalink Reply by Bea Anderson on
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I hope the monitors are monitoring all this foolish negativity. Rhett and Link are brilliant comedian's and business men and their show keeps getting better and better.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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I agree with you on both ends - it's great to see them growing, the crew is amazing and having one expands the range of possibilities of what they can do on the show, and on the other hand, it makes it harder for them to connect more personally to the fans (just because we're so numerous at this point).
Maybe this would be a good time for them to try something different? I know they have the spots on the wheel for the Win Face and let people do the Wheel intro videos, which is great. The fact that they read some of the mail on the show and answer sent questions also helps to keep that connection with the fans. They do quite a lot at the moment but, for example, I remember they used to do "That Escalated Quickly" where they would personally visit people to "help" them when they asked for advice, which might be nice to see brought back for an episode. I also loved the vibe from the livestreams they used to do, despite being few, since it was the closest thing to a dialogue with the fans (questions from the chat and whatnot). It would also be so much easier to do since they wouldn't really need to present prepared content unless they wanted to, and the conversation would just flow from prompts or questions provided by us. I know they already invest a lot of time in producing content for YouTube, but a semi-frequent livestream (Kommunity exclusive, maybe? just sayin', just sayin') would be an awesome way to get more of our questions through (I know people have lots more than the featured ones hah) and to enjoy a more informal side of the duo. (Not that GMM is incredibly formal or anything haha just format-less, if that's understandable.)
I totally get you, though, it's a two-edged sword :P
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More power to them TBH. It's awesome that a little youtube show could expand into an actual company. I'm happy for them. Even before it became Mythical Entertainment, they were still bosses to the crew, so. I just see it as an apportunity for more content for the fans.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah (RiverMouse) on
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I hope my discussion starter didn't come off as complaining about how Rhett and Link do things. I just thought it was a really interesting and unique approach to growth. I meant to do a "Let's talk about that" rather than put them or anyone down. : )
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Permalink Reply by Madeline (Tigermaidasus) on
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Insightful posts, beasts.
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Permalink Reply by Jaymie Nunnery (Jayameez Cat) on
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Yes, they have grown to the point where they have had to hire quite a crew. I greatly appreciate the fact that they are open and honest about who does what. They let us know that Jen does social, that Candace assists Jen with mail and that sometimes, they don't even see it. Of course, it hurts. This Kommunity was their Launchpad and will never be forgotten. It is Link's baby. Take a look at the bottom of the screen right now. Created by WHO, powered by NING.... ? Created by Link. His profile always shows that he is logged in. He may never comment here, but I believe his heart is here. AND, they both know that they still need to reference the Kommunity for important information and happenings. I kind of feel like they think all of us are so invested in helping them grow that we will be the ones in it for the long haul. I know I am. It actually took me a while to get here. At one point I was afraid that they were writing us off, but Rhett stepped in and cleared that up, which goes to show that they visit us. That's a whole other thread though. I would like to see Link interact with us more socially, but honestly I think he is awkward in that sense. His tweets are literally 4 words long or just a link to something. Rhett on the other hand, keeps that exciting fan interaction going quite a bit more. Thank goodness.
I really do miss the old format, two guys and a camera talking about birds falling out of the sky. But I am accepting the new format and the new crew as family members. In other words, I don't feel terribly threatened yet. We will see what the future holds.
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