YouTube stars “The McCartys” are ready to show off their cartoons and compete

YouTube stars “The McCartys” They expand their world.

Aside from Spooky Special, their first live-action interactive show – “which demonstrated their ability to do a half-hour episode,” said Katherine Winder (Wind Sun Sky) – an animated series and an unscripted competition series are already in development with Kevin Healy as host, they revealed at the Mipcom industry event in France.

“We’re looking for really innovative ways to expand our brand,” said Viral Nation’s Paul Tilner.

“There’s really nothing like them on YouTube. They’ve cornered this kind of scary Halloween content.” An e-commerce site has also been created, all within the same “tight-knit” world of the McCarthy camp, Stephanie McCarthy said.

The family also looked back at its beginnings.

“Before this all started, I was a high school history teacher. I had no ambitions or desire to do what I do today. And I didn’t even know it existed!”, admitted Kevin McCarthy. The Covid pandemic has changed everything.

“Stephanie was working in healthcare, she was out of the house and I was stuck with two kids who were four years old and six months old. To maintain our mental health, we started making goofy videos and those videos started to take off. We grew and grew on TikTok, but we knew YouTube was the place for us.”

Eventually, he decided to focus on their channel full-time.

“I had 8,000 subscribers on YouTube. That was in 2022. Today, we have 16.1 million subscribers and over 22 billion views,” he said, describing The McCartys as “one of the fastest rises in the history of social media.”

“I started watching [them] And I went: These are some of the weirdest, funniest, weirdest things I’ve seen on YouTube and social media in years. They run the channel with their children, and it focuses on storytelling. It is not an influential channel. It has narrative and characters, and is much closer to traditional production considerations.

Winder also appreciated their creativity and “amazing foundation of storytelling.”

“It’s weird. It’s scary. I thought: This is like The Addams Family meets Beetlejuice. We were looking for something new and fresh in animation. Going into business with them was a no-brainer,” she admitted. And also because they were willing to work “in ways outside the norm.”

“It was very difficult to bring a property like this and say, ‘Okay, let’s start producing animated series.’ We needed to find ways to test and learn, and create an undeniable package, so that when we bring on board our partners and funders, we’re in a position where you stay in control of what you do.

As Stephanie McCarthy points out, their established fan base has been helpful.

“One of the great things about social media is that you get all this data in real time. We don’t have to sit and wait — it’s instant. We can base what we do on that feedback. And the animated characters will be no stranger to fans.”

“They’re in my live videos. You see them every day and they already have their own fan base,” Kevin McCarthy said. This includes Jingle Jangle the clown.

“I was lucky enough to go to Vancouver to Katherine’s studio, put on a mo-cap suit and animate Jingle Jangle. We really wanted to prove that this worked. Last year, we posted videos with Jingle Jangle and Audrey’s animation under our live feed. They got just under 200 million views and we gained over 3.3 million subscribers just from the videos “This alone.”

As Stephanie McCarthy — aka Demon Mom — said, while their content is “popular in the kids space,” it’s really “for all ages.”

“Kevin doesn’t necessarily write for kids. He writes what he finds funny. Kids tend to gravitate toward it, but it’s complete co-viewing. It’s relatable,” she noted, with her husband adding some trivial details.

“the reason [for Demon Mom] It was mostly father and daughter, sometimes with my son, and then the audience kept asking, “Where’s the mother?” They even thought she was dead! We’re quirky, we’re weird, we’re funny. I said: Why don’t you make her a demon? It blew up and got millions of views.

Since the family was already a “human cartoon,” he said, expanding the universe seemed natural.

“It’s a perfect fit for the type of content we’re doing. At a certain point, you get to a point where you capture that market. That’s exactly what Stephanie and I have done on YouTube and other platforms. We want an animated series because I can’t help but throw my son up into the sky in videos — why not throw him into outer space as an animation?”

“These days, we’re in the business of long-term careers. The McCarthys are in this forever, and we’re helping them build their business,” Telner said. “That’s where animation comes in — it’s timeless and crosses global boundaries. It’s a great way for these guys to stay in it for the long haul,” Winder added.

“We’re building a huge brand.”