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(This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/07\/03\/anthony-padilla-and-ian-hecox-usher-in-the-new-era-of-smosh\/<\/a><\/br> In their first<\/a><\/span> YouTube video together in seven years, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla summoned a demon to score Taylor Swift tickets.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sketch was gently absurd, infused with pop culture references, and above all, goofy as hell \u2014 all the markers of classic Smosh comedy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were just approaching it from this place of excitement and passion, and like, \u2018Let\u2019s see how much we can make each other laugh,\u2019\u201d Padilla told TechCrunch in an interview at a VidCon. \u201cIt was the exact same feeling that I felt when we were creating stuff in those earliest days.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Padilla spoke of Smosh\u2019s early videos with an admiration few creators have for their past selves. While many might find their early writing unrefined or embarrassing, Padilla and Hecox lean into the unabashed playfulness that made Smosh so viral.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s really at the core of that magic feeling of watching ourselves,\u201d Padilla continued. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter that it was silly or childish or cringy, because it made you laugh and it made you feel a real feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The sketch marks a new era for Smosh, a brand as old as YouTube itself. Hecox and Padilla acquired Smosh this month, more than a decade after they sold the company for the first time, and are setting the precedent for creators to own and define their contents\u2019 legacy. While its former parent company Mythical Entertainment will maintain a minority stake in the brand, Smosh will be an independent entity for the first time in years. It\u2019s a rare win for creators in the rapidly shifting social media landscape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf Anthony and I didn\u2019t have control of this, some other company could just have rights to our content and use our images in whatever way they wanted to, and that to me is scary,\u201d Hecox said. \u201cI think through this whole process, I really understand and respect the idea of owning your art and owning your image.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hecox and Padilla, who were childhood friends, started posting videos together in 2005 and shaped YouTube\u2019s early days with comedy sketches and vlogs. Smosh and its various spin-off channels were wildly popular, and the duo continued to churn out content after selling the brand to Defy Media in 2011. Smosh was the most-subscribed channel on YouTube three separate times from 2005 to 2013, and at its height, a powerhouse of content.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But the volume of output was unsustainable, and between launching apps, sitcoms and constant sketches, Hecox and Padilla\u2019s friendship \u2014 the foundation of Smosh\u2019s brand \u2014 fell apart. Because they lived together at the time, there was no escape from work. The friends \u201coperated out of fear,\u201d Hecox said, and often skirted conflict to avoid jeopardizing their business partnership. Padilla said they were \u201cspread thin\u201d between the sheer amount of projects he was directing under pressure from Defy Media, which urged Smosh staff to post more content, most often, regardless of quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI lost passion completely, and Ian and I had been growing apart, a bit because of the content, but also in huge part because we didn\u2019t not know how to communicate, nor did we ever take the time to talk about our emotions or anything,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cEvery discussion, every conversation that we had was about Smosh and about the company.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe had to let that friendship die,\u201d Hecox added. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t even much left.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Padilla said he was discontent for years leading up to his 2017 departure from Smosh. The split shook viewers beyond just Smosh fans \u2014 after all, the brand\u2019s entire identity revolved around Hecox and Padilla as best friends. Staffed by a team of writers and cast members, the brand continued to produce content without Padilla.<\/span><\/p>\n A year later, Defy Media folded, leaving Smosh \u201chomeless.\u201d Hecox said he was unsettled by the fact that so many of the other companies that bid on Smosh in the aftermath only wanted the brand for its content library. Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, known as the YouTubers Rhett & Link, ultimately acquired Smosh in early 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hecox said he trusted McLaughlin and Neal because, like Smosh, they built Mythical Entertainment as two friends creating content together. If Smosh had been acquired by any other company, he said, he doubts that the brand would be anything more than a content library today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf Rhett and Link weren\u2019t the ones that had acquired Smosh after Defy collapsed, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be around anymore,\u201d Hecox said. \u201cAnd one of the things that Rhett and Link were very adamant about was that if they acquired Smosh, they wanted assurance that I was going to stay, because they just get it. They understand that the value of having a channel is not in the subscribers, but it\u2019s in the people that are a part of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The fact that Smosh was acquired by other creators \u2014 not by a clueless corporation or ever-growing media conglomerate \u2014 allowed it to flourish for the first time in years. McLaughlin and Neal were relatively hands-off, Hecox said, which let the brand redefine its identity since they weren\u2019t pressured into being a content mill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the years since leaving Smosh, Padilla rebranded himself as the modern talk show host. In his interview series<\/a> \u201cI spent a day with,\u201d Padilla has spoken to furries, the faceless streamer Corpse Husband, survivors of school shootings and others who found solace online because they don\u2019t fit the social norm. His style of questioning \u2014 direct, empathetic and gracious \u2014 has been praised by viewers as a rare example of discussing taboo topics without being voyeuristic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Padilla said he\u2019s been able to refine the more serious side of himself through his interview series, but he lacked the creative fulfillment that writing comedy provided. After seeing clips of old Smosh videos \u201cpopping off on TikTok\u201d about a year ago, he went down a rabbit hole of rewatching himself and Hecox.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBecause I\u2019ve been detached from it for so many years, I was able to approach it as kind of a new viewer, and found out there was a certain period of five years or so where I really felt this sense of magic that I became excited about,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cI just became a fan. I felt like watching other stuff on YouTube didn\u2019t really satisfy me in a weird way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He and Hecox ended up reconnecting last year through mutual friends, and were able to hang out without making content for the first time since they were teenagers. Both creators credit their rekindled friendship to maturing and going to therapy. Padilla said that he learned to let go of the resentment that had festered in the years leading up to his departure. Shortly after they reconnected, Padilla began dreaming of reacquiring Smosh with Hecox, and drew up business plans months before Hecox floated the idea. He was \u201csilent\u201d about it, he said, because he never thought it could be a possibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although the brand\u2019s other channels, including Smosh Pit and Smosh Games, continued to thrive under Mythical Entertainment\u2019s tutelage, Hecox said the main channel has been \u201cstruggling to find a voice.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhenever we put out a sketch or some kind of specific type of video, it never resonated with the audience as a whole,\u201d Hecox said of Padilla\u2019s absence. \u201cIt was always very broad. For so many years it felt like we were fighting against the current.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hecox wanted to bring the channel back to its roots: sketch comedy. But that wouldn\u2019t be possible, he said, without Padilla. He brought up buying back Smosh in December, and Padilla immediately launched into a detailed explanation of his plans.<\/span><\/p>\n But Hecox was \u201cextremely skeptical\u201d of their ability to write together after so many years. They set a date to test their chemistry, which Hecox doubted still existed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t that enthusiastic about it,\u201d Hecox laughed. \u201cI was down to try it out, and very quickly, it felt like we fell right back into it. We were laughing a bunch and pitching crazy stuff, literally rolling on the floor.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In their years apart, Hecox and Padilla have separately honed their writing skills. Their collaborative sessions have proven that they can play off each others\u2019 strengths in a way they struggled to years ago, Hecox said.<\/span><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\u201cWhen we meet up, it feels like we\u2019re firing on all cylinders.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n \u201cWhen we meet up, it feels like we\u2019re firing on all cylinders. Ian is kind of like the sun,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cWhere he\u2019s just casting all these ideas, and I feel like I\u2019m a magnifying glass that focuses and moves to create that fire. That\u2019s where the passion is. Focusing all of our energy and creating magic.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hecox said that when he approached McLaughlin and Neal about reacquiring Smosh, they were immediately on board. They \u201calways wanted Anthony to come back,\u201d he said, and were thrilled that the pair wanted to work together again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe acquired Smosh four years ago in the first creator-to-creator acquisition of its kind \u2014 a huge moment in Mythical\u2019s history,\u201d McLaughlin and Neal announced<\/a> on Twitter. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t think of a more perfect outcome on our investment than selling Smosh back to the internet\u2019s other iconic best-friend duo. It\u2019s another pioneering first in the creator economy and a validation of our belief that creator-entrepreneurs will play a huge role in the future of entertainment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Aside from returning to their particular brand of sketch comedy, Hecox and Padilla envision a member-funded future for Smosh. They want their content to be \u201call killer, no filler\u201d \u2014 both their desire to create and their rekindled friendship can only continue if they aren\u2019t creatively fatigued. Their focus will be on producing \u201cquality content\u201d with limited output, and making bonus content for members behind a Patreon-style paywall. They didn\u2019t have the tools to monetize sustainably when they first sold Smosh, Hecox said, but they\u2019re planning to avoid making the same mistakes they did 10 years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnthony Padilla and Ian Hecox usher in the new era of Smosh<\/br>
\n2023-07-03 21:46:21<\/br><\/p>\n