Nutopia unveils YouTube division

Jane Root’s Nutopia is launching a YouTube-focused DTC division that aims to partner with brands and talent to create shows.

Youtopia will focus on premium factual entertainment and allow talent to share creative control while also taking a stake in what their shows earn.

The initial slate is led by Trevor Noah’s World Tour, a travelogue made in partnership with Noah and Day Zero Productions.

Youtopia is also working with talent including Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum on projects, with further series to be announced. Nutopia has worked with both stars recently, with The World According to Jeff Goldblum and Pole to Pole with Will Smith produced for National Geographic and Disney+

Nutopia has to date largely focused on blue chip docs and series for streamers and broadcasters, with a slate that hAS ranged from WWII with Tom Hanks for Sky History and The History Channel to Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember for Nat Geo and Disney+.

Upcoming projects include the BBC’s Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley, which will have its own YouTube spin off series.

Root said: “We love working for Disney and we love working for Netflix but everybody wants some skin in the game now, and that includes the stars.

“These are people who’ve spent their careers being hired to make other people’s things. The feeling that they don’t get to do quite what they want to do is a big deal for them, and that’s what we’re answering.”

Simon Willgoss, Nutopia’s chief creative officer, added: “The people we work with have enormous reach, but they also have real passions and stories they’ve never found the right home for.

“Meanwhile the audiences we know well are increasingly moving to YouTube - and watching in new ways, including on TV screens. We’re not trying to replicate what already works there, we’re building for its next stage – and putting those two things together feels like the obvious next move for us.”