This Media Company Blurs Lines of Digital and Traditional Media
By Zoe Kramer
Let me give you a quick recommendation. Frontline Heroes is a series about essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the sacrifices they make every day. It’s completely unscripted and self-shot. Where do you watch it? Snapchat.
You wouldn’t be alone if the thought of watching a TV show on a social media app was a bit…out of the box. Perhaps not even within a five mile radius of the box. But that kind of innovation is exactly what Barcroft Studios does best; it embraces a world where the boundaries between social and traditional media are blurred. And as it turns out, that’s pretty marketable.
Barcroft Studios (formerly Barcroft Media) was founded by Sam Barcroft in 2003.
Barcroft has proven himself to be an adept businessman. Watching television in the 90s, he cites The Word as one of the shows that shaped him. The Word was at once chaotic and authentic, smashing through boundaries in a way that was uniquely fearless.
Barcroft has always infused this courage into Barcroft Studios as well as a desire not to talk down to his audience. He defines his viewers through the media that have shaped them, not through their generation. “The millennial thing is just a panic button for most people,” he told the Guardian.
After Barcroft left the business in September 2020, Alex Morris headed the show, leading a team of 60-odd employees. On March 26, 2021, it was announced that John Farrar will head up Barcroft Studios. Farrar, formerly Creative Director of Barcroft Studios, succeeded Alex Morris as Chief Creative Officer and will lead the factual production company as Morris decided to step down from the business after helping to build it up over 13 years.
For what was a relatively small and unassuming company, Barcroft Studios has had staggering success. They saw a huge boom in 2018 when their monthly advertising revenue increased tenfold. By November of that year, its shows had reached 1 billion monthly views.
So where does this success come from? The Barcroft business model is deceptively simple.
Take a fresh idea, see if it gets traction on YouTube or other socials, and then pitch it to the major networks. That’s where Netflix’s Amazing Interiors came from. It was originally a YouTube show called ‘Making Mad’, but once it started gaining traction it was time for the big screen. Barcroft basically uses YouTube as a scratchpad — and a scratchpad they can make ad revenue from, no less. It also gives clients the chance to see the product before they buy it. It’s a win-win.
Seeing the potential of this model, Future, the media publisher, acquired Barcroft in 2019 for $30 million.
This acquisition allowed Barcroft to kick things up a notch, launching the TV channel truly, whose goal is to launch content to “celebrate difference, maintain a sense of wonder and confront the extreme.” The channel broadcasts content that sticks to Barcroft’s roots. In the past, they have created short documentaries on cosmetic surgery, tanning addiction, the KKK, and a giant baby. Basically, if it’s weird enough, it’ll get views. What truly does is translate that type of internet-originated content for the general public.
And Barcroft has more or less gone mainstream now. They’ve infiltrated top platforms like Netflix and BBC3, bringing top titles like Sex Unlimited, Born Different, Shake My Beauty and Beast Buddies just to name a few. With over 80 million followers across social media and an entertainment-hungry pandemic audience, we’re bound to see more soon.
Barcroft is a 21st century company creating 21st century content. They’ve adapted to the changing Internet landscape, and it’s paid off. It goes to show that traditional media doesn’t have to fight the Internet. In fact, they can get along quite well.