“MTV’s Following: Bretman Rock” is a 6 episode YouTube series, highlighting all aspects of the content creator’s life in Hawaii. The show follows Bretman and his wild crew as he navigates vlog life, new business ventures, his mom’s impending move, and the recent passing of his dad, all amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The show was created to attract an incremental and younger viewer base by bridging Bretman’s audience to MTV and driving strong association between him and the brand via this show and additional content opportunities,
Like any series, this project was brought together by a team. This particular crew consisted of more than 50 people across the organization with focuses including storytelling, talent casting, post production, on-screen design, logistics, and audience development. Unlike any past digital series, however, this was the first needing to comply with COVID-19 protocols. Shooting in a pandemic was hands down the biggest challenge the team faced and that’s -- as Bretman would say -- on periodt.
“MTV’s Following: Bretman Rock” premiered February 8, 2021 and was greeted by fervent enthusiasm with 300M total minutes watched, 27M total views, and 244K new subscribers to MTV’s YouTube channel. In terms of a Gen Z audience, 54% of viewers were under the age of 24. Across all metrics, this project is MTV’s most successful digital original series to date.
