With Emmy voting underway, MrBeast wants voters to consider “Beast Games” in the outstanding reality competition program and host categories.
Already in production on season 2 of the Prime Video show, he says, “I just want them to know the effort we put into the show.” But in his freshman year, he faces stiff competition from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “The Traitors,” “The Amazing Race” and “Top Chef.” He’s also got to face off against “Survivor” to crack the nominations. Can he do it? MrBeast has worked the circuit, doing his share of FYC events and interviews. In his freshman year, navigating phase one, he says, “If people knew all the effort we put in, they would think we deserve to win.”
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MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is the biggest YouTuber in the world with over 402 million subscribers, and “Beast Games” became Prime Video’s most-watched unscripted series ever. According to the streamer, the series reached 50 million viewers in the 25 days after its Dec. 19 premiere.
Maybe he or the show does stand a chance?
Here, Donaldson spoke with Variety about “Beast Games”, lessons learned and what audiences can expect from season 2.
You’re the biggest YouTube creator and content creator in the world. What made you want to take that and do ‘Beast Games?’
It’s hard on YouTube to do theorized content; people who do 10-episode shows don’t really do that well, because YouTube recommends random videos. So, there’s a non-zero chance you would get recommended episode 5, and you don’t want them to start watching episode 5, you want them to watch episode 1. I’ve always wanted to do something, especially with my team, where we go in depth and we do more storytelling. So it made sense. What if we made the biggest game show ever? We finally get to build characters and tell stories like we’ve been wanting to, and so it’s just a natural thing to go to a platform, and Prime Video is just great.
Let’s talk about the business side of things. How did ‘Beast Games’ bolster your YouTube viewership and impact you?
I’ve said this many times, but we lost money on it. It wasn’t a money play for us, per se. It did reach an audience, which was cool, and it had a higher female penetration than my YouTube channel does, so a lot of it was a different demo. Also, every Thursday when “Beast Games” dropped, entire families were getting together. It was a show people watched because they loved talking and crafting and discussing what they thought was going to happen.
There are some incredible challenges that you’ve done in real life, but when it came to the show, did you get pushback that one might be a little be too wild or push the boundary for what was family-friendly?
That’s not something we struggle with because we’ve been making family-friendly content on our YouTube channel for a long time. We have our bar and standards, and we want people to be able to watch the content as a family and not have to worry about something they don’t want their family to see. So that wasn’t an issue.
What was the wildest challenge for you to put together in the show?
The coin flip. This whole time, I’ve been saying $5 million and then to flip a coin and double it, not at the start of the show, but at the end of the show. We want the viewer to have no freaking clue what’s coming next, and be a giant box of surprises.
Going back to the development process, what was important to you when it came to honoring the brand, as far as being a business person, and stepping into this world of television?
If you watch these games, it’s different from my YouTube channel, but you can tell the core elements are still there. I didn’t want to just completely throw everything away and do what everyone else does. It’s high budget, high spectacle and unpredictable. It’s not paced like our YouTube videos.
You mentioned the fan response and that there’s been a higher female demographic. What has that been like to see, and has there been a response that touched you?
I’ve had fathers or mothers tell me that this was a way for them to connect with their kids, and it’s been a thing they can look forward to. They’ve told me they were sad after the show finished airing because they missed it. But I thought that was pretty cool, that for seven weeks we were bringing families together.
How did this show push you as a creator?
Just watch the show. You can see the ginormous sets we built. There were more contestants than in any other competition show in history. We built a freaking city, with the largest prize in entertainment history.
What did you learn about yourself in this process of developing the show?
It was very nice to work on one project for an extended time. For our YouTube videos, we upload consistently. One week, I’m in Africa, and next week, I’m burying myself alive. It’s a lot of gear shifting. Whereas “Beast Games” was just 40 days of “Beast Games.” It was cool to wake up to film that. I didn’t have to get on a plane and had a singular focus.
You built a city for season one, where do you go from here in season two?
I want to make the games more skill-based, a little less-like randomness. We’re actually in the middle of filming Season 2 right now. The games are so good. [There are] epic sets. People’s minds are gonna be blown with this season.
How do you keep safety in mind when you’re dealing with contestants and a crew of thousands?
We have a multiple-person safety team that practices and tests all the games and reviews all the plans and make sure that safety is actually happening. That safety team, also, when we’re filming the challenges with the contestants, is there, prepping them, watching everything. At the end of the day, that’s why there are people in the industry whose job is to make sure contestants are safe. We spare no expense to hire the best of the best.
if nobody has seen your show, what would you say to them?
We got more contestants together than any other competition reality show in history, built crazier sets than any other show ever in history, and offered the largest cash prize of any show in entertainment. I think the show is very special, and I think you’ll enjoy it if you give it a try.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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