Who is John Shahidi and Why Shots Studios Exists
John Shahidi is the co-founder and CEO of Shots Studios, an entertainment company that uses data to create the next digital stars. It’s one of the happiest communities on the internet that started in an app, and now has evolved onto YouTube via multiple channels (MCN).
Prior to Shots, the Shahidi brothers built mobile games for stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, and in their spare time can be seen hanging with the biggest stars in the world (as well as good friends and Shots investors) Floyd Mayweather and Justin Bieber.
In early 2016 the company began focusing around comedy, and introduced a new YouTube channel, Awkward Puppets, with a hilarious first skit between Diego (played by Rudy Mancuso) and Justin Bieber:
You can read more about the Shots Comedy App in John Shahidi’s LIVE Chat with the Product Hunt and Shots communities the day of the launch.
As the year went on, it became clear that the shift to creating comedy sketches was working, and the company decided to focus all of its efforts into the studio model. By the end 2016, Shots Studios was managing some of the biggest digital stars, signing exclusive deals with creators like Lele Pons, Rudy Mancuso, Anwar Jibawi, Inanna Sarkis, Hannah Stocking, and Lorenzo Cromwell. Together, they’re creating some of the best original content on YouTube.
Shots Studios
Across Shots Studios’ over 10 channels, viewership has jumped from 120,000 views per day when Shots launched in July, to 2.6 million per day in November of 2016, and over 3 million videos views in December 2016. In exchange for a ‘creator friendly’ revenue share agreement, creators get access to a production team, brand management, help with sales, and access to Shots’ data and growth teams.
The data part is the key, as John explained in a recent Product Hunt LIVE about the studio model switch:
We look at lot of different things but our #1 focus is retention and figuring out why the audience stays and why they leave. Data provided by YouTube to the channel allows us do this so we can better the jokes in future videos. It’s like a standup comedian on stage, they know what jokes the audience laughed at and what ones they did not laugh at. YouTube gives creators the same luxury, we just have to refine the data and help our creators understand it.
The opportunity to use data to understand what works and what doesn’t, while working together with some of the biggest names on the internet to consistently roll out viral hits is the strength of Shots’ Studio model. A recent Forbes article deep dives into how Shots Studios uses data to create the next digital stars:
John Shahidi on All Things Shots Studios
From its origin as a social network for teens, to a shift towards comedy, and switching to a studio model that consistency creates viral hits, John Shahidi has seen it all. There is no one better at working with creators, building communities, and knowing what works on the internet.
Below are excerpts from John’s two Product Hunt LIVE Chats on the shift to comedy (March 2016) and rebranding to Shots Studios (December 2016).
What was your inspiration for making the Shots app, and for this new comedy update? — Manon
Sam and I always do things that make the young John and Sam happy. I made a promise to myself when I was around 8-years-old that I would never make anyone feel the way some kids at school made me feel. So I do things these days to keep the promise to myself. Sam is the same.
Is there a certain place you have that helps you think of new ideas for the app? — Kristal
The best ideas usually come when I am alone and the ideas get developed properly when back in SF.
If you could travel back in time, what would you tell your younger self from five years ago? — Tony Xiao
“Everything will be okay. Stop worrying”.
What’s your favorite quote about life? — Nusha Rihter
Bad decisions turn into experience. Experience turns into good decisions.
Typical day in your life? — Nicole Carcano
Drink tea, work on Shots, go for a walk, FaceTime a random friend, and pray.
(John Shahidi FaceTiming with friends)
How did you gather your group of creators and what advantages and disadvantages are there from being on the platform you are on at the moment? — Nawal Ali
Our team is a group of humble and creative women and men who we were lucky to meet inside the Shots app in 2014. It’s important to Shots Studios to have a group of people who understand how to create and grow a business while doing it with integrity.
One of your greatest strengths seems to be building and maintaining relationships. How do you go about managing those and have you ever mismanaged a relationship? — Daniel Landy
The most important thing is to have a great personal and loving relationship with the people you work with. I love every creator that works with Shots Studios as a friend first. We all agree during the signing process and say to each other “No matter what, friendship first” — Justin and I did this too when he invested in the company a few years ago, we also looked each other in the eyes and said “friendship first”.
It’s worked so far. Of course, we are all humans and since we are friends/family first, there will be times we don’t see eye to eye. But that’s human nature. 99% of the time, we are all happy and laugh with one another. We have to… We are creating comedy and music, we have to be happy.
Does Shots plan on making TV content in the future, like a half-hour comedy, instead of just making short YouTube skits? — Jetlir Dermaku
Yes, we have a holiday special that we produced with YouTube. It’s called The Keys of Christmas. Rudy (Mancuso) is the lead and it turned out great. It will be available on YouTube Red on December 19th.
For more, check out the LIVE Chat with Shots creator Rudy Mancuso, who played the leading role in The Keys of Christmas YouTube holiday special (featuring Mariah Carey, DJ Khaled, Fifth Harmony, among others). There are more Product Hunt LIVE Chats with Shots Studios creators coming up! Sign up to chat with
- Lele Pons
- Anwar Jibawi
- Diego of Awkward Puppets (Rudy Mancuso)
For an updated list of Shots Studios creators, visit shots.com and follow @john and @shots on Twitter for recent updates.
This post has been updated in December of 2016 to reflect Shots’ move to a studio model and include parts of John Shahidi’s second Product Hunt LIVE.
