Maker Studios Relaunches Gaming and Comedy Brands, Polaris & The Station by Maker

Maker Studios, a global digital media brand and the original creator network, today announced its slate of original series coming this fall/winter to two core channels—the refreshed gaming entertainment brand POLARIS by MAKER and the returning comedy brand The STATION by MAKER, each a unique package for global distribution platforms.

“The evolving digital distribution landscape allows us to bring our distinctly packaged channels to platforms looking to attract a young and impactful audience,” said Courtney Holt, Head of Maker Studios. “I’m excited to go back to our roots with The STATION and further lean in on gaming culture with POLARIS, working with our global network of creators to provide a unique voice to the marketplace.”

The two channels have a voice unique to Maker Studios and feature original content starring creators who align with each brand. The content incubation program SPARK by MAKER will be a key component to each channel’s content strategy, inviting creators to collaborate on original ideas. Channel content will first live on premium distribution platforms such as Sling TV, a live and on-demand Internet TV service, and will later move to social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.

Fall/Winter programming slate, per channel:

Channel content will launch throughout 2016, with additional series to come in 2017. To find out when and where you can watch, follow @polarisbymaker and @stationbymaker across socials. Additional platforms will be home to both the POLARIS by MAKER and The STATION by MAKER channels later this year.

POLARIS by MAKER

Formerly The Game Station and renamed in 2013, POLARIS has become the world’s largest online home to gaming personalities. The refreshed POLARIS by MAKER brand reflects an updated voice and is home to a mix of gaming entertainment talk shows, animation, and games to life content, with an inclusive approach that reflects gaming culture’s broad influence over popular culture.

• Bad Box Art – An improv game show where gaming experts and comedians try to piece together the plot of an obscure game based solely on its box art, working together to create predictions of key components: the plot, characters, gameplay, merchandise, and theme song. After making their predictions, they play the game and get to see just how different their version of the game was.
• Can I Crush It? – Kali Muscle, known for his buff physique and superhuman strength in the weight room, puts his very, very large muscles to the test and gets out some aggression – taking suggestions from fans on what he can and cannot crush.
• Gamify the News – A roundtable discussion that turns current events into a video game with animated intercuts that demonstrate plot, gameplay, characters, and the outcome of the “game.” (S)
• Let’s Play with Luzu – Everyone’s favorite Spaniard LuzuGames plays through the best and latest games with his trademark humor.
• Monster Almanac – A world of video game beasts are out there, waiting in the shadows to be discovered and game cryptozoologist Holly Conrad aka Commander Holly sets out to track them down. A mockumentary style format that features field investigations, faux archival footage, and interviews with let’s players, cosplayers, and other “experts.” (S)
• Nerd Rocks – Four creators become hapless adventurers in a table-top, role-playing game lead by a mysterious, bearded game-master.
• Player vs. Pop Culture – A podcast-style talk show where creators get out of their comfort zones to talk about what they do – and do not – know about topics beyond the gamersphere. Entertainment, sports, politics and current events – everything is on the table. (S)
• Polaris Loves You – A trending part of the gaming space that has fallen on tough times receives a fun, love song serenade from Polaris and special guest creators. (S)
• Ready, Let’s Play – Experience the best Let’s Plays, featuring a rotating cast of creators.
• The Remember Hour – In a post-apocalyptic society, someone needs to step up to the plate to educate society. Creator Chad Quandt brings audiences a dystopian puppet show where characters Rash and Skid share their (often incorrect) knowledge of the past with fans.
• Untitled MOD Project – A sometimes-heated discussion with a rotating cast of creators who bring the discussion about gaming mechanics into the real world. Creators make a convincing case for why power-ups, invincibility and respawning would either be the best things ever or life-ruining.

(S)The STATION by MAKER

Maker Studios originally began as the YouTube channel The STATION where a group of creators collaborated and drove audiences to one destination. As the brand that started it all, The STATION was the original voice of comedy on YouTube, and the relaunched channel will take a similar approach to nonconformist content featuring original sketches, musical comedy, vlogs and more.

• Casual Sketch – A weekly sketch comedy series taking on everything from politics, race and gender, to cults, superheroes and cheap furniture. With a satirical POV on everything about “adulting” in the digital age, the series spoofs formats such as vlogs, public access television and music videos. Watch Casual Sketch: Woke Bois now!
• Song Voyage – Created by Portal A and The Gregory Brothers, the series is a subversive comedy following musical heroes The Gregory Brothers, as they travel the world to band together with offbeat musicians in remote locales. In each episode, the Gregory Brothers transform the various unforeseen challenges they encounter into wild success stories using their idiosyncratic brand of comedy and music.
• So This Is A Thing – A roundtable of comedians discuss the intended utility of out of context imagery from U.S. patent applications both past and present. (S)
• Thai Machine – Timothy DeLaGhetto and Ricky Shucks are huge foodies, so it’s no surprise they decided to get their very own food truck. Unbeknownst to them, this was no ordinary food truck – it’s also a time machine. Join the guys on epic adventures as they are transported through history.Last spring, Maker Studios broadened its reach beyond social platforms with the POLARIS channel—first launching on Sling TV, a live and on-demand Internet TV service. Since then, packaged channels or original content from both Maker Studios and its creator network have launched on 20 global platforms such as Netflix, Globe and YouTube Red, among many others.