YouTube star Alan Melikdjanian, the creator behind the popular channel “Captain Disillusion,” has set a first-look deal with indie streaming service Nebula. Additionally, Melikdjanian’s existing back catalog will now be available for streaming on Nebula.
Per Nebula, Melikdjanian’s first-look deal grants Nebula Studios, the production arm of the creator-built media company, the opportunity to bring premium long-form ideas to the studio for development and partnership. Variety has learned one of the first projects in development under the deal is a scripted sci-fi series.
When Melikdjanian’s existing catalog of YouTube videos makes its way to Nebula, the streamer says the videos “will be available to stream at the highest quality,” following the re-encoding of some of the videos on YouTube that have degraded the original quality.
Financial terms of the deal between Melikdjanian and Nebula were not disclosed.
Boasting more than 2.5 million subscribers and 278 million channel views since his “Captain Disillusion” YouTube channel first launched nearly 20 years ago, Melikdjanian is known for his expressive visual effects, digestible facts and debunking videos.
Founded in 2019, paid indie streamer Nebula has been expanding its lineup of first-run shows from popular YouTube creators (like “Jet Lag: The Game” and a new series from returned internet star Tom Scott) in recent years into a growing originals business.
Melikdjianian told Variety he sees the deal with Nebula “as an opportunity for me to grow as a filmmaker, to pull up all those ambitious ideas that we, as solo creators, are used to tossing into the ‘impossible’ pile and actually pursue them. I intend to take full advantage of it.”
“As a longtime fan it’s truly a dream to get to work creatively with Alan on anything,” Nebula founder Dave Wiskus said. “Captain Disillusion is your favorite creator’s favorite creator. He’s the Chappell Roan of educational YouTube.”
“I’m excited about the creative possibilities on Nebula,” Melikdjianian said. “As more roadblocks to free expression seem to be going up online, this platform is focused on helping creatives stay true to themselves, to produce their best work. And frankly, with the crop of brilliant folks already here, I felt it was important to join and bring the average level of talent down to a manageable place.”
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