Sign in with Google This interview has been edited for length.
Kinigra Deon first started making YouTube videos as an actor in someone else’s shows. She soon realized that arrangement wasn’t going to work for her. She wanted to do it all herself.
Six years, two channels, and 5.5 million followers later, Deon’s network is as prolific as it is beloved. With a young, dedicated audience, the responsibility to choose authentic brand partnerships looms large. Here’s what Deon told us about expanding her production capabilities, her brand partnership strategy, and nurturing the next generation of creators.
Think with Google: Tell us about your first videos.
Kinigra Deon: My first videos were me in character, maybe a little ring light, talking about wanting my boyfriend to propose. It’s moved from that to living out my childhood dreams, only with full production, sets, and studios.
When did it change?
I used to only do comedy, but then I thought, why am I limiting myself? So we started doing sci-fi. “Vampire Siblings” was really cinematic, completely scripted, almost like television. It got us more into drama and helped us realize we were making movies.
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Now in its fifth season, “Vampire Siblings” marked a turn toward high-production short films with larger casts, multiple sets, and on-location filming.
Our fifth season of “Vampire Siblings” was where we really went all out with set design and shooting on location. For that last episode, we found a castle in Alabama that was absolutely perfect, with this long hall, these big doors, real swords on the walls. A few years ago, when our studio was being renovated, we used it as a set when we needed a run-down-looking place! So we use what we have, and then we use our creativity to make it fit the story.
What else goes into production? Who’s on your team?
Our production staff includes two cinematographers, a gaffer, and an audio engineer. Then we contract another team of four from Atlanta. As far as cast, we have roughly 40 actors. We have two channels, and we post to our main one three times a week. For the longest time, we had just one editor; now we have two. As far as writers, we have me, my husband, my sister, my brother-in-law — and then we have some fans who send us scripts. If we like it, we direct it!
When it comes to engagement, YouTube allows you to create a different kind of community.
About 70% of our watch time comes from connected TVs, and, honestly, I didn’t plan that, but I think it’s because of that cinematic quality, that we care about everything from the sound to the color grading. We always export in 4K. If I could export in 8K, I would.
Who is your audience? What do they like to watch?
My audience is Gen Z Black girls and Black boys, who love seeing themselves represented on TV. I love my audience. I love my community. And I love that we get to build this on YouTube.
I’ll say this in whatever room, whatever media: There’s no platform like YouTube. When it comes to engagement, YouTube allows you to create a different kind of community. I’m on other platforms, and you don’t really have a sense of community on those. But on YouTube, I know exactly who my community is, who my audience is, who they’re cheering for, what they want to see. I’m able to listen to them, almost like the comment section is our own private chat room.
Does your approach to content change for a younger audience?
Yes. Because I know they’re young, I have this responsibility to make sure I’m putting out something that either inspires them or represents them in a way they’ve never seen before. I have to listen to them when they say, “Hey, yes, we want to laugh, but we also want to relate to the story.”
We strategically add moments we think our Gen Z audience will want to clip.
I want them to have a place where they feel safe and heard. For example, “The World Didn’t End When I Was 16” wasn’t a concept that I came up with. It came from one of our actors, and it was about the things these kids go through in school. It ended up being an amazing piece of content.
How do you plan a good “clippable moment”?
This is another thing about having a Gen Z audience: We strategically add moments we think they’ll want to clip. Funny moments, drama moments, moments that provoke or heighten an emotion. Just like the first 30 seconds of the video, these moments have to hook them, but we add them throughout the video.
What kind of branded content does your audience like to see?
My audience is so supportive. Anytime they see a brand, they’re like, “Oh, Kinigra, yes, she got a brand. She got a sponsorship. Get that bag.” But they love when there’s a brand that they really know, so when we did the NFL draft sponsorship, they were super excited.
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Deon’s “NFL Draft Special” episode followed the format of her other comedies, but it included cameos by real NFL draft prospects.
I know my audience, and I wouldn’t do something to take their trust for granted. I wouldn’t dare sell a product that I didn’t believe in myself. At this point, because creators have authentically shown up, when an audience sees a paid advertisement, they really want to support it. That’s why we have memberships. We have our supporters, and they’re also the ones more likely to buy something we recommend. When you build this trust, they want to see you win.
What makes a brand a fit for your channel?
The great thing about scripted content is that just about any brand can fit. We can weave in anything, from a makeup palette to a broom, but what makes them a good fit is if they trust the creator, and the creator believes in the brand. And what I mean by that is, we know our audience so well. If a brand trusts me to be able to start at the moment of ideation, they’ll see what we can do.
Sometimes, with brands, we receive a script of what they want us to say. I have to tell them, “That won’t seem authentic to my audience. I know that they’re going to click away as soon as they hear us recite this. But if you allow me to weave this into the story, I’ll give you some ideas that I know are going to work, and you can trust that this will perform a lot better.”
I wish that brands would understand that we are media production companies. We are experts at building a community.
Brand partnerships are about that trust. If a brand comes to me asking to do one video, I know it won’t work as well as a series. Series: they work. I know this because 96% of my audience comes back to watch another video. The perfect brand partner is one that trusts the creator.
What’s the one thing you wish more brands understood about working with creators?
I wish that brands would understand that we are media production companies. We are experts at building a community. We are experts at knowing exactly what our audience wants. We give our audience content that they want every single time we post.
You’re not guessing when you go with a creator. And so, because we’re the new Hollywood, I’m able to do a short film with HartBeat and I didn’t even have to pitch. That alone lets you know that we are what people are watching. Now, marketers have to shift. If we are what people are watching, and it used to be traditional media, then why are all the ad dollars still going to traditional media? There needs to be a shift.
What happens when you get to ideate with a brand from the beginning?
The first thing that I do is I will come up with three or four concepts. Just recently, I pitched this makeup brand a six-episode series, and they only asked for three! The goal is to create a story around the brand, and our data shows that series work. Collaborating on a series, not just a one-off, is a way to give a brand’s message longevity.
We saw a lot of success with our show, “The It Girls,” where the main characters are very into their look. By showing this brand the views, the engagement, the analytics, I’m giving them proof that the series format works, and that we can make another one just for them.
Are marketers surprised to learn that you can do all this in-house?
Always. Initially, when I’d say, “Yeah, we’re going to come up with the concept. We already have the cast,” they’d be confused about where we were going to weave in their product.
They’re often surprised by how we add the brand to the story, but our channel is about storytelling. It’s based on telling really good stories. More than that, they’re really surprised by the production value, that it’s this high-quality, cinematic video. And they’re surprised to find they have someone who’s doing everything for them, who knows the audience, whose audience trusts them.
On YouTube, I have autonomy, independence, the ability to say yes to myself over and over again.
How do you see the role of the creator evolving?
I’ve noticed that more and more artists want to create something they can own, something under their own names. And I think ownership is so important. I tell new creators, you need to put yourself out there, because that’s one thing about YouTube: There aren’t any gatekeepers. It is all about ownership.
I will never ever not create on YouTube, because here I have autonomy, independence, the ability to say yes to myself over and over and over again. I’m hoping that becomes the shift, that everybody ends up just valuing their independence and their ownership. Understanding and owning your IP is so powerful.
