EXCLUSIVE: They might be one man down, but The Sidemen are looking to the future of production.
The British YouTuber group’s Sidemen Entertainment has teamed with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to find the next generation of unscripted producers.
The move is part of The Sidemen’s belief that the TV, streaming and creator worlds are converging, given they began life as YouTubers before working on several unscripted series and a feature film on Netflix.
The NFTS x Sidemen Entertainment Unscripted Formats Programme will give every student on the NFTS’s one year Developing and Producing Unscripted Formats MA degree first-hand experience inside the influential creator-led Sidemen Entertainment.
Each student will experience a dedicated industry day and a one-week work placement with access to digital formats and professional production. The idea is to explore how concepts are developed, commissioned and delivered across platforms, and expose them to the creative, editorial production decisions that shape content.
The Sidemen – Simon Minter (Miniminter), Josh Bradley (Zerkaa), Tobi Brown (TBJZL), Ethan Payne (Behzinga), Vik Barn (Vikkstar123) and Harry Lewis (W2S) – have over 100 million subscribers across their platforms and accrued more than six billion global views.
The collective shrunk by one earlier this year when Olajide Olatunji (KSI) unexpectedly announced he was leaving back in June, explaining he had been “pulled in a lot of directions” over recent years as his TV and business interests expanded.
The others were blindsided, releasing a statement to followers saying, “This came as a surprise to us and we know it will be an adjustment for you, but we’ve got lots of exciting stuff planned that we can’t wait to share.”
Earlier this year, the collective launched Sidemen Productions, which will see them taking a more targeted approach to digital formats for global audiences. This followed the debut of Netflix unscripted show Inside, whose third season topped Netflix charts in ten countries.
For the NFTS, a top UK production skills school, the Sidemen pact highlights its work to push into emerging areas of the entertainment business, and tightens its links with the creator economy and digital-first production.
“Some of the most exciting innovation in entertainment is happening where television, streaming and creator-led content meet,” said Jon Wardle, Director of the NFTS. “The Sidemen have been at the forefront of that change, building an enormous global following while continually evolving the scale and ambition of their content.
“Our role at the NFTS is to ensure students are prepared for where the industry is heading next and this incredibly exciting new partnership will give emerging producers a unique opportunity to learn directly from a team that understands how to turn distinctive ideas into entertainment that connects with global audiences.”
Sidemen Entertainment CEO Victor Bengtsson said The Sidemen wanted to “to help give the next generation of producers a genuine insight into what the future of the entertainment industry looks like,” adding, “This is what the Sidemen are all about – ordinary people who found a passion and turned it into a career and that’s what we want to help people do. We’ve learned so much by building The Sidemen from the ground up, and we’re passionate about sharing that experience with the next generation who want to be in this industry.”
Students joining the NFTS’s unscripted MA path from January 2027 will be the first to benefit from the partnership, with every participant eligible to take part.