YouTube duo Kian and JC explain their big ambitions for 'The Reality House,' their show where influencers compete for $50,000

Amanda Perelli

Jan 29, 2020, 23:49 IST

YouTube duo Kian and JC explain their big ambitions for 'The Reality House,' their show where influencers compete for $50,000

@jordan.ohare

Andrea Russet in "The Reality House" season 2.

YouTube creators are competing in a "Big Brother"-like reality series called "The Reality House" for the chance to win $50,000.
The show, produced by creators Kian Lawley and JC Caylen, launched in summer 2019, and the second season premiered on January 10.
Business Insider spoke to Lawley and Caylen about the process behind launching a 10-episode series for YouTube, and how the show has helped their channel grow.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTube creators are competing in a "Big Brother"-like reality series for the chance to win $50,000.

The competition, called "The Reality House," is a 10-episode series produced by internet personalities, Kian Lawley and JC Caylen, which runs on their YouTube channel KianAndJc (3.6 million subscribers).

They launched the show in June 2019, and the first episode was a viral success gaining over 4 million views. Now the duo is back with a second season, which premiered on January 10.

In the show, popular social-media influencers like TikTok star Brittany Broski, makeup influencer Manny MUA, actress Teala Dunn, and nine others, live under one roof and complete challenges for the chance to win money.

Kian Lawley and JC Caylen

Season 2 Stars Harrison Webb, Lena The Plug, Manny MUA, Andrea Russett, Ryan Abe, Teala Dunn.

'Our channel was blowing up when the first episode of the first season came out'

Since launching the show in June, Lawley and Caylen's YouTube channel has gained 300,000 subscribers, according to data provided by the social-media analytics site, Social Blade.

"Our channel was blowing up when the first episode of the first season came out," Caylen said. "I posted a small clip on Twitter saying, 'Oh, we aren't the slowest growing channel anymore.'"

Lawley, 24, and Caylen, 27 said they found the inspiration for "The Reality House" after filming the series, "Last YouTuber To Leave The Box," where friends played for the chance to win $10,000.

Challenges, alongside drama and controversial content, tend to preform well on YouTube.

For example, take 21-year-old YouTube star Tana Mongeau (5 million subscribers) who built an empire off her authentic (and often controversial) videos. Mongeau continues to make headlines for extreme photo editing, her changing relationship status, and her general candor with her viewers, like this recent 17-minute-long lingerie-haul video in which she explains why she turned down a $2 million sponsorship. And business is booming. Her first product launch, a perfume called Tana by Tana, sold out in 76 minutes.

"We want this to be as authentic as possible," Caylen said of his show. "But we do put them in situations where things can easily get heated and escalate quickly," he admitted.

From the contestants to the production, Lawley and Caylen said their friends chipped in for free. To take the second season to the next level, they hired the production company Red Dot Studios to film the series.

Screen shot/KianAndJc YouTube

The business behind an elaborate YouTube show

The second season includes more elaborate outside challenges than the first (like a human claw machine), and to cover the costs, the ticket-selling service SeatGeek sponsored the show in exchange for timed mentions throughout the episodes.

SeatGeek approaches brand marketing differently than many other companies and focuses almost entirely on influencer marketing and social stars to help drive purchasers to its product. (SeatGeek was recently featured in Business Insider's ranking of the 17 top influencer-marketing brands.)

SeatGeek has also built long business relationships with top internet stars like David Dobrik, who has 15 million subscribers on YouTube and a yearlong contract with the company.

"SeatGeek is a blessing to work with because the company itself gives us so much creative freedom with how we promote their website and app," Caylen said. "The brands that we have worked with before want to see a rough draft of the episodes, and they have notes. SeatGeek doesn't really do that. They trust us and what we are going to promote."

Caylen and Lawley said they enjoy having full creative control over their show right now, but eventually they would want to sell it, or partner with a larger media company to produce more seasons.

"There's only a certain level that we can take it, just us producing it and doing everything ourselves," Lawley said. "Eventually, we would love to have people on board and maybe sell it to a company that would want to work with us."

Examples of other influencers with reality shows include Mongeau and YouTube star Bretman Rock (6 million subscribers) who each have their own show with MTV, a part of its series "No Filter."

Caylen and Lawley are also nominated for a Shorty Award in the category "YouTube Ensemble." You can check out the full list on nominees, here.

For more on the business of influencers, according to YouTube and Instagram stars, check out these Business Insider Prime posts: