Dhar Mann’s morality tales about Karens getting exposed, kids with disabilities finding acceptance, and the like have made him one of the internet’s most popular creators.
He also stands out in a mostly unscripted world for his focus on scripted content, including a recent micro-drama production deal with Fox.
His videos, shot in a 125,000 square-foot Burbank production studio, regularly run 20 minutes or longer and get upward of a million views on YouTube.
So, what makes his videos so successful? Sean Atkins, the CEO of Dhar Mann Studios, shared three factors.
1. Stories that are feel-good and redemptive
Mann’s videos are positive and uplifting.
With titles like “Stepmom sabotages girl’s dream,” and “Girl picks money over love in life,” the storylines and characters are varied, but viewers know the underdogs will come out on top and the bad guys will get their comeuppance.
“Think about the world we live in right now,” Atkins said. “We just speak to the universal human condition that humans want to be entertained, and they want to feel good about themselves. It’s predictable. The good guys win, bad guys lose.”
2. Diverse casting
Mann prioritizes diverse casting in his videos, which helps make them accessible to a wide swath of viewers.
“People see themselves, people of color, different disabilities, different belief systems,” Atkins said. “They’re all treated equally, and they have access. We’re run by multicultural founders. So people see themselves in the content. I think that just makes us one of those universal brands.”
3. Data, data, data
Dhar Mann Studios also puts a big focus on testing — typical of creators who rely on platforms that share a lot of performance data with them.
Atkins, a former MTV and Discovery exec, estimated that creators like Mann have 10 times as much data as creators in the traditional entertainment space. The company has a data team that analyzes when viewers drop off and why, examining factors such as characters, colors used, and pacing. Editors test as many as three versions of each short video they put out into the world.
“Creators from Day 1 are drenched in data because you have the blessing or the curse, depending on the day you ask, that you sit on a platform that has all the data coming in in real time,” Atkins said. “So you can see as soon as you’ve posted, how’s it performing? What’s going on?”
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