Why the Biggest YouTube Family Just Went to Netflix: Jordan Matter

Why the Biggest YouTube Family Just Went to Netflix, Jordan Matter. By Colin and Samir. 38 minutes. Colin sits down with Jordan Matter to unpack his unprecedented talent deal with Netflix, how an 87,000 person mall event proved creator audiences are different from celebrity fanbases, why his daughter Salish Matter is statistically more searched than Taylor Swift, and what this convergence of YouTube and Hollywood actually means for the future of entertainment.

Section 1. The Deal That Nobody Else Has

Jordan Matter has signed what he describes as a very unique deal that nobody else has been given up to this point. Unlike the development deals that creators like Alan Chikin Chow or Jimmy with Beast Games have received, where they present a show with a budget and the streaming service greenlights it, Jordan and Salish have what is called a talent deal. Over the next three years, they will create three to four shows for Netflix, with creative control over those shows. It is a huge leap of faith and a lot of trust, as Jordan puts it, because they did not come to Netflix with a show at all. Netflix came to them with interest in them as talent, and the plan is to develop something together.

What those shows will be is still up in the air. They are in the process of developing them now, with lots of meetings and creative sessions. Netflix has their own team developing ideas, Jordan is developing ideas, and they come together to talk about them. Both sides have to greenlight any concept. Netflix cannot say you have to do this, and Jordan cannot say they have to do this. Once they agree on a show together, they go into pre production. If they dont agree, well, as Jordan says with a laugh, they will have to figure that out.

The deal started when Jordan and his team spent a year and a half developing an animated show. They took it out to the market, meeting with Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and others. But right when they were starting to get those meetings, they launched their skincare brand Sincerely Yours at the Sephora in the American Dream Mall in New Jersey. 87,000 people showed up, and they had to shut down the mall. It was the largest creator event in history. It went super viral, and suddenly all these companies started thinking maybe there was more to this than just an animated show. Netflix was very open to allowing creative control, which Jordan felt was super important.

Section 2. Why 87,000 People at a Mall Changes Everything

Colin frames this moment brilliantly. He describes the current landscape as the abundance era of content, with 20 million videos uploaded to YouTube every day, 95 million photos and videos to Instagram, and 23 million videos to TikTok. In that sea of content, a moment like the American Dream Mall event signifies something concrete. Out of 20 million videos uploaded every day, these videos clearly matter to people. And importantly, viewership numbers alone dont tell you that. As Jordan admits, they had no idea people would actually show up. They arrived at the mall hoping for maybe a thousand or two thousand people, and were learning along with everyone else that the relationship they had been building with their audience over five years actually resonated to the degree where fans were willing to fly from all over the world to see them.

Jordan shares some remarkable data about the channel. They usually get anywhere from 8 to 10 million views in the first week, and about 40 million over time per video. Mostly US based, not dubbed views except for a Spanish dub that goes up a week late. They are not on YouTube Kids. All content is long form, about 30 minutes, with watch time retention between 48 and 52 percent. Colin's reaction to that retention number is genuine shock, calling it insane.

The conversation turns to the nature of creator audiences versus celebrity audiences. Jordan makes a compelling distinction by telling a story from their Sephora pitch meeting. Sephora had no idea who they were, and after seeing the data, asked why their product would sell better than Ariana Grandes beauty line, which had underperformed. Jordan asked the Sephora executive if she was a fan of Ariana Grande. She said sure. He asked, whats the color of her bedroom? Whats the name of her dog? She had no idea. Jordan said this is the difference. Our audience will know the answers to those questions. As Colin adds, if Matt Damon opens a coffee shop, is there a line on opening day? Maybe not. But David Dobrik opens a pizza shop and there are still lines. The connection between creator and audience runs deeper because they have invited the audience into their home.

Section 3. Salish Matter and the Fame Paradox

Salish Matter is the number one most searched birthday on Famous Birthdays, over Taylor Swift. She is one of the most popular people in the world within her demographic. And yet, as Jordan reveals with a touch of pride and concern, Salish has no real interest in fame. She loves making content but doesnt want to be the most famous person on the planet.

This creates a complex tension with the Netflix deal. Jordan has been having honest conversations with his daughter about what increased exposure means. He tells her, look, we go to Netflix and a lot of people are going to have opinions. Those opinions might come for no reason. Who is this sixteen year old who is suddenly on Netflix? Why do I care? Let me knock her down a few pegs. You get increased exposure, but you also get increased criticism, and thats something they are going to have to be ready for.

Salish told her father that if she could go to a mall and nobody knows who she is, that would be a great day for her. Jordan acknowledges the irony. The Netflix deal might take her further from that mall experience. Jordan describes the dance they have been doing, constantly checking in and asking, are you good? He notes somewhat wryly that one of the benefits of failure would be anonymity. If we succeed, thats awesome. If we fail, you can go to the mall. The worst case scenario is the show fails but no anonymity, and everyone is saying your show sucked.

Jordan is emphatic about the importance of honoring this dynamic. He never wanted a relationship with Salish built on acrimony. Every week they check in. Do you feel like filming this week? How do you like this idea? If you want to stop, just give me three months notice so we can wind things down. For Jordan, the deal represents three more years of memories together. That, he says, is all that matters as a dad. Netflix has also been respectful about this. They kept assuring Jordan that Salishs time is primary. She has to be able to be a kid, go to school, see friends, do sports, and find time to film on the side. They even acknowledged she cant be shipped off to Romania for three months.

Section 4. What Success Looks Like and Whether This Moment Lasts

When Colin asks what success looks like, Jordans answer is immediate and ambitious. Number one show on Netflix. That would be success for both sides. He recognizes it might not happen, but thats the target. Jordan believes Netflix is less interested in driving subscribers and more interested in relevance and owning the creator space. They get the passion of the audience, the creativity, and the quick turnaround that creators are used to.

Colin then pushes on the bigger question. Is this moment over in a year? Are streaming platforms going to look back and say we overpaid? Specifically in podcasting, Colin wonders if Netflix podcasts will even be a conversation in twelve months. Jordan thinks it comes down to quality of content. Netflix doesnt need more content. They need unique content. As long as creators can deliver that, platforms will stay excited. But then Jordan asks a pointed counter question. How many YouTube creators are actually making content worthy of a bigger platform? He tries to be generous by saying maybe millions, but Colin pushes back. He doesnt think its even a hundred. The operational and instinctual know how to make something at that level is extremely rare. YouTube is inherently not built for that kind of production.

Jordan gets honest about the challenge. On YouTube, they make a thirty minute video every week. Their process is Tuesday through Saturday for pre production and Sunday for filming, all in one day so Salish can have a regular life. Making thirty minute videos with fifty percent retention in a single filming day is incredibly hard. Now they need to make ten hours of content for a single show. The difference between thirty minutes and a ten episode series with one arc is massive. He believes he can do it but hasnt done it yet.

Section 5. The Pairing of Creators and Hollywood

Colin raises a fascinating prediction about the future of creator Hollywood deals. Right now, the industry looks at creators as one stop shop production houses. Come up with the idea, do everything, bring us a show. Colin thinks the correction that will happen is a packaging and pairing of talent. Jordan knows a lot about capturing attention online, but theres also a great director and showrunner who has been doing this for twenty five years. What happens when thats a show team?

Colin saw this firsthand with Beast Games. Jimmy's team and the traditional reality competition team were butting heads in season one, which was the whole concept of Colin and Samirs behind the scenes piece. But when they came together, it became a really powerful team. Season twos twists at the end of every episode are some of the best twists Colin has ever seen in reality TV. He called Jimmy and told him that season one was cool, but season two made him realize this could be a franchise. And that is exactly Jordans deal structure. They did not bring Netflix a show or a production company. Netflix will introduce them to several production companies, and they will decide which one to work with. Creative control means Jordan can be as invested as he wants, but he is realistic. He will likely say, you guys have done this, you know more about it, take the lead, and I will tell you when it is veering off the path of what makes sense for our audience.

Colin also references a conversation with Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify, about the moment of the 250 million dollar Joe Rogan deal and the 60 million dollar Call Her Daddy deal. Eks answer was that he wanted to inject energy into the space. If Spotify was going to be a podcasting company, podcasting needed to be aspirational. Colin wonders if thats partially whats happening with Netflix and creators now. Jordan agrees. They are in the right moment because they are early.

Section 6. Pitching Shows in Real Time

One of the most entertaining parts of the conversation is when Colin starts pitching Netflix show ideas live on camera. He notes that a lot of what works on Netflix is death and disaster, murder mysteries, poop cruises, and documentaries. But in the wholesome direction, what works is transformation, like Queer Eye. Jordan reveals that one of their ideas was actually incubated at the Spotter Summit with Matt and Rebecca, and it does rhyme with that transformation concept. The pitch involves people writing in letters signed sincerely yours, tying into their skincare brand name. Jordan gets visibly excited, joking that he needs to go back to Netflix and scrap everything.

Colin then pitches a parent versus kid cooking competition show where Salish and a celebrity kid like Khloe Kardashians daughter compete in a room, then the parents swap in without knowing what the kids were doing and have to continue from where they left off. The idea builds with each iteration until Colin suggests the series finale could be them opening a restaurant with every dish they made along the way. Jordan lights up at this because it is exactly the kind of thing you cannot do on YouTube. You need Netflix scale and budget for that. He jokingly asks Colin to come to all his Netflix meetings.

Section 7. How YouTube Feels and the Net Benefit Argument

Colin asks the practical question of how YouTube feels about its biggest creators doing Netflix deals. Jordan says YouTube has asked whether these creators will continue making content on the platform, and he has assured them he plans to keep making weekly uploads. He sees YouTube as the foundation and springboard. Once you take your eye off YouTube content, you lose all the advantages of being a creator, because you have no way to get people to see your show or stay interested in you.

Colin makes a sharp economic observation. It is always to YouTubes benefit that they dont have to cut you the check that Netflix just cut you, and you will still upload. If Jordan uploaded fifty percent less, it would impact his fans more than it would impact YouTube. Jordan agrees. They are renting real estate on YouTube. He doesnt know how much it would impact YouTube at all if they left altogether, though if everyone starts leaving, then it becomes a problem.

But Colin flips the narrative. Having creators get Netflix deals is actually a net benefit to YouTube because it clarifies to the advertising market that what is happening on YouTube is worthy. Jimmy getting elevated is only positive. He is still uploading, maybe twenty percent less, though actually he has added gaming and reacts channels back, so he is uploading more somehow. Colin doubts any creator who truly understands the funnel would consider stopping their YouTube posting. The streaming deal and the YouTube presence feed each other.

Key Takeaways

First, Jordan and Salish Matters Netflix talent deal is structurally different from other creator deals. It gives them creative control to develop three to four shows over three years, without having to arrive with a finished concept. Second, the 87,000 person turnout at the American Dream Mall was the inflection point that transformed the relationship from an animated show pitch into a broader talent partnership. Third, creator audiences are fundamentally different from celebrity fanbases in depth and purchasing intent, and Jordans Sephora anecdote illustrates this perfectly. Fourth, Salish Matters ambivalence about fame creates a genuine tension with the deal, and Jordan emphasizes the importance of ongoing consent and checking in with his daughter about her comfort level. Fifth, the number of YouTube creators who can actually succeed at Netflix scale production is extremely small, probably fewer than a hundred, and the likely evolution is pairing creator talent with experienced Hollywood production teams. Sixth, Netflixs strategy appears to be about cultural relevance and owning the creator space rather than driving subscriptions, similar to how Spotifys early podcast investments were about injecting energy into the category. Seventh, YouTube benefits from creators getting streaming deals because it validates the platform to advertisers, and no smart creator would stop uploading to YouTube since its the foundation that makes everything else work.