Sidemen Is the New United Artists—Powered by Algorithms
The first time I heard of the digital creator collective Sidemen was when Netflix announced it had picked up Season 2 of their YouTube show—a kind of big-brother-for-influencers vibe. And that’s exactly the point. That’s why they did the deal.
The Sidemen had already squeezed everything they could out of social. Now they wanted to expand—to reach people like me. People who still consume legacy media. People who, let’s be honest, either are old or act like it.
So I started paying attention.
Seven British creators, originally known for chaotic video game clips and prank videos. But what they’ve built is way bigger than that. This isn’t just YouTube stardom—it’s infrastructure.
Here’s what they’ve built—just on YouTube:
Four Channels: Sidemen, MoreSidemen, SidemenReacts, SidemenShorts
31 billion+ total views
123.9 million+ total subscribers
Over 5,000 videos
This isn’t a group of creators casually boosting each other’s channels. It’s vertical integration with personality. A content empire built on inside jokes, real friendship, and ruthless consistency.
They didn’t just beat the algorithm. They industrialized it.
And the more I looked, the more it reminded me of something surprisingly old-school: United Artists.
In 1919, Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks, and Griffith banded together to take control of their work and their audiences. A hundred years later, the Sidemen are doing the same thing—only this time, they don’t need theaters. They don’t need press. They don’t need gatekeepers.
They’ve built a modern-day studio without ever leaving the group chat.
That’s exactly why we love them.
Our music-industry-turned-filmmaker-turned-Gardener, Mitch Camarda, took a deep dive this week into how the Sidemen built their empire—and where they’re headed next. For legacy creators willing to shift their mindset, there’s serious inspiration in the blueprint.
The Origin Story
Long before Netflix deals and Wembley sellouts, the Sidemen were just seven friends yelling over video games in their bedrooms. No strategy. No monetization plan. Just laughs, loyalty, and a shared escape from real life.
The name ‘Sidemen’ started as a joke—background characters orbiting KSI, the breakout star. But that self-awareness became their superpower. Because what they built wasn’t about hierarchy—it was about chemistry. And that’s what makes it work.
While traditional entertainment chases trends and crunches demographics, the Sidemen just keep showing up as themselves. No polish, no personas—just consistency, connection, and chaos. They didn’t optimize for algorithms. They built for community.
Who Are The Sidemen?
JJ ‘KSI’ Olatunji: By the time the Sidemen formed, KSI was already big—4 million subscribers deep into FIFA rage-quits, hilarious sketches, and a larger-than-life persona. He was YouTube royalty in the UK, known for his unfiltered and charismatic chaos.
Simon ‘Miniminter’ Minter: Simon was KSI’s longtime friend and collaborator, quietly amassing his own audience of about 150k subs with FIFA videos and vlogs.
Josh ‘Zerkaa’ Bradley: A meticulous gamer who brought organizational skills and structure, Josh had around 80k subscribers focusing primarily on Call of Duty and FIFA.
Tobi ‘TBJZL’ Brown: Humble and hilarious, Tobi, with around 20k subscribers, combined gaming skills and genuine warmth, mostly creating FIFA gameplay videos.
Ethan ‘Behzinga’ Payne: Ethan, who started as a shy teen gamer with around 25k subscribers, struggled with self-confidence, using his early GTA streams as a way to build friendships.
Vikram ‘Vikkstar123’ Barn: Vikk, with approximately 100k subscribers, was the Minecraft wiz whose detailed strategy videos attracted a fiercely loyal community.
Harry ‘W2S’ Lewis: Harry, the youngest, came with a rapidly growing fanbase—around 200k subscribers—known for his comedic FIFA pack openings and spontaneous skits.
The Sidemen’s origin story is pure YouTube legend. In late 2013, seven friends started jumping into each other’s Grand Theft Auto V sessions, recording the chaotic magic that followed. No scripts, no production—just spontaneous mayhem and real friendship. Viewers felt it. The camaraderie was undeniable. The humor was raw and relatable. And it clicked.
They called themselves the ‘Ultimate Sidemen’ as a joke, but the name stuck—and so did the chemistry. Their appearances across each other’s personal channels became a fixture, setting the stage for something bigger.
By early 2014, KSI, Simon, Josh, and Vik took the leap: they moved into a rented house near London. The first Sidemen House. Living together turned collaboration into a content machine. They branched out—football challenges, pranks, vlogs, skits—and launched Sidemen Clothing, turning inside jokes into merch. The collective was no longer accidental. It was strategic.
Then came 2016. Promoting a charity soccer match, the Sidemen launched their official YouTube channel—and hit over one million subscribers in three days, breaking records. That same year, they introduced Sidemen Sundays: high-production weekly videos ranging from wild travel challenges to full-on game shows and sketches. The scale kept growing. So did the audience.
By the late 2010s, they’d traded bedrooms for a 15,000 sq ft mansion. The GTA lobbies were long gone, but the energy remained. What started as chaotic hangouts had become a full-blown media empire—TV-scale reach, creator-led, and completely self-built.
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The Greatest Hits… so far
The Sidemen's success wasn't overnight—it was brick by brick, idea by idea. They embraced the zeitgeist, iterated on success, and built from there:
Sidemen Sundays: Consistent weekly uploads became a ritual for fans.
‘Tinder in Real Life’: A dating parody series that exploded, with episodes regularly reaching over 50 million views.
Sidemen Charity Matches: What began as casual football games turned into stadium-filling events, raising millions for charity. The 2025 Wembley match pulled in 90,000 attendees and £4.7 million.
‘The Sidemen Story’: A Netflix documentary charting their rise, marking their mainstream crossover.
‘Inside’: A reality competition series that began on YouTube with 14 million views for its debut, eventually moving to Netflix, highlighting their ability to transition smoothly between platforms.
And like other successful creators, the Sidemen are building infrastructure:
Sidemen Clothing (est. 2014): From basic logo tees to global streetwear.
Side+ (est. 2021): Subscription content service boasting hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Sides (est. 2021): A restaurant chain with ghost kitchens and physical locations, making them a genuine player in the food industry.
XIX Vodka (est. 2022): Sold out launches, built entirely in-house.
BEST Cereal (est. 2024): A cereal brand launched in March 2024, selling over 100,000 boxes in the first two weeks.
Prime Hydration: Co-founded by KSI, this drink achieved $250M+ in year-one revenue, becoming a cultural phenomenon.
The Community
The Sidemen don’t have fans—they have a fandom. These aren’t passive viewers. They’re participants.
They remix videos into memes. They debate matchups on Reddit. They wear Sidemen merch like loyalty badges. And it’s not performative—it’s personal.
The early audience was mostly UK teenage boys who showed up for FIFA trash talk, GTA chaos, and inside jokes that felt like hanging out in a group chat you didn’t want to leave. But those middle school fans? They're now in college, or starting jobs—and still watching. Because it still feels real.
Like a K-Pop band (an analogy they’d probably hate) each Sideman brings something different:
KSI’s sharp-edged confidence.
Simon’s easygoing charisma.
Ethan’s vulnerability.
Harry’s beautiful chaos.
There’s someone for everyone—and that makes the group feel alive. Fans don’t just consume the content—they shape it. Charity match jerseys are crowdsourced. Memes become canon. Jokes circle back episodes later. It’s a living ecosystem.
The Sidemen never pretended to be perfect. They geek out over football, roast each other like siblings, and drop just enough behind-the-scenes moments to make the whole thing feel human.
Subscribing isn’t just subscribing. It’s joining. And that’s why the Sidemen built something bigger than subscriber counts. They built belonging.
Netflix: Playing by Their Own Rules
After a decade dominating YouTube, the Sidemen set their sights on a bigger playground: Netflix.
By 2024, they’d maxed out the YouTube ecosystem. To grow, they needed to break through the bubble—to reach beyond Gen Z diehards and into the wider mainstream. Netflix offered the perfect on-ramp: a global audience who might never click on a Sidemen video, but would gladly hit play on a doc that looked polished and platform-approved.
Smart move for Netflix, too. Why try to manufacture a digital hit when you can license a pre-built fandom?
But the Sidemen didn’t sell out—they leveled up. They funded The Sidemen Story themselves, keeping full creative control. No studio filter. No watered-down version.
Just their story, told their way. In a very real sense, it was the United Artists playbook—creators taking the reins and proving they could deliver studio-scale work without studio oversight.
When Netflix picked up Inside for Season 2, it was more of the same: Sidemen in the driver’s seat. Same humor. Same tone. Just a bigger stage. Netflix wasn’t the boss—it was the megaphone.
The timing was perfect. 2024 marked their 10-year anniversary, and the doc gave newcomers a clean entry point—people who’d heard of KSI or caught charity match highlights but hadn’t gone deep. Inside sealed the deal, hitting #3 worldwide on Netflix’s Top 10 and drawing in viewers who don’t binge YouTube, but trust Netflix to surface culture that matters.
We can’t say for sure if it’s a hit—Netflix hasn’t announced a Season 3 yet—but they’ve already begun franchising Inside with a U.S. version reportedly in the works. That alone tells you what Netflix thinks: the format has legs, and it can scale globally. It gives regional creators a chance to plug into a proven format to reach their local community—and what a way for Netflix to expand its reach to creator communities.
If this show truly is a hit for Netflix and if its franchised across the world, it looks like Sidemen cracked the code. They crossed over without cleaning up. They expanded their reach without losing their voice.
They didn’t just land on Netflix—they built the bridge.
The Big Picture
Mitch took us this far, but I wanted to finish this one out—because this story hits close to home.
As someone who came up through traditional film and TV, the Sidemen story doesn’t make me roll my eyes. It makes me take notes.
They didn’t just build an audience—they built a system. One rooted in friendship, consistency, and ownership. That’s not a fluke or a platform gimmick. That’s a business model. And it’s one that legacy media should be studying, not dismissing.
At my company 3Pas Studios, we’ve been exploring something in a similar spirit. I can’t share details yet, but we’re working with a specific group of artists—people who’ve built real followings, not just as performers but as personalities. The goal isn’t to imitate the Sidemen—it’s to build something that blends the best of legacy and digital: emotional storytelling, cultural relevance, and community at scale.
And I think managers and producers with deep talent relationships could be thinking the same way.
Here’s a wild example that would never happen—but imagine if it did: what if Judd Apatow pulled together his original Freaks and Geeks crew—Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Martin Starr—and added the next wave he collaborated with: Jonah Hill, Kumail Nanjiani, Leslie Mann, Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson and Pete Davidson.
What if they formed a collective? Pooled resources. Created films and series for their audience, on their terms. Built a mini-studio with its own voice, values, and creative flywheel.
Of course, it’s not a plug-and-play model. They’d have to do the work—turn followers into a real community. And they wouldn’t get the same meme-happy, rabid energy the Sidemen pull from Gen Z. Older audiences don’t remix content or flood Reddit threads with fan theories.
But here’s what’s changing: older consumers are starting to behave more like their kids and grandkids. Social media use is rising for millennials, Gen X and even boomers. YouTube is becoming the default destination for everyone. And a crew like Apatow’s doesn’t need to flood the zone with daily content. They can focus on premium work—and still get that flywheel spinning.
Neither Judd nor any of these artists need to do that. But the next Judd Apatow will.
And if the Sidemen (and United Artists for that matter) taught us anything, it’s that the future isn’t about waiting to be discovered.
It’s about building something together—then letting the world come to you.