The MK2 group has pulled off a great coup by teaming up with Inoxtag to broadcast Kaizen in theaters.
Kaizen is a Japanese term coming from the contraction of two distinct words: “kai”the change, “zen”the best. A term often translated by the concept of continuous improvement. Or by the well-known aphorism of the media dedicated to personal development: “to be in search of the best version of oneself”. Self-improvement is precisely the idea put forward by YouTuber Inoxtag in the film. Kaizendirected by Basile Monnot (whose first feature film this is) and dedicated to the content creator’s ascent of Everest.
Inoxtag, born Inès Benazzouz, is one of the brightest stars in the French content creator landscape with 8 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.9 million on TikTok and 5.2 million on Instagram. Having started out on the dance floor, stream of video games like Minecraft And Fortnite While he was just a teenager, he then devoted himself to videos challenges between friendswhich led him to this project: climbing Everest and making a documentary about it. Kaizen, 1 year to climb Everest was released in over 500 theaters by MK2 and broke attendance records..
Kaizen, in life as on stage
This is a hell of a gamble that MK2 studio has attempted (Anatomy of a Fall): broadcast in as many theaters as possible a documentary featuring a 22-year-old YouTuber. The challenge was largely met, since during its exclusive broadcast in theaters on Friday, September 13, 2024, Kaizen, 1 year to climb Everest gathered more than 350,000 spectators in more than 500 theaters in France, Quebec and Morocco. There were 310,000 admissions in France alone.
The phenomenon is all the more surprising since the 2h30 film was available the next day, and for free, on YouTube. In less than 24 hours, the feature film had already accumulated more than 11 million views. At the time of writing, Inoxtag’s documentary has more than 18 million views on its YouTube channel. An absolutely crazy score, as confirmed by the spokesperson for YouTube France, contacted by AFP. According to him, these are “Very exceptional figures which show the enthusiasm for this documentary“, and who make them ” one of the best launches in history » of the platform.
YouTube at the cinema
The previous record for a single cinema showing was held by The Wandering Stars by Nekfeu, which had recorded 92,000 admissions in 2019. Although the MK2 studio expected a real success, the craze for Kaizen was still a surprise. Elisha Karmitz, the general manager of MK2 Cinemas, told Telerama that ” even in the stay of world, A such event never happened” He also explained to Variety on August 16, 2024, it had been like a tidal wave.
” We thought it would be a success, and that’s why we put it in 350 theaters, but it was like a tidal wave, with a level of enthusiasm that we had never seen before. […] More than 40% of the theaters showing the documentary are art house theaters in small towns in France.”.
Karmitz also said that it was important to Inoxtag that its film be shown in small towns, knowing that this is where its fans are. The content creator also reportedly declined ” generous offers from paid platforms to have their film broadcast for free on the platform in order to bring their community together” .
MK Ultra
In an interview with Allocine On September 14, 2024, Elisha Karmitz returned to the creation of the Youtube Ciné-Club and the new distribution structure mk2.alt. In his eyes, there is a real audience for this type of event involving social media stars, and a part of the audience of subscribers of big YouTube figures would be asking for more regular appearances of their idols in theaters.
” For years, we have been interested in the content that is produced by YouTubers and in the opportunity to bring this content to the cinema. I have always been convinced that this operation brought with it a very important community, and that quality content has its place in the cinema.
For Karmitz, unique broadcast opportunities like that of Kaizen could have a beneficial effect in the long term, by bringing young audiences back to theaters more often. The arrival of content creators in theaters could be an additional step in building their relationship with their audience.
“10 years ago, in 2016, young people went to the cinema on average 6.6 times a year; today, after COVID, in the latest study, they go 4.4 times. I think that young people want to, but they have obstacles, which are in particular the price – which is one of the most important obstacles – but also the desire to have films that are branched out with a strong digital experience. I think that here, Inoxtag’s Kaizen operation precisely fulfills all the elements that arouse desire among these youngest audiences.”
So it could be that Kaizen is only a first step in the more regular broadcasting of events dedicated to content creators. After Thank you InternetSqueezie’s docu-biopic on Amazon Prime, or the awful Is there a Youtuber on the plane? by Logan Paul, we could see more bridges being built between YouTube and cinema. As for Kaizenit will be broadcast on TF1 on Tuesday, October 8 at 11:30 p.m.
