YouTube star Eva Gutowski to appear in single-camera webseries

BY GEOFF WEISS

YouTube has tapped its latest homegrown star to appear in an original series for premium subscription platform YouTube Red. Eva Gutowski, whose MyLifeAsEva lifestyle channel counts nearly 7 million subscribers, is set to star in a buddy comedy titled Me And My Grandma, Variety reports. 

The half-hour single-camera series will follow Gutowski and her 60-something grandmother as she attempts to make a career in Hollywood. It will premiere in 2017.

And Me And My Grandma has a bold-faced showrunner attached: Jill Condon, who served as a producer on both Friends and The Cosby Show. The series will be executive produced by Gutowski and her managers, Adam Wescott and Scott Fisher of Select Management, through their entertainment company SelectNext. Annie Stamell, who served as a writer on a prior webseries launched on Gutowski’s YouTube channel, How To Survive High School, will also produce.

“As a child growing up, my grandma and I had so many great adventures together,” Gutowski told Variety in a statement. “I am excited for viewers to experience all the laughs I have shared with her but in a longer-form, scripted series.”

Beyond her immensely popular vlogs, Gutowski’s larger-scale efforts have also found enormous success. The five-episode How To Survive High School, which premiered last September, is one of YouTube’s most-watched short-form series ever, according to Variety, with a total of 43 million views. Gutowski also released a music video for the song “Literally, My Life,” which became a viral hit and spent 14 weeks at the top of the iTunes charts.

In a statement, Condon—a TV veteran making her debut in the digital space with Me And My Grandma—said, “I’m looking forward to finally understanding what my kids are talking about.” Added YouTube’s global head of original content, Susanne Daniels, “We are thrilled to be in business with a rising star and dynamic creator like Eva.”

Earlier this summer at VidCon, Daniels announced six new shows coming to YouTube Red starring creators like Rhett & Link and Dan & Phil, as well as renewals for three existing series, including Scare PewDiePie, Smosh’s Part Timers, and Foursome. SelectNext is also working on another YouTube Red feature for client Gigi Gorgeous, a documentary slated to premiere later this year.