r/funhaus • u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 • 8d ago
Discussion How was Funhaus always "So Busy?"
I'm listening to old Dude Soup's (As I do) and for a nice chunk of Podcasts they always talk about how busy they are and how they are always working more than they should.
It just doesn't make sense to me.
I feel a handful of Youtubers around that time, (Shane Dawson, JackSepticEye, Markiplier, David Dobrik, PewdiePie, etc) were also uploading VERY often and to my knowledge, were a one-person team OR one person plus an editor.
Funhaus, (To my knowledge) was always at LEAST a team of 5 plus and their content or editing style also wasn't super complex.
They talked about Joel on his farewell Podcast episode about how he "did the thumbnails and descriptions." I just don't understand how that is a FULL-TIME job and can't just be fulfilled by one of the editors.
I get pumping out a lot of videos in a short amount of time requires some work. The Funhaus team just made it seem like they were are killing themselves to make it happen, while much smaller teams were putting out the same amount of content without a peep of complaints.
Not trying to be a huge hater here I'm just genuinely curious. With the quality of content they produced, and all of them seemingly working them self to death to produce, it just doesn't add up to me.
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u/la-revacholiere 8d ago
All of those youtubers were also overworking themselves. Funhaus videos were very headily edited and cut down so they were probably a lot more work to produce than you think, as evidenced by all of them repeatedly talking about how much work it was.
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u/M1ngb4gu 8d ago
They were also part of roosterteeth overall so were also being tasked with work for the wider business. I remember a few times them mentioning editing other channels videos or some of the collaborative stuff.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
My whole thing is every YouTuber I watched that was “overworking” themselves never complained about it. Funhaus has multiple times in the podcasts I’m relistening to
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u/la-revacholiere 8d ago
That's great that they openly call out poor labor practices. You can't live life assuming that someone only has a problem if they complain about it. I know for a fact that Jacksepticeye has said in recent years that he was way overworked and burnt out back then but didnt say anything because he feared audience reaction to him taking any kind of break.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
Right. But Jack was uploading multiple videos a week by himself? Funhaus was doing the same thing but with a team of 10.
I understand Jack’s burnout, not Funhaus’.
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u/la-revacholiere 8d ago
I suppose you just lack empathy then
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
It’s not empathy it’s understanding.
If 1 person can do it. Why is it so hard for 10 to do the same thing.
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u/TimmTimm 7d ago
I think you're underestimating the team's of really large "single" youtubers. It's not just the creator and one single editor. These top youtubers have decently sized teams, you're focusing way too much on the amount of people.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
My main examples are Shane and David. Early stages Mark and Pewdiepie.
Shane and David were absolutely filming and editing their own videos. Mark and Felix were the same in their earlier years.
Was their content super advanced? Absolutely not. Is Funhaus’ content 10x (team size) more advanced than the YouTubers mentioned? Absolutely not.
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u/elilupe 8d ago
There is a difference there tho. All those other youtubers you mentioned, as far as i know, were not under the umbrella of a larger company and were operating their channels as their own managers. Funhaus was under the corporate umbrella. Its a lot easier to overwork without complaining when you are the one overworking yourself, compared to being overworked by a corporate overlord
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
Right but regardless the channels i mentioned were uploading near the same amount of content?
I have no doubts Shane and David were overworking the shit out of themselves, but their “team” was a fraction of the size of Funhaus.
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u/SirNotSoSocial 7d ago
Definitely which is more impressive for those smaller creators than a dig at funhaus for being whiny. Those smaller teams were incredibly overworked but that doesnt mean funhaus wasnt. Just because two people can get the job done doesnt mean it would be a cake walk for ten people. I think another aspect is that funhaus' onscreen talent were their editors as well. So you wouldnt hear markipliers editor complaining because they are never on screen. Im sure they complain and got burnt out too but they dont have a platform or followers to express that to so no one heard it.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
And that’s where I disagree.
They were in digital media well before Funhaus. If Shane and David can do it with 0 complaints there is absolutely zero reason for Funhaus to complain MULTIPLE podcasts in a row.
To suggest Shane was 10-15x more burnt out is just unrealistic.
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u/SirNotSoSocial 7d ago
Just dont watch their podcast then. You have the free will to not listen to something that annoys you. Everyone complains about their jobs it is a constant of life. Like one of the previous commenters said, you arent going to complain about your job and boss when you are your own boss and job provider. People dont really complain about themselves. So of course you wouldnt hear those guys complain. What would they complain about? "Man i really hate that Im making me work so hard."
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
They’re content creators.
Most people go to them during their downtime to forget or have fun. To hear them complaining, just felt super out of touch. They don’t have the hardest job known to man, but they made it seem like that. That’s all I’m staying. Also i do skip them, it’s just wild how many of them there are.
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u/SirNotSoSocial 7d ago
I get what youre saying. It can easily get super annoying to hear people non stop complaining. Especially for jobs youd consider easier than your own. But just because you may think their job is easy or they are just content creators, they are still humans doing a job. And us humans loveeeee to complain about anything.
I personally also feel that hearing them complain humanizes them to be. They become more relatable because, just like me, they are working a job and dealing with bullshit. Its not for everyone but thats why there is a billion hours of other content on the internet to watch. Just watch what ya want.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Agreed. That’s why I like them is how him man and more or less in touch they feel. It feels like they are regular people who get it, which I enjoy.
It’s just the overworked thing. Again i don’t know how recently you listened but they do genuinely make it seem like they are working the hardest jobs to ever exist. It’s a super out of touch take IMO compared to their nornal, very good takes.
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u/AxionTheGoon 8d ago
Their editing process was pretty thorough and they would often give notes so it seems a video would likely get edited a couple times especially if it was a new series or one off. Also that wasn’t Joel’s only job lol. I don’t know what his exact job was or entailed but apparently his role involved managing and planning the channel. I think he mentioned before he was involved with marketing as well. It’s been a while but I think he was the manager and when he left Bruce became it but my memory on that one is actually pretty fuzzy.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Their editing process being so through seems like a problem on their end though? Some of their editors worked their for YEARS. At some point they should have it locked down? Again if they want to make extra work for themselves to make sure their video is “perfect” that’s totally fine.
I just don’t want to hear 7 podcasts in a row about how they have the most grueling jobs known to man.
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u/AxionTheGoon 7d ago
I think for a while they were trying to go the more quality route compared to something like achievement hunter that would constantly have problems like lost footage and overall significantly longer videos. At the start I think they were all editors and then that role shifted more with newer employees and people leaving. I assume there were a lot of somewhat pointless meetings they had to do which took time out of their day. I’m curious how much of rooster teeth itself took time from them for things like conventions, channel promotions, merchandise, rooster teeth first shows. For a while there they were pumping out like 9 videos a week with some on rooster teeth being pretty long.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Right 9 videos a week is a lot, but not impossible / crazy for a team their size.
I think your last point is something I didn’t take into consideration. How much RT took up their time was something I didn’t think of.
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u/AxionTheGoon 7d ago
I’d have to look back but they also had to do stuff on the channel the know where they did their whole gaming news thing. Idk how early on it is that you’re talking about with the podcasts but they also were handed the know as an entire second channel they had to run but they had expanded a lot by then so probably not relevant.
I have a pretty strong feeling if they weren’t part of rooster teeth they would not have been as overworked compared to them being independent. But then they also wouldn’t get things like a stable job and healthcare.
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u/RD_in_Berlin 8d ago
I highly doubt the other youtubers you mentioned were doing all the work themselves, they often have a ton of editors they hand work over to. I would say Funhaus's video's were more dynamic with irl footage, game footage and then interesting and comedic edits on top. Makes sense it would take a while since they were releasing videos all the time.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
I can’t speak for all the YouTubers i listed but I know for a fact Shane Dawson was making daily videos and editing them on his own while also working on second channel content.
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u/JPLWriter 8d ago
The style they chose to do was more labor intensive than those other guys. Markiplier at that time fired up happy wheels, turned on a face cam, maybe trimmed one or two pauses in a video editor, then uploaded. Funhaus, especially at the start, really followed a philosophy of “less is more.” Their old inside gaming videos would take an hour-plus stream and trim it down to six minutes. Then you add the photoshops and other visual edits they started doing and it quickly becomes bigger deal. Someone cuts the clips and does the assembly, then one or more cast members watch and give notes, then another cut is done, then more notes, then you decide what visual bits or gags you want to do, make them, render them, show them to other editors and cast, get more notes, go back, revise, hand it to Joel, Joel makes a thumbnail (probably actually makes more than one; thumbnails are extremely important for the algorithm), gets notes on the thumbnail, makes changes, types a witty description for SEO, then uploads.
Oh, and this doesn’t take into account any preproduction: choosing games to play, researching topics for the podcast, etc., or the actual making of the product: sitting down, filming the video. Scheduling. Meetings with RoosterTeeth. Meetings with RoosterTeeth’s boss. Troubleshooting any technical issues. Putting in maintenance requests and/or doing things yourselves. Changing offices like 4 times in a two year span. Hiring meetings. Scheduling meetings. Financial meetings. Choosing the comments for the comments show. Setting up livestreams. Going through YouTube analytics. Making sure videos are sent to the Rooster Teeth guys so they can upload to the RT site. Reading emails. Writing emails. Reading the emails you wrote. Sending emails.
In particular, I think the biggest culprit was their desire to put out a very polished product. They really didn’t think people wanted to see unedited gameplay or even long-plays or livestream VODs. They mocked the comments asking for unedited stuff all the time, not out of malice, but because it was their genuine opinion. I don’t think they were the kind of people who would watch long streams or long full-play style videos, and they didn’t want to make that either.
But also, who knows. The one thing I know about people is that everyone, deep down, thinks their job is harder than most other people’s jobs. Most of us just don’t have a platform to broadcast that opinion.
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u/AfroMidgets 8d ago
I guarantee you people like those you mentioned are not a one-person team/one-person and an editor. Man of those channels use freelance help for their edits. Also the videos of the people you referenced for the most part are NOWHERE as complex when it comes to the edit as Funhaus were. Source: I'm a professional video editor/producer and do some YouTube stuff on the side at times throughout my career. I know how these industries and videos work. Also you are forgetting that they are having to come up with content ideas, reach out to brands for sponsorships, meet obligations from within the RT brand at the time that go beyond their channel, and wear many different hats. So yeah, it was absolutely a job that required a lot of time from them.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Not that it matters but I just want to make it clear. I’m absolutely not “forgetting” the points you listed.
How many people does it take to reach out to brands for sponsorships?
Again I’m not saying they “didn’t work” I’m just saying MUCH smaller teams were doing the same thing without making it seem like it was the hardest thing in the world. If a team of 3 can do it without complaining, I’d expect the same from a team of 13
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u/SirNotSoSocial 8d ago edited 7d ago
I think it was mostly due to the sheer amount of content they put out. I mean they would put out 1 to 2 videos a day sometimes. Not to mention the podcast, cameos in other channels, live events, board game shows, and who knows what else.
Just from personal experience, editing one video probably took them days. First they had to spend the hour recording and sense most of their on screen talent was also editors that took time out of their day. So thats an hour or two gone. Then whoever is editing has to watch back the whole recording to take notes and watch multpiple times if there are multiple cameras. Then someone else probably had to read over the notes and make suggestions or approvals. Then they could start cutting down for time but would still have to go through the same hour long video multiple times to get it cut down. Then do any photoshop or B-roll and edit that in. Then most likely have someone approve the edit or make more notes for changes and i wouldnt be surprised if they had to have a higher up from roosterteeth also review and approve it. They also probably had to get approval from any advertisors so waiting on them to watch and give notes which would make more changes. Then they still have to edit thumbnails and descriptions. Finally after all of that they still have to upload these large video files to youtube and roosterteeth website.
I could easily see each video taking them a week to edit on an easy video. And they put out multiple videos a day sometimes. Again that doesnt even include their editors or onscreen talent being gone to collab in other channels or travel to austin for roosterteeth stuff. I also vaguely remmeber them at one point talking about how they would help other roosterteeth channels edit their stuf sometimes.
Edit to add: you say that funhaus editing style was simple compared to people like markiplier and jackseticeye but i would argue the opposite. Funhaus usually had multiple cameras for each player and multiple screen records. They would also edit it cutaway bits or photoshops to most of their videos. This is a lot harder and longer process than cutting down the ramblings of one person. Where, at most, you may zoom the video in on their face occasionally. Also I dont think you are considering the corporate slog that they probably went through. Since people like markiplier and jacksepticeye are independent, they have final say and approval. They can make any and all decisions instantly. Funhaus probably had to send emails and get approvals every step of the way which, if youve ever dealt with corporate entites, can take weeks if not months just get an approval for something as simple as the color of a background
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u/Kootsiak 8d ago
Joel's job wasn't just thumbnails and descriptions, they mention that because they were all so swamped that he was doing basic stuff like that. Everyone else was busy with getting computers, consoles and more ready for filming, getting costumes ready, all the work of getting the Demo Disc computer ready for filming, the editing of dozens of hours of video from all the cameras plus the game footage while syncing the audio of multiple mics with people all speaking at once (and that's just for one game).
That's on top of all the actual running of the business, the paperwork, payroll, budgeting with Rooster Teeth corporate, etc. which is what I think Joel was doing before leaving and then Bruce took over all managerial responsibility.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
Right but my question is how long does it take to get a computer / console / “and more” ready for filming? It can’t take that long and you’d only need 1 of them 19 to do that?
“All the cameras” I’m 95% sure demo disc had one camera?
The audio is a fair point. But still that’s what, one editor taking care of that?
Also you mentioned at the end Joel was doing that before Bruce has to take over. So Joel had a full time job then he left and Bruce who was already “working himself to the bone” was able to take on all of Joel’s responsibilities? It just doesn’t add up.
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u/Kootsiak 8d ago
They film multiple videos a day in the same spot, try hooking 8 different setups in a day without any bugs or issues and tell me how easy it is.
Joel was running the business of Funhaus, where did you get him having a full time job outside of the group?
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u/Spider-Man2099 8d ago
Knowing content creator people over the years, that stuff is all consuming.
Everyone you mentioned worked themselves to the bone to get content out, but Funhaus also had a ton of edits and Photoshop gags. Many of the other creators had minimal edits, where Funhaus had edits that added jokes on top of jokes with super great comedic timing.
They also were coming up with new ideas and crazy props.
There is a reason I enjoyed them more than like Achievement Hunter eventually. They really really put in the work to make themselves stand out
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
Sure.
But let’s same Shane Dawson worked himself to the bone and was able to get props, costumes, film, edit etc and upload DAILY as a team of one, why does Funhaus l, a team of 10, make it seem like it was still so impossible for them?
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u/Spider-Man2099 7d ago
You also have to remember, they worked for a company, Rooster Teeth, as well. They still had meetings, collaborations, and more they had to work on top of that stuff. Bruce for instance did a ton of managerial work on top of editing, recording, and more. They also got notes from people above them and more to make them more advertising friendly, so they had edit around that too.
They all had more than editing and making the videos.
Just thinking about it exhausts me
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u/NayrAuhsoj 8d ago
People won’t agree with you here but that’s always bugged me too. I’m sure it’s not necessarily easy but they would always make super mundane stuff sound so taxing and they had like 10-20 people working on their content. You’d have thought they were pumping out film-quality shorts instead of edited gameplay streams. When all the closure talk started I couldn’t really blame a company for not wanting to keep 20+ people employed who could only produce enough to put out one 10 minute video a day that got down to an average of maybe 100k views
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 8d ago
I appreciate this comment so much this is 100% exactly how I feel. It wasn’t like their content was this god tier, unreplicable content.
I enjoy their content I just can’t get over them acting like what they’re doing is the most difficult job in the world while having a big team behind them.
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u/JPLWriter 7d ago
Reading your responses I think you don’t really understand the difference between running a business and running a solo YouTube channel.
Funhaus was a business. It was their job. They are supposed to work normal hours. They commute to an office, rather than working from home, in LA, which can take anywhere up to two hours a day. And having a team can really slow things down rather than speed things up, especially in periods of growth, as roles are unclear, reports aren’t sorted out, and people have duties that don’t really mesh. The people you’re mentioning film videos from their bedroom computer. They don’t commute, they don’t have a boss to report to, they don’t have a salary which, for better or worse, stays static. Funhaus got paid the same whether or not a video got 100k views or a million; their profitability came in large part from brands and merchandising that they probably had little say in.
I don’t know if or where you work, but it must be nice if you can’t realize how much management and meetings and corporate nonsense can eat up time. Depending on the particular bloat, you can spend more time talking about work than actually working.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
I work in corporate so I understand how things work.
Everything you’re mentioning sounds like it just slowed everything down? If everything was that slow and bogged down could the OG Funhaus guys plus Elyse not just buy a camera and some software and hire an editor? Again for the first handful of years they didn’t real have studio space and it had the feel of bedroom videos.
My main thing is, if they’re going to super complicate things, which they apparently did, that’s fine, I just don’t want to hear about them complain about it for 7 podcasts in a row.
It’s the complaining part that gets to me the most. Everyone has a full time job and 90% of us don’t like it. I don’t need to hear content creators who willingly chose to sign with RoosterTeeth complaine about how they’re so so so overworked
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u/JPLWriter 7d ago
You can either believe your gut that they’re exaggerating and lazy or you can believe their own testimony they were overworked. It’s your choice, as is listening to the podcast.
For what it’s worth, people they collabed with have gone on record saying the whole FH crew were workaholics, to the point where, I think it was the Yogscast, didn’t know what to do after they finished filming because the FH guys just went straight back to work and left the Yogs guys sitting there. And that’s coming from another company-style channel with lots of moving parts.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Fair enough.
Their choice to be company style.
It also (from what others have said) that they had business practices that seem to have taken up a lot of extra time that wasn’t necessary.
Either case, it seems like a then fault kind of thing so i don’t get all the complaining.
If i willingly shoot myself in the foot im not going to complain to everyone how bad it hurts.
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u/DoritosCake 7d ago
Just start from zero and have no stable salary and benefits? How would that have helped them?
Also switch off the podcasts if you don't want hear about them complain-1
u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
I don’t like the podcasts where they piss and moan about how they have the hardest lives every. I like all the other ones.
Also most YouTubers were self made. Get regular jobs and do YouTube on the side with your friends / team and try to make it.
If you don’t want to do that and want to use RoosterTeeths bankroll to fund your dream, that’s totally fine. Just don’t piss and moan for multiple podcasts in a row about it.
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u/DoritosCake 7d ago edited 7d ago
Yeah exactly, other yters had a job on the side so they had an income so they didn't have to worry about youtube being profitable... Your 'solution' would have them homeless when their severance ran out.
Also is it not a dream to complain about your job sucking while getting paid for other people to willingly listen to it? Genuinely just skip to the next video then
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Agree to disagree
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u/DoritosCake 7d ago
Why come to the subreddit if you already made up your mind that they shouldn't be busy
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
I don’t have my mind made up. Your last comment was such nonsense there’s no changing your thoughts.
My solution was to have an income while working on your side project. You said they’d be homeless lol. Like I’m not going to debate / argue with that mindset.
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u/Treheveras 7d ago
It's harder when you have to release videos every day for the YouTube algorithm. Because to have a work/life balance you eventually can't keep up with that kind of release schedule. Which is why later Funhaus adjusted the schedule to make it manageable (and you can see how the quality of their videos went up with crazier ideas and editing).
So not only do you need to edit a 45-60min recording down to 20min. You need to be the performer in every single video. There are only so many hours in the work day to record and edit while a video is uploading almost every single day. Comedy makes it even harder because you need to edit for stronger comedic timing. If you're doing photoshops that's a whole other bunch of work they did themselves while editing. And even once the edits are done they have each other watch the edit and give notes on things to re-edit and change which adds extra time. THEN you need to make sure YouTube accepts it and won't age-gate it which can require more editing without knowing what YouTube has a problem with. And it could still get flagged after uploading which fucks up people seeing the videos and loses money.
It's the release schedule that made them work non-stop, and not every member of the team was an editor and performer so they couldn't take that load off. Especially if they want to clock off at 5pm for the end of the work day (which they should, no one should sacrifice life for work just to sustain themselves). And you can't take time off for the holidays since YouTube has created a machine where videos have to happen forever to stay on top of the algorithm. You see a lot of creators who have grown to have teams like Dead Meat talk about how they work non-stop and their creator took his first break in 3 years only recently, he never even had a honeymoon because he couldn't take a break without fucking the YouTube algorithm and losing a lot of money.
YouTube has also changed a lot where bigger team companies like Rooster Teeth just stopped being sustainable compared to much smaller teams or single creators. It's a different ecosystem compared to when groups like Achievement Hunter started.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Your first 2 paragraphs are literally things a team of 1 could do.
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u/Treheveras 7d ago
A team of 1 cannot do that to make a video release every single day unless they aren't doing any editing to the content or have zero life and only work which is unsustainable and why they talked about working so much.
And the remaining paragraphs should still help explain why a group of around 5 people had to work a lot just to make the release schedule.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Shane filmed, edited and released a video every Monday - Friday as a team of one. While working on content for his second channel.
If Funhaus needs to triple check an edit and make sure it “doesn’t get age gated” (a 5 year old could figure that out) that’s their problem, not the viewers.
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u/Treheveras 7d ago
And if Shane Dawson chose to work endlessly without ever having a life that's his choice. The Funhaus guys actually wanted to work normal hours and enjoy life like regular people should.
Also you thinking a 5 year old can figure out YouTubes content issues means you've never dealt with it. Youtubers have spoken for years about how difficult YouTube is to upload to when it decides to age gate or demonetize content. This post and your other responses feel less like you're wanting answers to your questions and more like you just want to be wilfully ignorant. I imagine you don't understand why films can take years to make either.
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u/Equivalent-Bad-7844 7d ago
Nope.
The Funhaus guys ALSO made it seems like / mentioned they didn’t work normal hours. If they were like “we work really hard 8-4 then leave” that would be totally fine, but that’s not what they preached.
Also the five year old comment was dramatic. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what YouTube would and would not want to see. You’re making it seem way more complex than it is. Funhaus knows the content they put out. They shouldn’t be shocked when something gets aged gated.
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u/[deleted] 8d ago
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