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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stars of Walt Disney Co's (N:DIS) multichannel network Maker Studios will produce content that will debut exclusively on the global online video platform, Vimeo On Demand, the companies announced on Thursday.
Vimeo, a unit of IAC/Interactive Corp (O:IACI), has been working to convince creators who have built an audience on Google Inc's (O:GOOGL) YouTube to tap an additional revenue stream though on-demand sales of videos without ads.
Under the new collaboration, Vimeo will fund content production by a small group of Maker's creators, Vimeo Chief Executive Officer Kerry Trainor said in an interview. Other Maker producers will receive access to tools and guidance to help them use the on-demand platform, he said.
The collaboration will allow creators to "bring their content to new audiences and earn more revenue through direct VOD sales," he added.
Trainor said Vimeo On Demand can complement the ad-supported videos that viewers watch for free on YouTube, which inserts ads and typically keeps 45 percent of revenue.
Creators will decide how much to charge on Vimeo for their videos, and can sell them individually or in a set. Ten percent of the sales revenue will go to Vimeo, Trainor said.
The companies did not say which of Maker's 55,000 creators will produce content for Vimeo.