YouTube channel Rec Create puts social relevance back into content creation
Everybody can make content. We are living in the golden age of the internet and content creation, where something as simple as a 10-second Tik Tok video or a 280-character tweet can be monetized.
Lifestyle vloggers are everywhere, YouTube is saturated with What-I-Do-In-ADay types of videos and it has come to a point where it’s hard to differentiate who’s who and whose content is actually worth watching. Everybody can make content, yes; but not everybody can make great content that puts important conversations at the forefront.
Rec Create is the brainchild of Allison Barretto and Bob Guariña, a couple of freelancers who took it upon themselves to produce videos that are equal parts entertaining and educational. Their claim to fame may be their videos of exes bonding over a lie detector test and shots of tequila, but Rec Create is well on its way in talking about issues that are deemed taboo or too sensitive for others.
In the 10 months since they launched, they now have almost at 150,000 subs on YouTube, and people are starting to take notice of their other video series like “Opposites,” where two individuals of opposing views hash out their points; “Chef Rod Reviews,” where Chef Rod gives funny non-review reviews on everyday food; or “Unfiltered,” where a bunch of friends candidly talk about any topic. The list goes on, and it’s only bound to get better for Rec Create.
We talked to Bob and Allison about the beginnings of their channel, their creative direction and moral grounds in video production, their dream videos, and what’s next for their channel.
Young STAR: How did you guys decide to make Rec Create?
Allison Barretto: It’s been at the back of our heads for over a year. We’re freelancers working in advertising and we’ve always wanted to do our own thing. But we kept postponing it.
Bob Guariña: We kept postponing it, kasi the stories that we wanted to tell, hindi namin alam kung paano ita-translate onto the platform. Nung nakita namin na nag-emerge yung Cut and Jubilee, nakita namin na “Ah, ready yung audience for this kind of content na hindi lang puro funny, puro vlog.
So we kind of took some of their videos as inspiration and we localized it. We talk about local topics and put our own spin on it. One of the fears was that nobody was doing it here and we didn’t know if there was a reason why. Baka may nag-attempt and it failed, until we were just like, “Let’s risk it. Bahala na.”
What’s the most memorable experience from shooting your videos?
Allison: Not really an experience, but more of a thought. It’s the fact na nape-perpetuate yung feeling na the world is so big and small at the same time. Every single time we shoot, every time we cast call, there are so many stories out there, they’re all so different, but once we meet them, we realize that they’re all kind of the same. It’s the same human experience, we’re all just varied a little. Which is what we really want to show.
Bob: Nagugulat ako at how people are so grateful for what we are doing. Comments, tweets — laging may “Thank you, Rec Create for talking about this topic…” I feel like we’re giving voices na hindi nabibigay sa traditional media, mga hindi napag-uusapan in the mainstream. Hindi namin ginagawa ‘to to be groundbreaking, but it’s making an impact on people.
What are your plans for the channel?
Bob: We want to get more people involved. We want to give a voice to more directors — let them tell the stories that they want to tell. We want to reach more voices that are not Tagalog-speaking. We’re very limited right now, and in the future, I really want to feature Bisaya talents, or get a Bisaya director to tell their own experiences. We’re very Manila-centric right now, so we want to feature people from outside this city.
Allison: Yes, more representation and exposure.
Bob: It’s really a challenge, because for example, if we make a funny video, it’s funny for everyone. But if we make a socially relevant video, it may not be relevant for everyone.
Allison: I really want to continue to produce socially relevant and substantial videos. I want our content to test how we are as Filipinos, how we think, how we behave. I want people to have a place to go to when they want to discuss topics that aren’t usually talked about.
You always talk about being socially relevant in your content. A lot of creators think that that’s a tradeoff for having more subscribers and reach.
Allison: It’s true. It’s been 10 months, and we can see that some people who started at the same time as us have grown more by doing fluff content that are less socially relevant. It comes as a price, but it doesn’t matter to us. We knew from the get-go na ayaw namin maging bida, ayaw namin na nasa harap ng camera.
Bob: For us, it has always been about asking “Why are we doing this?”. Hindi kami nag-Youtube para sumikat. The point is really to produce videos that talk about socially relevant things. To have this spot on the internet na maririnig mo yung totoong opinion ng mga tao.
Allison: We’re not a big channel, but we know who we’re talking to. Hindi kami nagpu-put out ng stuff blindly. We know our audience, so it makes our message more effective.