New YouTube Originals Spotlight U.K. Creators

YouTube Originals is launching the first of their Creator Spotlights franchise, highlighting three female creators from the U.K.: Yammy, ClickForTaz and Saffron Barker.

The 20-minute documentaries, directed by an all-female team across YouTube Originals and Grain Media, will reveal a never-before-seen side of the creators to their millions of followers. In addition to giving fans a more personal look at the trio, the docs will cover important subjects such as mental health, family and disability.

Leeds-based gaming and entertainment content creator Yammy will be introducing her son to her subscribers for the first time before embarking on some quality time with him in the countryside. Welsh-born comedian and spoken-word artist ClickForTaz is tackling her difficult school years by returning there ten years later and performing spoken word poetry to inspire the current students. Beauty blogger and fashion designer Saffron Barker will be revealing her childhood struggles with hearing loss and exploring the impact the pandemic has had on the deaf community.

The YouTube Originals Creator Spotlight films were filmed, produced and directed by Alana McVerry (Yammy), Emma Jones (Taz) and Frankie Fathers (Saffron). They were executive produced by Anna Murphy and Adam Mitchenall at Grain Media and Victoria Jaye, EMEA creative executive at YouTube Originals. Each of the films are available exclusively on Saffron, Yammy and Taz’s YouTube channels from 5 p.m. today

Yammy said: “Since starting my channel in 2011, I’ve been focused on building up my community and business on YouTube. During this time, I chose to keep my son’s identity hidden while he grew up. Now that he’s in high school and keen to feature on my channel, I believe that now is the perfect time for these two worlds to meet. For the first time through this Creator Spotlight, people will get a peek into my life behind-the-scenes and see how important my family is to me. This project has been a wonderful way for me to open the door to my community that I love so much, and working with an all-female production team has made this transition even more powerful. I hope that my story inspires other moms out there to pursue their dreams and prove that women really can do anything.”

Taz said: “Over eight years on YouTube, I’ve been able to share not only the ups and downs of my life (plus a lot of fun challenges!), but my passion for spoken word poetry with my Incredible subscribers. Although my subscribers may be aware of how challenging I found my teenage years, as I’ve used my experience as inspiration for some of my poetry, this Creator Spotlight has given me the opportunity to reflect on this difficult time in my life and turn it into something positive and hopefully inspiring for others who may be going through a similar thing. Being a part of the U.K.’s first female-led Creator Spotlight has meant that I’ve worked with an amazing all-female production team too, which has been incredibly rewarding.”

Saffron said: “My subscribers may be aware that I was born hard of hearing, but this Creator Spotlight has given me the opportunity to shine a light on the deeper impact it had on me and my family as I was growing up. Not only that, I worked with an incredible all-female production team to delve into the issues surrounding hearing loss—particularly during the pandemic. After learning about the difficulties facing the deaf community right now, how facemasks have made daily tasks even less accessible for people, I decided that I wanted to find a creative way to raise awareness of the importance of hearing loss, the deaf community and transparent facemasks. Ultimately I hope that my documentary will encourage education around such an important topic close to my heart.”

Jaye at YouTube Originals said: “For the U.K.’s first Creator Spotlights series, we wanted to celebrate the rich diversity of female creators on YouTube and work with the finest female directors to bring these stories to life for viewers. We’re thrilled with how Yammy, Taz and Saffron embraced this creative opportunity and, working closely with the team at Grain, produced three very different, highly personal films.”