Viva La Dirt League, a popular YouTube channel with nearly 6.5 million subscribers and more than 3.5 billion views, is a staple on social media channels, taking west Auckland-made content to the world.
Viva La Dirt League’s trio of founders Adam King, Alan Morrison and Rowan Bettjeman, have posted their comedic skits on YouTube since 2011 but it’s only in recent years that their favourite hobby has become a fully-fledged business enabled by their large and enthusiastic following.
“We all had jobs in the film industry as actors and writers and directors, so we used our weekends and evenings and any available moments just to kind of start making fun little skits, just whatever we could, whenever we could,” says Adam King.
It was initially our love of video games and our love of filming. We combined those two things together, and Viva La Dirt League was born.
Adam says that after working out of their homes and makeshift spaces for more than a decade, it made sense for the growing business and its employees to find a studio to call their own.
The group’s fans are not just highly engaged but also generous with their support. This helped the trio to crowdfund an impressive $4 million via Kickstarter to buy their own studio.
Viva La Dirt League worked with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited to identify a suitable building in Te Kōpua Henderson for its base, purchasing it in 2022 and embarking on extensive renovations to bring it up to spec as a modern film studio.
Henderson was top of the list of destinations for Viva La Dirt League, says Adam. “It's just so close to everything - the motorway, the city, all the other film production and gear rental companies and costuming places. It felt like a natural place to be.”
Having a fully pre-lit soundstage at its disposal is a game-changer for the business and, now that it’s in a position to, Viva La Dirt League is keen to support others.
It offers its green screen space for hire so other filmmakers can make use of the conveniently located studio for commercials, shorts and feature films. Viva La Dirt League is also looking to support other content creators by offering its production services to help others get their ideas made by a professional team.
Having grown from a team of three handling every job to a permanent team of about 15, complemented by contractors, Adam, Alan, and Rowan can now focus on the creative work they love.
This expansion also allows them to make business decisions that will ensure Viva La Dirt League remains a prominent feature on social media. And with their content amassing between 4 million and 10 million views per day across Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, its future is looking bright.
We're not just getting viral off one video and fading to obscurity,” says Adam. “Our growth is based on consistency, which I'm really happy about. Being able to keep making what we want to make, and what our audience wants to see, without any strings attached is a wonderful thing.