Friends feeling entitled to my youtube money? that I don't even have yet.

[DapperDanVlogs]

(if this is in the wrong section please move)

so as of now I do not qualify for ad revenue, but... I have a friend who is somewhat involved in my youtube channel. he holds the camera sometimes and he is in about 50% of my videos. I do all the research, branding, equipment buying, 80% of the filming, and 100% of the editing. he told me if my channel ever becomes popular he hopes we can work as partners and do this full time. the problem is he is not motivated or enthusiastic, basically in my eyes I do all the work and he seems to feel he is entitled to 50% if this ever gets profitable. don't get me wrong he is my best friend and i like having him involved and i think his personality on camera adds value to the channel, and I like "when" he is involved, but really I do all the work.

I've seen this ruin youtube channels that I watch and split friend groups apart out of resentment and I wondered how people feel about paying friends, or partnering up with friends.

I am a dirt bike channel so I ride with other people too, are all those people going to start wanting money for being on video?
can you pay friends a flat rate to be featured in a video? is this necessary?

just wondered what everyone else thought.

 

[Dutchie Abroad]

In my opinion your friend is not entitled to anything. He might appear in videos, but that is his own choice. It's the shooting and editing that is the work of a channel, not to mention all the small stuff such as PR and SEO optimization. Plus, you earn absolute peanuts until you get really big. He seems to think Youtube will be some kind of pot of gold, but it won't.

I'm not too sure how to handle this though. Maybe sit him down and talk him through the monetization process of Youtube, how many views per day you need to actually make some money and how far you are off. Tell him YT is a hobby, not a pot of gold you're sitting on and not sharing. It's an absurd idea to pay friends to be in a video, like they're some kind of extra's or actors. Tell them that as well. Always ask for consent as well, before using footage with them in it. If they don't want to be in the video, you should honour that, but if they do want to bin in it, you don't owe them anything for doing so.

 

[GameVestment]

I must disagree with @Dutchie Abroad

If your friend appears on camera in your videos, he talks or shows his face,, he pretty much can take the video down or ask you to do it in the future.
The same happened with the channel: The Completionist. 2 friends started making videos, they got big, they got into a fight and one of them sued the other one and asked to remove the videos where he appeared so the other guy actually deleted 100+ videos with million of views.

Working alone in a channel is the best thing you can do, no partnerships, no networks.
If you don't feel like paying him now or in the future I suggest you start moving solo
If you can't cause he's your camera man maybe you can find another alternative (go pro, vlog camera)
Just tell him you should start a channel together (where he will work more),, that way you will be able to start moving solo
in the future if you grow just tell him you'll pay him 50% of what the video generated that month (usually old videos are dead and don't generate that much), the videos where he appeared
Editing is where all the work takes place, camera man yeah is important but not 50% important unless he helps with other stuff like managing the channel, looking out for sponsors, etc etc

 

[ZulfPhotography]

If someone helps you when your small that is a big thing. If he makes himself available for whenever you need a camera person that's a good thing. I would handle this in 3 steps.
1. If you enjoy his company and it motivates you to create more. Then get him more involved to earn his future keep as it were. Do some editing or thumbnail creation etc.
2.Find a video online discussing what YouTubers can earn and watch it together. Explain the hard work needed before any substantial money is made.
3. Set out an agreement if you reach xxx watch time and xxx subs and he does more then just filming then you can share the glory. Even say once your big you may hire in another. Even talk abt helping him create a channel in return.

If he brings value to your channel try and keep him more involved.