Roman Atwood is about to make a big jump.
The YouTube prankster will film himself skydiving, for the first time, and instead of using his traditional vlogging format on YouTube, he will broadcast the stunt live on video app Live.me.
Atwood, who has more than 8 million subscribers and 2 billion views on his YouTube channel, has partnered with Live.me to produce these live stunts. Most recently, he destroyed a police car with a monster truck -- a feat that drew more than a million live viewers.
SEE ALSO: Big-name YouTubers will take their pranks to the big screenOn Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, Atwood and his girlfriend Brittany Smith will jump from a plane at about 25,000 feet over Ohio.
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Mashablecaught up with Atwood over the phone to learn more about his latest stunt and why he is using live video.
What attracted you to YouTube as a platform in the beginning?
I had tons of videos, and my guys were like you should put it on YouTube, people will love it. Well, people didn't love it, like my videos were bad. I remember throwing a party with my friends the first time one of my videos hit 50 views in 24 hours. We really celebrated. It was a big accomplishment, which is crazy because now we do 5 to 7 million views every 24 hours on my blog channel. That was six years in the making. It's been a steady climb.
What have been the lessons you've learned as a creator?
My biggest lessons have been not just keeping your content consistent and original but evolving, learning how to evolve not just with your audience but with yourself, trying to find what it is you actually love to do, definitely be able to move with your audience. As they get bored with your content, you have to be able to find something you enjoy.
When did you start to see live video as a part of your life?
I'm very new to the live world. I've just been dedicated to the YouTube platform, but I've teamed up with Live.me. They have really helped me. The reason I never dove into live is because I thought I was just too boring for it.
The reason I never dove into live is because I thought I was just too boring for it.
These guys have really helped me step up the game. Everything from just doing bigger live events rather than me just talking to the camera to this weekend we'll have multi-cam, three or four cell phones, filming. I've never skydived before, and my girlfriend is terrified. So it should make for great content.
What was your first live video?
I skateboarded on a treadmill. It's always been little quirky stunts, things to entertain the viewers. I've only done five streams. The first few there was absolutely no plan whatsoever. We would just go live and improvise. But the last two have been planned. I brought in a Monster Jam truck, and we smashed my cop car. We had 1.3 million live viewers on that livestream.
How do you define live video? Do you see it more like TV, or do you like the participatory aspect of it?
So far, my experience has been an instant connection with my viewers. On YouTube, there's a delay. You still have a pretty big connection, but when you're live, it's raw. There's no cutting. There's no editing. It's an instant connection, and I'm there with my viewers all at once. To be able to talk to them all at the same time, it's pretty cool.
With all the other live video apps and Facebook and Twitter doing live, why did you choose Live.me?
Live.me is a cool place to stream. The system and the set-up has made it fun for the viewers. Now, you can stream together with another person. I am new to the live-streaming world so I don't really know what the other apps offer, but Live.me came to me and offered ways for me to pull off these stunts. For me, they've offered me the opportunity to do what I want to do and that's a huge win.
What do you see in the future for you as a creator? Do you want to just do live video?
I think for now it's a great mix. I like where it's at, and I love the stream viewership. Like I said, the last one was over a million viewers. When you have that many people watching, it's really surreal.