Working for MrBeast, YouTube’s top creator, is a dream job for many. But moving to his headquarters in Greenville, North Carolina? That can be a harder sell for media workers accustomed to big-city living.
It’s “the polar opposite of where anyone working in the entertainment industry would expect to live,” a former MrBeast creative said.
Greenville, with around 90,000 residents, is a college town at its core. Many of its bars, restaurants, and clubs are tailored to the 27,000 students at East Carolina University. This can be an adjustment for Angelenos used to $20 collagen-peptide smoothies at Erewhon or dining on truffle sashimi at Catch.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, grew up in Greenville and launched his channel from his childhood bedroom. Now with over 400 million subscribers, the MrBeast team operates a full-scale production operation in the city, which is about 230 miles northeast of Charlotte. The company recently scored a $15 million grant from North Carolina, about half of the state’s film and entertainment budget, to film its Amazon Prime Video show, “Beast Games,” in the area.
Even for Greenville residents who don’t pay attention to YouTube, MrBeast’s name finds its way into conversations, said Gabby Bishop, a senior at ECU. Bishop said she’s had friends appear in MrBeast videos, and sometimes hears of Donaldson sightings at local restaurants when he’s in town.
Not all of MrBeast’s roughly 450 employees have been asked to move to the city. Some are originally from the Greenville area. The team behind Feastables, MrBeast’s chocolate bars, works in Chicago. But most of the YouTube creative staff, like producers who oversee filming and daily on-set tasks, are expected to head to North Carolina. For the 300-odd staff who work in Greenville, the social scene tends to revolve around the workplace, four ex-MrBeast staffers said.
“It was almost entirely Beasters hanging with Beasters,” a former MrBeast producer said.
For some LA creatives who move to Greenville for the chance to work with Donaldson, the adjustment to college-town life can be challenging. The first ex-staffer said transitioning from a big city to a college town surrounded by farmland was “quite a shock.”
MrBeast employees aren’t alone in chafing at relocation demands. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that ESPN “Sports Center” staffers from LA complained about moving to its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. And Hollywood creatives are often asked to spend months away from home to shoot in tax-friendly locations like Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The rise of YouTube, which hosts videos from all parts of the world, could accelerate the trend of entertainment workers leaving LA. While some top creators, such as Dhar Mann and Alan Chikin Chow, set up production operations in LA, others choose to build out their teams elsewhere, creating a new wave of media hubs outside major cities.
When MrBeast staffers aren’t shooting videos, team members sometimes hang out at the production campus, which has amenities like a fully equipped gym. Some throw parties in the apartment units that the company provides to contract workers, while others burn off steam at local college-kid hot spots. Those include the brewery Pitt Street Brewing Company, the nightclub Still Life, the hot dog spot Sup Dogs — where Donaldson has filmed — and B’s Barbeque, a small shack located off Route 43.
“We’d go out to bars, but they were pretty much college kid-filled,” the former producer said, adding that they often had to work on weekends, limiting their free time.
Natalie Williams, a bartender at Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint, said she regularly sees MrBeast staffers stop by the craft brew restaurant. Her manager has even been in a couple of videos, Williams said.
Some MrBeast staffers said they formed lasting friendships with other team members while living in the city. One mentioned that a media paycheck goes further in Greenville, where costs are much lower than in New York or LA.
The Greenville ‘vibe check’
The MrBeast team understands that Greenville isn’t the best fit for everyone.
That’s why there’s a “vibe check” period for some new hires. The company brings them to Greenville as contractors for 90 days before committing to hiring them full-time. During the vibe check, the company puts workers up in temporary housing and gives them a rental car so they can focus fully on their jobs rather than relocation logistics.
The goal is to “ensure you don’t uproot your entire life and move to Greenville, North Carolina, and not work out,” a former MrBeast writer said.
Vibe checks are also about assessing culture fit, the fourth ex-staffer said. The company is looking for media talent who are humble and open to being coached on Donaldson’s content style.
“People who come from filming videos for news, editorial, or even film, they think, ‘I can do that, so I can work here,'” a fourth former MrBeast staffer said. “The problem is it’s so vastly different. You’re doing shorter content, you’re not trying to film a movie.”
MrBeast is everywhere in Greenville
Greenville is a small enough city that when a Trader Joe’s opens, it’s a news event (an opening last year was a talking point among staffers). In that setting, a YouTuber like Donaldson can make quite a splash.
When the creator filmed the second season of his Amazon show earlier this year, locals took notice of police patrols around the set. The MrBeast team even hired a group of lobbyists to guard the company’s interests in the state.
The MrBeast campus, sprawled across dozens of acres, features giant sound stages and elaborate sets for YouTube videos, surrounded by green fields and trees. The team often casts locals in videos, previously calling production assistants “friends of friends” due to their local ties.
MrBeast’s imprint on Greenville extends well beyond his sets, and many of Greenville’s residents, from the owner of Sup Dogs restaurant to the mayor, have spoken positively of the creator.
In 2022, ECU worked with the MrBeast team to establish a content creator curriculum. One Greenville resident even set up an unauthorized MrBeast-themed Vrbo rental.
Donaldson’s ties with Greenville officials and civic leaders can be useful, since many of his over-the-top stunts might otherwise alarm them.
“The Sheriff’s office knows if they get a 911 call about an explosion, they know it’s from us,” the fourth ex-staffer said.
Sgt. Lee Darnell, public information officer for the county’s sheriff’s office, said the office “had worked alongside the security team at MrBeast on many occasions and with great success.”
For creatives who move to the city to work on MrBeast productions, immersing yourself in the company’s culture can help you advance.
“People who did well at the company were younger, didn’t have significant others, and could completely buy into the mission,” the fourth ex-staffer said.
The commitment may not be a draw for all creatives, but adding MrBeast to your résumé can pay off big in the long run, a fifth former MrBeast staffer said.
“People are constantly hitting up my LinkedIn for a chance to poach someone from MrBeast,” they said. “It’s really good for your career.”
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