In the world of creators, authenticity reins supreme. A genuine connection to a topic or concept can be the difference between a show or channel that resonates with audiences — or one that viewers will pass by.

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That’s true for creator content on YouTube, and it’s increasingly true for branded content too.

Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry know a thing or two about that. As the hosts of The Colin and Samir Show, they cover the ins and outs of creators and the creator economy every week.

Now, for their latest project, they are bringing a dose of what they talk on their show to life in a tangible way, via a partnership with the automotive brand Lexus.

The duo will host Colin & Samir Start Over, a series that sees them traveling across the country in the Lexus GX 550 and Lexus RZ 550e, reconnecting with the outdoors, and trying new things to inspire their creativity.

And, yes, there is a personal inspiration. Both Colin and Samir lost their houses in last year’s L.A. fires, and that shock ultimately inspired the concept they brought to Lexus.

“I think it was this moment of true reflection of, okay our entire routine has been completely shaken up. Were we doing what we wanted to be doing? Were we living every day the way we wanted to be living it?” Rosenblum says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “And when we had the opportunity to pitch Lexus, we thought, can we pitch an experience that is new and different and takes us out of our routine?”

“There’s a level of authenticity that is a part of this campaign that’s just like the actual moment in our life, and what we were desiring was reinvention,” Chaudry adds. “Having this dramatic of a thing happen in your life, you’re just faced with this premise of what now? Who am I now? And we were really honest about that with our audience. We have multiple videos on our channel that address this moment for us, and this question of reinvention. And we just told that story to the Lexus team and said, what would I do with a car right now? I would drive around and do a bunch of things that I want to do to explore my creativity again, and get out of L.A. and just go on adventures.”

As it happens, Chaudry also had another connection to Lexus: During the pandemic, he auditioned for a Lexus commercial. “I was miserable at it. I didn’t know anything about it,” he recalls. He spoke about the experience on their podcast, which a YouTube partner manager listened to.

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“Just based on the timing, Lexus was looking for creators to work with, and looking for creators with an authentic connection to Lexus, and beyond the fact that I auditioned for the campaign, it was also the first car I ever drove, was my mom’s Lexus, and I talked about that as well, and so I was very publicly talking about this funny audition story with Lexus, and it just sparked something, a connection in our partner manager’s head, as that request came from the other side of Google and asked us if we would want to pitch something to Lexus,” he said.

The duo also worked with Creative Works at Google on the project. The in-house consultancy is in the business of connecting brands and creators on campaigns, a business that Kevin Babcock, the head of creative partnerships for U.S. Creative Works at Google, says has been booming in recent years.

Our team is always looking for great partnerships between creators and brands to bring them together to to really achieve a brand’s marketing objectives, and the partnership with Lexus has been a great one over the years,” Babcock says. “So, when the opportunity was flagged to us, actually by Colin and Samir’s partnership manager at Google, Andrew, we thought actually the timing really aligned really well to initiatives that Lexus was asking us for support on.”

“At Lexus, we believe meaningful progress comes from the courage to evolve and the pursuit of new experiences,” adds Lisa McQueen, senior manager of Lexus marketing. “Our partnership with Colin and Samir reflects a shared commitment to reinvention, thoughtful storytelling, and creativity with purpose. Through this series, we’re exploring how the journey itself can inspire new perspectives and shape what comes next.” 

Lexus will roll out new episodes of Colin & Samir Start Over throughout the year, and the pair hope that it stands on its own as something their fans will want to watch.

“We wanted to make something that felt very native to YouTube that used a lot of the same storytelling tactics that we’ve used in our videos, even down to the initial hooks,” Rosenblum says. “We thought a lot about the first line of every single asset, so that if someone’s sitting down watching YouTube on their TV and an ad plays, we’re getting their attention.”

And as chroniclers of the creator economy themselves, they are hoping that it could even inspire some other brands and creatives to participate.

“I think it’s just like a really fun and abundant time, and there’s going to be a lot of experimentation and I think there’s going to be a lot of good creative that comes out of this,” Chaudry says. “I couldn’t be more excited for creators to have a new outlet on the platform to tell stories, because not every creator, not every idea fits into what you are distributing as a distribution platform. This content is different for us, it’s a variation of what we make, but to express ourselves in this way in this context is really fun, and I think more creators want to do this.”

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You can watch the first episode of Colin & Samir Start Over, below.