Community Central
Community Central

The Fandom Video Player is a global content space that appears on the top of many wiki pages. Content that is displayed in the Fandom Video Player is created by the Emmy-nominated Fandom Productions team, which includes ScreenJunkies. Content types include the weekly video series The Loop, Honest Trailers, and legacy explainer videos (Featured Videos), among others. Logged out users see videos three times per session every 30 minutes, while by default no logged in users see the Fandom Video Player unless they choose to enable it.

How the Fandom Video Player works[]

The Fandom Video Player appears at the top of many wiki pages. When the page loads, the video plays automatically with the sound turned off. The player provides the following options while a video is playing:

  • A Play/Pause button
  • A volume bar
  • A time stamp showing the progress of the video
  • A settings bar with a Video Quality menu, providing standard viewing options
  • A social media sharing menu
  • A picture in picture (PIP) mode
  • A full screen button (you can also go full screen by pressing F on your keyboard)

Before a Fandom video begins, the player may first display a video advertisement. When you scroll down the page on FandomDesktop, the video minimizes into a smaller player in the lower right-hand corner of the page. On FandomMobile, the video remains fixed at the top of the page while scrolling. The scrolling player can be dismissed at any time on desktop and mobile.

The Fandom Video Player is disabled by default for logged in users but can be enabled in account preferences. It remains visible to all logged out users and cannot be disabled.

Fandom's video voice[]

The goal of any video in the Fandom Video Player is to have it feel like its voice is authentic to Fandom and that it's grounded in community. There are three primary pillars to that voice:

  • Lore. Fandom wikis are all about lore. Fandom is a reference platform, after all! So naturally, deep lore and fan expertise is a central pillar of Fandom's video productions. Fandom wikis are all about authenticity, so any video that plays on a wiki page should feel the same and like it was made with the same passion and expertise that the community brings to the table every day.
  • Fan Forward. Complimenting fan expertise, the thoughts of fans are also an important part of our video voice. We regularly poll communities, ask questions, and gather thoughts and opinions so we can show off what the community has to say, particularly in The Loop. That includes anything from opinions about recent releases all the way to theories about what a show, movie, or game is going to do next.
  • IRL. News and events from the world of pop culture are a big part of our video content, particularly The Loop. So, when you watch a Fandom video, you will often find out what's happening in the world of entertainment and gaming and even what fans are doing to celebrate their fandoms.

And with a platform as big as Fandom, we're able to dig into data around what fans are searching for on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and beyond. So, we have the unique ability to showcase what fans are most interested in around major titles, because they tell us based on what pages they are searching for and visiting. So, if we say in a video what characters are popular in Star Wars right now, that's not our subjective opinion—we can tell you exactly what people are looking for.

Types of videos[]

Videos that appear in the Fandom Video Player come in one of two forms. The first is the main video associated with the page, which will play (without sound) on a page when a logged-out user begins their session on Fandom. The second is in a playlist; when a user reaches the end of one video, a playlist will kick in and automatically provide them with a new one. The Loop is currently the primary content that appears as the main video, with other Fandom video content kicking in next. Legacy Featured Video also appears in the main spot on some pages, although that is in the process of being retired.

The Loop (main video)[]

The Loop is a weekly mini-show produced by Fandom Productions to cover the latest developments in Entertainment and Gaming. These videos play on articles not covered by legacy videos and are vertical specific for Entertainment and Gaming.

For example, the Joyce Byers article would display an Entertainment video because the Stranger Things Wiki is in the TV vertical, while the Able Sisters article on Animal Crossing Wiki would display the episode for Gaming. Viewers will only be served an episode of The Loop three times per wiki, after which point a rate limit kicks in and lasts for 30 minutes (a period of time longer than most site sessions).

Here's a recent Entertainment episode of The Loop all about what fans searched for on entertainment wikis in 2021:


Here's a recent Gaming episode of The Loop all about what fans searched for on gaming wikis in 2021:

And here's a recent Lifestyle episode of The Loop all about what fans searched for on lifestyle wikis in 2021

Interactive Video (main video)[]

Recently, we debuted our first ever Interactive Video made in collaboration with the DC Database community and quickly followed that with a Memory Alpha video made in collaboration with the community there. Interactive Video, first announced at our March 2021 Community Connect virtual event, is a custom and highly produced series of videos that brings wiki content directly into videos like Fandomized trailers as well as overviews of franchises and the worlds that they inhabit. Not only does it just display wiki content, but viewers can actively engage with the content, click through a wiki within the video, and deep dive into more information.

It's still in its early days, with only a handful of videos having been produced and released so far, but we will be continuing to partner with communities to create these videos and have them display as the main video in the Fandom Video Player on that wiki instead of The Loop.

Here's the Memory Alpha video as an example:

Honest Trailers (playlist)[]

Honest Trailers is a long-running video series by ScreenJunkies, part of Fandom Productions. Honest Trailers and Honest Games Trailers are a series of parody trailers for movies, shows, and games that satirize the subject they cover.

Check out a recent episode of Honest Trailers, about David Lynch's Dune:


You can also check out a recent episode of Honest Games Trailers, about Pokémon UNITE:


Honest Trailers was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The series has included multiple celebrity cameos, including Ryan Reynolds and Patton Oswalt, and has attracted the attention of directors such as Jordan Vogt-Roberts (who appeared in the Honest Trailer for his film Kong: Skull Island) and Joe and Anthony Russo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When directing Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Russo brothers said their goal was to make the script "Honest Trailer-proof." They later appeared in a reaction video with the ScreenJunkies team to watch and discuss the film's Honest Trailer.

CRAM IT! (playlist)[]

CRAM IT! is a series all about catching fans up on long-running franchises prior to the launch of a new season, film, or title. They are created for both entertainment and gaming franchises and are sometimes made in partnership with the studios behind the franchise the video is about. Here's a great example of a CRAM IT! for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword:

Fandom 5 (playlist)[]

Fandom 5 is a trivia show where fans can compete to see who knows the most about a particular franchise, with the opportunity to win a cash prize. Fandom 5 can be run for entertainment and gaming properties. Here’s a recent Fandom 5 based on Rick and Morty:

Featured Video (legacy content)[]

Featured Videos were the first type of video content to appear in the Fandom Video Player, beginning in 2017. They were produced to provide an overview of a given article's topic and generally display only on the articles they are directly related to. Unlike episodes of The Loop, these videos may be served an indefinite number of times to viewers.

There are a number of different video types:

For gaming:

  • Walkthrough Videos for explanations on how to complete quests, missions, and levels in a visually engaging way to complement their gameplay.
  • Tips & Tricks Videos that showcase information that players might not otherwise be aware of, such as where to find rare items, how to combat certain enemies, and more.
  • Tactics Videos that walk players through different scenarios within a game, such as how to defeat a boss, what items to use in a fight, and what powers to avoid against certain enemies.
  • Lore Videos that cover topics such as characters, backstories, myths, and legends, to present viewers with a high-level overview of the subject.

For anime, movies, and TV:

  • Biography Videos that recap a high-level character biography.
  • Analysis Videos that take a closer look at a topic, such as who a character is, what makes them who they are, and why they are interesting.
  • Recap Videos that give an overview of a movie or TV series, season, or episode.

Featured Videos were generally regarded as being lower quality than what communities felt was appropriate for displaying on wiki pages. As a result, Fandom stopped producing Featured Videos in early 2019. Many of them still remain on the top of their respective pages, but these are in the process of being retired.

Other Fandom Productions videos[]

ScreenJunkies, now part of Fandom Productions, has produced a number of pretty incredible fan forward programs since well before they joined Fandom in 2018. Since then, they've also produced and released a number of documentary-style videos that explore different corners of pop culture. Although not intended as playlist videos or for the Fandom Video Player, we wanted to document some of them here to show off the breadth and depth that Fandom is able to bring to our productions.

Fandom Uncovered[]

Fandom Uncovered is a series of documentary shorts looking at the impact that pop culture fandoms have on the lives of fans and even on society. Although only two episodes have been produced since 2019, the episodes were well-received and have gotten well over one million views across YouTube and social media.

The first, "How Twilight Saved a Town," explores the impact of the Twilight Saga and how it helped save the town of Forks, Washington from the Great Recession of 2008. You can watch it here:


The second, "Defeat Your Demons with Dungeons & Dragons," explores the impact that Dungeons & Dragons has had on the lives of players throughout the world and how it went from being an underground game (even being part of the Satanic Panic in the 1980s) to more mainstream over the last several decades. You can watch it on YouTube here.

Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary[]

In 1999, Galaxy Quest released in theaters as both a parody of and love letter to the Star Trek franchise. It was also one of the first major films to begin embracing the idea of fandom, with several sequences set during a fan convention for the Galaxy Quest show that existed within the movie's universe.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, Fandom released Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary. This feature-length documentary explores the cultural impact of Galaxy Quest through a behind the scenes look at the making of the film and interviews with the cast, crew, and other actors and creators from science fiction fame including Star Trek.

You can check out the trailer here:

Next pages[]

See also[]

Further help and feedback[]