By: Sarah Chaisson-Warner
What started out over 20 years ago as a failed dating site turned digital video platform, YouTube is once again playing a (re)defining role in the world of content, engagement, and media. Many filmmakers who have recently released successful feature films began on YouTube or other platforms building personality-based followership or creating short films and stories, capitalizing on the shift in how content gains attention.
Who are these creators, and how did they translate their ideas and subscribers from YouTube to the big screen? Read on to meet four filmmakers who broke the old Hollywood model to bring audiences some of the most exciting films of the last few years:
CURRY BARKER
The 26 year-old creator behind the global box office hit, “Obsession”, Curry Barker began his career on YouTube. “Obsession” tells the story of two friends who enter a nightmare of their own making when one of them wishes for the other to fall in love with him. Inspired by an episode of “The Simpsons” where Bart makes wishes on a monkey paw, the film grossed over $300 million at the global box office, making it Focus Features’ highest grossing film.
“I was thinking that I’ve never seen a straight crazy horror [based on that idea],” he said in a recent interview. “We’ve seen ‘be careful what you wish for’ tons of times. But we’ve never seen my version of it. I instantly started thinking about what I could do with that.”
The film made $150 million after it was acquired by Focus Features for $15 million. After the initial success of “Obsession”, Barker has since been tapped to develop future projects with Blumhouse and A24.
KANE PARSONS
Kane Parsons, also known as Kane Pixels, directed one of the biggest break-out films of the year: “Backrooms.” Based on his Youtube horror series, the film brought in over $250 million worldwide. At 20 years old he became the youngest filmmaker to have a number one film.
Parsons used his social media channels, including YouTube, as an opportunity to develop the proof of concept before directing the full film. The YouTube series was created by blending found-footage horror with visual effects, generating millions of views and gaining the attention of A24. A24 moved forward with a feature adaptation of the YouTube series, with Parsons as the director. By uploading the short to his YouTube channel, he was able to build momentum and popularity for the concept, sparking a multi-million dollar bidding war among studio execs.
Once he found himself in the director’s chair, though, he had to navigate the tensions of keeping the original tone and tenor of his YouTube series with the pressures of working with big studios.
“I think there was maybe an overestimation of the amount of change that has to go into that concept,” he said in an interview with HypeBeast. “But in my view the general engine and tone sensibilities were working, so we found a way to maintain that. I’m very glad we did.”
HEIDI WONG
Heidi Wong built her 2 million person YouTube followership with videos based on creepy internet stories, self-produced content, and movie reviews. Wong also boasts 1.8 million Instagram followers and over 6 million followers on TikTok! Her horror series “A Heidi Wong Horror Story” has gained the attention of Hollywood, eager to utilize her following to promote horror shows and films, including “Stranger Things.” While Wong has not yet produced her own film, she is on track to do so, she creates content for major studios, Netflix, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, and more. Last year, she made the “Hollywood Reporter’s Creator A-List” and is rumored to be on the short-list for developing feature films.
While Wong’s followership and fame came through online platforms, she doesn’t allow the platforms to dictate her content. “For me, I kept my style and creativity, and create whenever the inspiration came to me instead of when my [Instagram] feed ‘required’ it,” she told Authority. “For other [artists], it might simply be not letting the social media world take over their love of what they do. We’re all grateful for our following and all that social media has given us, but it’s important to create the same way we would if no one was watching.”
MARK FISCHBACH
Better known by his screen name Markiplier, Mark Fischbach built his 38 million subscribers through a combination of gaming content, comedy, and storytelling. He wrote, directed, and distributed his horror film, “Iron Lung.” The film tells the story of a prisoner inside a submarine on an alien moon. The film went on to gross more than $50 million.
Fischbach ignored the traditional marketing and distribution avenues for feature films, and developed his own strategies. With 38 million subscribers at his beckon, he employed the “call your local theater” approach. He shared the trailer to “Iron Lung” on his YouTube channel and asked his followers to contact their local movie theaters, requesting they schedule showings. Originally scheduled to show on only 60 screens, this tactic proved successful, with over 4,000 international screenings scheduled as a result of this strategy.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Fischbach indicated he hopes this strategy will help to disrupt current distribution approaches, and give viewers more ownership of what plays in cinemas. “It is a win for YouTubers because it’s like, the more that this happens the more normalized it becomes,” he said.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP WITH SHORE SCRIPTS
These creators are giving new credence to the ways viewers now exercise power over content. Rather than waiting for studios and Hollywood executives to decide what viewers want, the movement is now more grassroots than ever. Viewers and subscribers have more of a voice now than ever in championing the stories they want to see on the big screen, and creators have found new and imaginative strategies for testing their concepts and distributing their films.
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