YouTube Really Is the New Silver Screen
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YouTube stars – those crazy kids with millions of subscribers – are increasingly transitioning from online celebrity to real world fame, from appearing in , to getting to designing their own .
Their rapid ascent into offline stardom highlights the increasing sophistication of the platform on which they were discovered. YouTube hasn’t just been a place to upload amateur videos for some time now – currently the platform boasts a fleet of wildly profitable multi-channel networks that could very well become the film studios of the future.
Just this week, YouTube scored an additional pair of high-profile projects.
Related: Spinning Viral Stars Into One-Man Empires: The Rise of YouTube’s Multi-Channel Networks
On Monday, New Form Digital, the studio formed by Discovery, Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) and Academy Award winning producer Brian Grazer, announced that it was partnering up with a collection of YouTube stars to fund and develop 14 short films, .
The films will be produced by a cast of popular YouTube creators and stars, including (3.6 million subscribers), (2.8 million) and (1.7 million), and will be distributed through the creator’s individual channels, with the potential for extended content deals, branded entertainment, and wider distribution if the videos prove to be a hit.
“We want to create scripted cinematic storytelling for the digital generation by combining great online talent with the storytelling expertise of Ron Howard,” Kathleen Grace, the former YouTube executive and current chief creative officer of New Form, told the outlet.
Related: Rumored: Yahoo Might Launch Its Own YouTube, Allegedly Snatching Up Viral YouTube Talent
On Wednesday, novelist James Patterson broke the news that his popular young adult series won’t be turned into a movie series, as originally intended (Columbia Pictures acquired the rights in 2008). Instead, he’s made a deal with the multichannel network Collective Digital Studio to turn his fantasy novels into a YouTube series (which will kick off with six to 10 videos, each 10 to 15 minutes long) starring YouTube personalities.
“The beauty of YouTube is that fans won’t have to wait forever as we won’t be bogged down by the typical studio development process,” Gary Binkow, Collective Digital’s chief content officer told adding “We’re not looking to bring (traditional) Hollywood talent and filmmakers into this ecosystem.”
Fair enough. Although , the day may soon arrive when the distinction between traditional Hollywood talent and YouTube talent fades away completely.
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YouTube stars – those crazy kids with millions of subscribers – are increasingly transitioning from online celebrity to real world fame, from appearing in , to getting to designing their own .
Their rapid ascent into offline stardom highlights the increasing sophistication of the platform on which they were discovered. YouTube hasn’t just been a place to upload amateur videos for some time now – currently the platform boasts a fleet of wildly profitable multi-channel networks that could very well become the film studios of the future.
Just this week, YouTube scored an additional pair of high-profile projects.
