From YouTube to the Big Screen
The film industry is changing in a simple but important way - people who start online are now making movies for theaters.
In years gone by, one can assume that most directors would have followed a similiar path before releasing a movie - they went to film school, worked on sets, and slowly built a career - but now, all you really need is the internet and a following..
If someone can attract millions of viewers online, there’s a good chance those same people will buy a ticket to see their film, and studios have certainly started to pay attention to this.
Granted, that is also not easy to accomplish, otherwise we would all have massive following, but it is easier, and cheaper than the usual way I would say.
A Different Way In
For years, online creators have been invited to premieres or hired as actors to help promote films, and not normally in the most honest or authentic of ways, but now we have situations where they are actually writing and directing them too.
Chris Stuckmann is one example, someone who built a large following reviewing movies on YouTube, before later directing Shelby Oaks, a horror film that began as a small idea and grew with support from his own audience.
Another example is Kane Parsons, who created The Backrooms as a teenager, a series of short videos set in empty, unsettling spaces, and these videos spread very quickly online, and guess what, now he has his own feature length film being released by A24 next month.
There are also creators like Curry Barker, who proved with short films that he could build tension and tell a story with very little money, and has had success with Milk & Serial, a free online found footage film he done, and will be releasing Obsession in May and is also set to direct The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Reimagining for A24.
More and more studios are going to show interest in YouTube creators going forward, so instead of them only buying scripts or adapting books, they will be backing people who already have a voice and a following.
And it makes perfect business sense, too, because even if the films aren’t very good, the loyal following of the creators almost guarantees a profit.
And boy, are the fans of these creators loyal, as I know when I was browsing Reddit reviews/thoughts of Iron Lung, his fan base were almost toxic like when someone popped up saying they wasn’t a fan of the film.
And while I wasn’t a huge fan of it, as I didn’t think it translated well to the screen, among other reasons, I did respect the journey a lot.
But anyway, more on Iron Lung…
Creating Iron Lung
Another way you can do it, rather than waiting for a studio to come to you, is how Markplier did it with regards to Iron Lung - he paid for it himself, spending around $3 million, where he also helped handle the release, rather than handing it over completely to a traditional distributor, starred in itm, and well, pretty much ran everything - The result?
The film earned about $36 million worldwide - and how did he do this?
He spoke directly to his fans, he encouraged them to ask their local theaters to show the film, so as more people requested it, major cinema chains added more screenings, showing that a strong fan base can replace a large marketing budget.
Why This Model Works
There are a few simple reasons why online creators are succeeding here- first, they already have viewers who trust them, so when they release something new, people will pay attention, and as mentioned, they are damn loyal.
Second, they know how to keep an audience engaged, as they’ve spent years learning what people respond to and what they ignore, slowly building tha following, third, they often work with smaller budgets, so this means their films don’t need to earn as much money to be considered successful, and finally, they can promote their work instantly, where a single post or video can reach millions of people without extra cost.
It’s pretty perfect, really.
What Does This Mean Going Forward?
Studios are certainly going to start to think differently about where talent comes from, and they are going to be looking at audiences - a creator with a loyal following can be just as valuable as a well-known actor or a popular franchise.
This doesn’t mean every online creator will succeed in film, as making a movie is still difficult (Not that I have any experience in it), and not every project will work, but the door is open in a way it wasn’t ever before, and there is now more than one way to become a well known filmmaker - if you can tell a story that people care about - and if you can get their attention - you have a real chance of bringing that story to the big screen.
This is just the beginning.
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