A pair of YouTubers are giving Hollywood something to talk about as the industry cheers the box office bonanza for Backrooms and Obsession — both closing in on $200 million worldwide, and both from Gen Z filmmakers who got their start with social video.
Coming this week: Look for Ashley’s collab with Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey as they reveal the next wave of digital creators crashing the big screen — and how they’ll shake up showbiz dealmaking.
Natalie had another sharp deals take with her Netflix podcast sellers’ guide, a deep dive into what kinds of shows the streamer is looking for — and what it’s paying to lure top talent away from YouTube in this booming arena.
Meanwhile, ahead of Friday’s news that several state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, will sue to block Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Lesley Goldberg took a look at the seismic impact on the internal power ranks if David Ellison’s merger does go through. In our top story of the week, she games the odds on Bloys vs. Holland and the other key battles to come.
But heyyy, Hollywood, the shows must go on! And Team Ankler took the stage at two standout events this week that were all about great storytelling — first, on Wednesday, our Prestige Junkie Live screening and Q&A with the stars and showrunner of Prime Video’s Spider-Noir, hosted by Christopher Rosen; and then, on Friday evening, YouTube’s FYC-palooza, where Katey Rich — introduced by Janice Min — sat down with top creators Brittany Broski, Kareem Rahma, Julian Shapiro-Barnum and Cleo Abram. Read more about both happenings in Prestige Junkie this week as Emmy campaigning heats up.
WEB SIGHT From left: Spider-Noir co-showrunner Oren Uziel, second from left, with stars (from left) Jack Huston, Karen Rodriguez, Lamorne Morris and Lukas Haas. Todd Williamson/January ImagesNEW ORDER From left: Katey, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Cleo Abram, Brittany Broski, Kareem Rahma and Janice at YouTube’s FYC celebration, where Janice spoke about the platform and its creators’ “fundamental reordering of who gets to make great movies and television.” Nick Lie/Getty Images for YouTube
Ankler illustration. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; Focus Features; Frank Masi/Sony Pictures; Stephanie Augello/Variety via Getty Images.
Ankler illustration. Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press; Universal History Archive/Getty Images.
Bari Weiss and the Trojan Horse Plan for Hollywood Showbiz outrage over the CBS News teardown hides a far uglier truth, Richard Rushfield writes: An industry that has lost its way as deeply as this one invites the wolves in, and they are here.
Plus, Euphoria’s and The Four Seasons’ Colman Domingo spoke with Katey about his extremely busy season (including a turn in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day), and The Girlfriend’s Robin Wright reveals how she kept audiences engaged as star, director and EP says of the Prime Video series:
Backrooms/Obsession mania is trickling down to the rest of the theatrical business, too. Sean lays out AMC & Cinemark’s huge May boosts and the NBA Finals studio marketing surge:
Elaine, Sean andNatalie dive into the YouTube revolution, then examine the growing disconnect between what Hollywood says about AI in public vs. how creators and more are really using it:
