Pedro Pina, head of YouTube in Europe, recently reflected on the sweeping success of Obsession and Backrooms as films created by YouTubers, and used that to show the potential of YouTube-created movies. Speaking at IberSeries in Madrid, Spain, Pina said, “You see, from a cinema standpoint, a huge impact. Obsession and Backrooms were [from] YouTubers … they were tremendously successful this year and I would expect to see more and more of these examples in the Emmys and Oscars in the next years.”
Pina was excited to explore the prospect of new films premiering on the platform. He said, “We are an open platform where any model works. Some movies will want to go theatrical first, and then they’ll have windowing into specific distribution channels, and then they can be made available globally. Some others will go globally immediately if they can.” On the stage with him was Gianluca Curti, CEO of Minerva Pictures, an Italian indie film studio. The two of them discussed a slate of films that would released on YouTube.
Pina also commented on Disney co-chair Dana Walden’s recent remarks about the power of YouTube building fandoms and communities. He responded by saying, “If the likes of Disney open up the doors and are willing to collaborate with YouTube as they are, they can see how fandom can expand more and more, it’s great.”
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