Following the box office success of creator-made films like Iron Lung, Backrooms, and Obsession, Hollywood is looking at our industry in a whole new light.

As Viral Nation‘s Head of Programming Paul Telner puts it, “This is the gold rush.”

Telner, who’s been using Viral Nation’s resources to help creators like the McCarty family develop movies and shows based on their digital content, has spent years facing every barrier legacy media threw creators’ way.

“I remember taking creators to traditional U.S. cable networks, all the usual names, and they were like, ‘Yeah, maybe, but it has to be on the network’s terms, and we’re going to own the YouTube channel,'” he says. “I would look at these deals, and it was like, my goodness, these traditional networks want to own these creator social ecosystems, this content that creators put their own blood, sweat, and tears into building. These deals were terrible!”

Telner says he–and other creator industry insiders similarly working to get creators recognition from traditional studios and networks–wondered whether it was worth the effort of trying to explain creators’ power to legacy entities.

Thanks to the aforementioned trio of films, some of those barriers have broken. “Now, because of the rise of creators, because of advertising dollars shifting, and the rise of YouTube and socials, streamers are more about partnerships,” he says.

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