The 5: YouTube Director Debuts
This Week on The 5: Directors Who Got Discovered on YouTube
YouTube isn’t just for crying children and bad cell phone footage of concerts. Artists upload their work to YouTube too. Of course everyone’s heard of a band that gets signed after getting massive YouTube hits, and now a new trend is developing. Hollywood studios are paying attention to hit counts too, and as a result, short film directors are getting recognized, and even getting real Hollywood deals. Here are five one time obscure directors that have gone big from their YouTube work.
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- District 9 – Neil Blomkamp. The first guy to do it, and the one to make the biggest splash is Neill Blomkamp, a South African director. Neil was supposed to direct a feature film based on the video game “Halo”, but Peter Jackson saw his short “Alive in Joburg” and scooped him up immediately. Funding for “Halo” disappeared and four years later, “District 9″ came about and grossed more than $200 million dollars worldwide, making Neil Blomkamp a major player in Hollywood. His next film is due out in 2013, Elysium, starring Matt Damon, with a budget of $120 million dollars. Thanks Pete! Watch his early short “Alive in Joburg” here.
- Mama – Andres Muschietti. Andres Muschietti, along with his sister Barbara Muschietti, made a short film in Portugese called “Mama” about a year ago, telling the story of sisters being harassed by what looks to be an evil spirit. Universal saw the short, loved it and signed them to a development deal. The studio paired them up with director and producer Guillermo del Toro and now this weekend “Mama” will be released nation wide, starring Jessica Chastain. That’s a real quick turnover from Youtube short to Hollywood writer/directors. del Toro even cut an intro as the short was re-released in anticipation for the film. Watch the original short “Mama” here, and the full length trailer here.
- Evil Dead – Federico Alvarez. Federico Alvarez was a complete unknown to Hollywood when he released his short, “Panic Attack”, onto the internet in 2009. He filmed it in his free time with a budget of $500. The sci-fi robot film got so much attention online that he was brought to L.A., offered a $1 million dollar directors fee and given a film development deal for $30 million. Sam Raimi had a big part in this and now Federico is directing the new “Evil Dead” remake. It’s set to come out April 12th, 2013. Watch “Panic Attack” here. Watch the trailer for “Evil Dead” here.
- Y: The Last Man – Dan Trachtenberg. New director Dan Trachtenberg was able to jump on the love for the “Portal” video game series and made a short called “Portal: No Escape”. 11.5 million views later, it’s just been announced Dan will be directing the film version of the hit comic book series by Brian K. Vaughn, “Y: The Last Man”. The comic is about the only man who survived a plague that killed all mammals on earth. The project has been bouncing around Hollywood for a while and Trachtenberg has been picked by New Line Cinema to helm it. Watch “Portal: No Escape” here.
- The Raven – Ricardo De Montreuil. Ricardo De Montreuil had some success in Latin America with his directing work, but nothing got him more exposure than the short film “The Raven” which he directed over the course of two days in Los Angeles. Mark Wahlberg and his producing partner Steve Levinson purchased the rights to the film with Ricardo to direct. Wahlberg is set to star in the feature length film. Watch the short “The Raven” here.
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