Five years ago, it was rare for us to hear about a self-produced project crossing the Hollywood/digital content barrier. Now, less than 24 hours after Markiplier appeared at the Oscars thanks to his $50+ million run with Iron Lung, we have a fresh film announcement from our industry.
This one isn’t from an individual content creator, but from Night Media, the Dallas-based talent management agency perhaps best known for repping MrBeast through his early ascent to YouTube success.
As founder/CEO Reed Duchscher announced March 16, Night executive produced the upcoming indie comedy film Busboys, starring podcaster/comedian Theo Von and longtime Hollywood actor/comedian David Spade. The movie follows Von and Spade as two hapless buddies trying to make it big in the world of waiting by working their way up from (you guessed it) busboying.
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Busboys will go into Cinemark and Regal theaters April 17–meaning Von, Spade, and Night are following the same distribution method paved by creators like Markiplier and Sam & Colby.
How did this deal come together? Simple: Von signed his podcast, Last Weekend with Theo Von, to Rooster Teeth‘s network The Roost in 2023. When Rooster Teeth’s owner Warner Bros. Discovery (now there’s a name we’ve all heard ceaselessly over the last few months) shut the company down in 2024, Night stepped in and bought The Roost.
Worth noting: Von’s podcast brings around 20 million views per month on YouTube, and recent guests include high-profilers like RFK Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Druski, and Jason Momoa.
According to Busboys‘ director Jonah Feingold (31 Candles, EXmas, At Midnight), Von and Spade came up with the idea, wrote the film themselves, and then shot it all during the Palisades Fire in 2025.
“This is what independent filmmaking looks like in 2026,” he wrote, adding that Busboys is “one of [Night’s] first theatrical narrative projects—and working with them has been one of the great experiences of my career.”
“What they’ve built around this release is something I haven’t seen before. The way they’re mobilizing their community, activating their creators, and bringing audiences to theaters isn’t just smart marketing. It’s a new blueprint,” he said. “Studios are going to be studying this playbook for years.”
The trailer for Busboys is live on Von’s YouTube channel, and has around 250,000 views at press time. Tickets are on sale at a dedicated website, busboysmovie.com.
