As major film studios seek deals with directors whose careers began on social media, Sony Pictures Entertainment is taking a slightly different approach: It’s bringing the business side of YouTube to Hollywood.
Sony has announced the hire of Fede Goldenberg, who will serve as the head of Screen Gems. After a 15-year stint at YouTube — during which he became the company’s Head of Film and TV Partnerships — Goldenberg is taking the reins of a production and distribution label that delivers many mid-budget horror flicks.
An entity called “Screen Gems” has existed for nearly a century. Initially, the name applied to the animation arm of Columbia Pictures; then, it was applied to the unit now known as Sony Pictures Television. In contemporary times, Screen Gems is known for its emphasis on genre films. In particular, it has deep roots in horror, producing installments for hit franchises like Insidious and Resident Evil.
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As it turns out, YouTube creators are adept horror directors. The biggest creator success stories in Hollywood have come within that genre, and more are on the way.
Thus far, Screen Gems’ biggest gamble on creator content came in 2018, when the label cooked up a feature adaptation of the Slender Man lore that went viral through internet creepypastas. The Slender Man film was a flop, but it paved the way for future creator-led endeavors in Hollywood. Despite failing to score a hit, Sony showed that creepypastas could spin gold at the box office — a strategy that would later pay off for A24 thanks to Kane Parsons’ Backrooms. And a film built around deep internet lore opened the door for Invisible Narratives and its ongoing attempt to turn Skibidi Toilet into a piece of multiplatform IP.
Now that creators have gotten so hot in Hollywood, Sony wants a piece. By hiring Goldenberg, the studio is bringing in an exec who championed theatrical events led by creators like Inoxtag and helped Markiplier release his film Iron Lung on YouTube. In a statement, Sony confirmed that it will “expand its longstanding focus on traditional genre films to include theatrical projects from the next generation of digital-native storytellers.”
So if you’re a creator with a gory tale to tell, Goldenberg might have a development deal with your name on it. By putting a YouTube vet in charge at Screen Gems, Sony is showing that the creator invasion of Hollywood has legs as long as Slender Man.
