The Most Exciting Thing in Film Is Happening Outside of Hollywood

What Hollywood lost in audience connection, independent creators are reclaiming

The Industry Doesn’t Know, But the Audience Does

In the past year, I’ve spoken with current and former executives at studios, streamers, and production companies—people whose job it is to know what’s next. And behind the curtain, they’ll admit the same unsettling truth: no one knows what they’re doing. The mandates shift weekly. The data is incomplete. Everyone’s either betting on sequels, IP, or vibes.

But here’s the real issue: it’s not that they can’t find good stories. It’s that they don’t know how to connect them with audiences. The old model—find a compelling script, attach a name, cut a trailer, hope it hits—is broken. Not because the stories are worse, but because the system doesn’t know who it’s speaking to anymore. The result? Safe bets, smaller swings, and a fear of anything that doesn’t already come with a built-in audience.

Outside that system, something else is happening. A new generation of filmmakers is building worlds and testing ideas, not in pitch rooms, but in real time. And they’re doing it by flipping the order: audience first, execution second.

YouTubers Are the New Worldbuilders

Look at creators like Creator Camp, Life of Riza, and Dhar Mann. These aren’t just random YouTubers posting for fun. They are micro-studios, building narrative brands from scratch. Creator Camp crafts high-production skits with recurring characters and recognizable tone, turning what could be random comedy into a cinematic universe. Life of Riza mixes vlog intimacy with elevated aesthetic sensibility, creating emotional arcs that feel scripted but real. Dhar Mann, for all the memes, has turned bite-sized morality tales into one of the most-watched scripted formats online.

What do they all have in common? They know their audience intimately. Their thumbnails, titles, and content aren’t driven by guesswork. They’re the product of iteration, data, and direct feedback. Each release is a real-time test. Did people click? Did they comment? Did they stay? They don’t need to speculate on audience demand—they’re tracking it in every post.

Meanwhile, Hollywood still greenlights based on comps from five years ago.

More importantly, these creators are filling narrative gaps Hollywood ignores. Stories about growing up Muslim, working class families, Gen Z school drama, small-scale friendship dilemmas. These are stories that don’t “track globally” in a studio boardroom but hit millions on mobile.

Trust and Trackability Beat IP

We’re now in an age where everyone has access to the tools. You can shoot a movie on your phone that looks better than half the indie films at SXSW ten years ago. So if production value is no longer the barrier, what is?

Trust. Authenticity. Intentionality.

The reason Dhar Mann can pull millions of views per upload isn’t just because the videos are short. It’s because the audience knows what they’re getting. Same with Creator Camp. Same with a dozen other creators who’ve built micro-brands by showing up consistently and delivering a distinct, recognizable promise.

They’re not just making content. They’re cultivating trust. And trust scales. Trust is a moat. When you build that relationship with your audience, they come back. They share. They stay. That’s the difference between virality and a career.

Most studios are still playing an IP shell game, recycling known properties while ignoring the fact that brand loyalty now lives on platforms, not posters.

Building in Public is the New Greenlight

This isn’t about abandoning artistry. It’s about aligning it with modern tools. When everyone has a camera, a platform, and a shot at attention, the question isn’t “Can you make something good?” It’s: Can you make something resonant? Can you test it? Can you track it?

Here’s the challenge. Instead of treating your next short or pilot or feature as a passion project with a release date, treat it like a product test. Make a concept trailer. Post a story asking if people would watch it. Launch a behind-the-scenes dev vlog. Track the comments. Look at what people respond to, not just what they like.

This is the new R&D. Not labs. Not festivals. Not coverage reports. Audience feedback is the note.

If you're a filmmaker waiting for permission, here's your new brief:

Build the idea in public.
Pressure test with a small audience.
Follow the signal, not just the dream.

Because the most exciting things in film are already happening. They’re just not being called “film” yet.

They’re being called content. Skits. Shorts. Experiments. But when you step back, you’ll see it’s the same impulse. To tell stories that move people. To shape culture. To make meaning. And the people who understand that, plus how to reach an audience?

They’re not waiting to break in. They’re building the future from the outside in.