YouTube’s European boss, Pedro Pina, says that in the wake of the success of Obsession and Backrooms, more films and series originating on the platform will enter the awards conversation.
“You see, from a cinema standpoint, a huge impact. Obsession and Backrooms were [from] YouTubers … they were tremendously successful this year and I would expect to see more and more of these examples in the Emmys and Oscars in the next years.”
Pina was speaking at IberSeries in Madrid, Spain, in a session moderated by Deadline. He has appeared at numerous big TV events of late, with the message that the Google-owned platform is a partner to traditional media, rather than a threat.
He continued in the same vein at IberSeries, and spoke specifically about film. The YouTube exec was joined on stage by Gianluca Curti, CEO of Italian indie film studio Minerva Pictures, who discussed plans to continue building a slate of feature films that will bow on YouTube.
Pina said that when it comes to movies, there will be various release patterns on YouTube.
“We are an open platform where any model works. Some movies will want to go theatrical first, and then they’ll have windowing into specific distribution channels, and then they can be made available globally. Some others will go globally immediately if they can.”
He also referenced Disney co-chair Dana Walden’s comments about YouTube playing a role in building fans and communities around its content. “If the likes of Disney open up the doors and are willing to collaborate with YouTube as they are, they can see how fandom can expand more and more, it’s great.”
The Iberseries conversation also took in sports content with Portuguese pubcaster RTP on stage to talk about partnering with YouTube on its UEFA Nations League and Women’s Champions League coverage. 3Cat, the digital arm of Catalan broadcaster TVC, was on hand to talk about how it coordinated the recent launch of an OTT platform with launching new verticals on YouTube.
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