A youtuber on the 48 hour Film Festival jury? Fans take to the comment pages
The 48h film festival will take place in Lyon from 10 to 12 November 2017. The goal is simple: make a film in 48 hours. From Bogota to Budapest, Mexico City to Manchester, this competition is international. Meaning, it is open to amateurs and professionals everywhere.
To separate the wheat from the chaff you need a jury! The team that will decide the winners of the 6th edition was unveiled at the end of October. But as soon as it was announced it sparked a debate on the comment pages.
The presence of Inthepanda on the jury (a youtubeur well connected to cinema) was not unanimously welcomed. Why? Some commentators felt there was a lack of legitimacy, some spoke of amateurism? But who decides what is legitimate in the cinema?
Iconic YouTube figures are carving out a place for themselves in the middle ground as critics, analysts or even directors.
Nathalie Sonnac and Jean Gabszewicz are researchers in Information Science and Communication and Economics. They explained, in 2014, that “the consumer of content has turned into a creator offering his works on the internet”. For them, it is a logical evolution of the audience becoming the expert. YouTube is a pillar of this participatory web. The platform is also sliding towards professionalism and the film industry is starting to really take an interest in it.
The CNC in France has understood the emergence of this trend. Since 20 October 2017, a €2m fund will finance 100 projects of these new forms of writing. Some YouTubers are already in this space and do not intend to stop. Just look at Bagel Studio, the collective Les Parasites or the Le Grave de Films.
Whether you make a movie in 48 hours or one on YouTube, it makes no difference. All paths to making a movie are good
