Searchlight Pictures boss Matthew Greenfield broke down how YouTube has become fertile ground for finding new stories and filmmakers. The Searchlight Pictures boss also spoke about the battle with familiarity and the nee...
By Nexvoro Tech Wire
PUBLISHED SAT, SEP 12, 2026 6:21 PM UTC • 6 MIN READ
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Searchlight Pictures boss Matthew Greenfield broke down how YouTube has become fertile ground for finding new stories and filmmakers. The Searchlight Pictures boss also spoke about the battle with familiarity and the need for original ideas to get people into movie theaters in the streaming age.
After Obsession and Backrooms , studios and producers are scouring YouTube for the next big property originating on the Google-owned video sharing platform.
"One of the things that's super exciting about [YouTube] is that it used to be that we would find, collectively in the industry, new talent from short films, from first features, from short stories. But all of those had to go through gatekeepers in one form or another.
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"With YouTube, obviously, people can go direct and find and build their own audience. And we can find things that wouldn't have come through the standard [avenues]. So, for sure, it's an exciting place to find new talent."
Greenfield was speaking at TIFF: The Market , the Toronto Film Festival's shiny new film and TV market, which also has a conference strand to take the temperature of the industry.
The Searchlight exec talked about there being a battle with familiarity that needs to be waged to get people into theaters. "Familiarity is the challenge that we have to battle against," he said. "How do we tell stories that feel new, that feel fresh, that feel interesting, that feel worthy of a theatrical experience?"
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He continued: "Everybody has to decide every time they go to a movie: should I pay X dollars, make a real effort, get out of the house, travel, pay to see a movie in the theater, which is a great experience if you're seeing something you love. Or, should I stay at home and watch everything that has ever been made in the history of human culture?"
Greenfield was speaking at a live recording of industry podcast The Town.
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