Snapshot · This Week in Tech (Audio)
Kane Pixels' Backrooms film, made on a $10 million A24 budget by a 20-year-old director, earned over $100 million in its opening weekend, marking a landmark for YouTube-to-film transitions.
Where this was said
At 2:34:42 · chapter starts 2:34:05
The week's most culturally significant story arrives at the end: YouTube has officially overtaken Netflix in global average daily viewing, reaching 99.1 minutes to Netflix's 93 [1] — Leo Laporte "Backrooms movie grossed $100M+ in first weekend: Kane Pixels' Backrooms film, made on a $10 million A24 budget by a 20-year-old director, e…" 2:34:42 . Simultaneously, Backrooms — directed by 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Pixels with $10 million from A24 — grossed over $100 million in its opening weekend. Jeff Jarvis notes this is categorically different from the failed first wave of YouTube-to-Hollywood transitions a decade ago, when Nickelodeon imported creators and stripped out what made them work. This time, the creators are making movies on their own terms. Jeff connects this to Robert Tercek's appearance on Intelligent Machines discussing AI-generated films premiering at Tribeca. Fr. Robert highlights Viva La Dirt League as a YouTube channel with genuine filmmaking chops, and Joey recommends 'The Archive Inbetween,' a YouTube channel doing AI-generated '1950s civil defense films for the multiverse.' South Korea leads global YouTube viewing at 161.5 minutes a day; France recorded the biggest growth.
A 20-year-old YouTube creator got $10 million from A24 and made over $100 million at the box office in one weekend. Meanwhile YouTube globally overtook Netflix in daily average viewing for the first time. The panel argues this isn't a fluke — it's the permanent collapse of traditional gatekeeping in entertainment.
YouTube's global average daily viewing reached 99.1 minutes in 2025, surpassing Netflix's 93 minutes, marking the first time YouTube has taken the daily viewing crown.
A novel called 'Call Me, I'll Hide the Body' triggered a 14-publisher bidding war and sold for $2.4 million before critics alleged it was predominantly written by AI.
John Mulaney cold-texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere to offer to produce her Netflix special, which became Wake Up.
Robby Hoffman posed as a courier to hand-deliver her spec script directly to the president of HBO Canada early in her career.
Robby and Mulaney filmed two shows in one night for the Netflix special; after the first they knew they had it, so the second was a victory lap.
Jimmy Carr performs up to 300 shows a year, often doing two shows per night, which he says reduces nerves rather than increasing them.
Jimmy Carr says that speaking at roughly 92 beats per minute is the optimal cadence for comedy and public speaking, including political speeches like Obama's.
The oldest recorded joke appears in a Roman book called 'The Lover of Laughter' and is still funny — a barber asking how a man wants his haircut, who replies 'in silence'.
Jimmy Carr argues that comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Dave Chappelle have permanently expanded the conversational Overton window on sex, politics, and taboo topics.
The Lion King musical has grossed over $11 billion in its 30-year run, making it the single highest-grossing piece of entertainment in history across any medium.
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