Last week, I talked about the crazy huge hit that Backrooms became, and how it is absolutely crushing the Hollywood’s current big budget flopfests.

Well, this past, week, the top three movie box office slots all went to YouTube born creators. Once again the horror movies Backrooms and Obsession made were at Number One and Two respectively, but at Number Three was The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, the feature length conclusion to the mega popular viral YouTube hit.

If you’re curious about these and some other creators, check out these YouTube channels for some goofy…and free…summer entertainment:

The Amazing Digital Circus

The Australian indie animation studio GLITCH Productions were pitched the idea for this series by a creator named Gooseworx, and the series pilot went viral when it hit their channel in 2023. The show, done in old-school style computer imagery is the crossroads of colorful zany imagery and a darkly psychological story of humans trapped in a computer simulated circus. The series did so well so well on YouTube, particularly with a teen audience who wanted something deeper than a kids’s toon, but not on the gross-out level of adult animation. It got picked up by Netflix (and yes, you can see it there). The feature length conclusion came up with an ending many didn’t expect, but even is this isn’t your bag. You have to admire the style.

Kane Pixels’ Attack On Titan shorts

I talked about YouTuber Kane Parsons last week, and if you don’t already know about Backrooms you must be hiding in one. However Parson’s channel, Kane Pixels started out with some pretty cool reimaginings of the anime Attack on Titan, to look like old WWII era war footage. Keeping in mind he was a teenager when he created these makes them even more crazy.

Any Random Playlist from Markiplier’s Channel

I know gamers on YouTube are a dime a dozen, but Markiplier has been an intelligent, sarcastic standout since hit YouTube more than ten years ago. And, he has one of the best narrating voices on the entire platform.

Those who didn’t already follow him discovered his dedication and talent when his self-funded, self-directed and self-featuring horror based on the game Iron Lung hit theaters earlier this year. He even attended the Oscars as a result, but I really hope he steers clear of that level of mainstream. He already got a great thing going on his channel, from game playthroughs and reactions, to comedy sketches to candy reviews. For example…here he is with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. There are shorter videos, if you don’t want to take this very-relatable journey:

I’ve talked about how not every movie or show needs to hammer the viewer over the head with a current message, but the underlying message these YouTube creators have been sending big budget Hollywood is pretty clear. They don’t need to jump through your hoops, or know all the right people to put butts in theatre seats.

Sometimes, just sometimes, all it takes is creating a good story, and building an audience who wants to see it. If that audience can be found on YouTube, well so be it.