The Academy wanted to sell the Oscars' move to YouTube, and it didn't bring a movie star to Zurich, it brought a YouTuber. Kane Parsons, whose $10M debut Backrooms has grossed more than $400M worldwide, shared a Zurich Summit panel with Academy CEO Bill Kramer to pitch the 2029 handoff. Creators aren't the novelty act at Hollywood events anymore, they're the credibility.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- YouTube takes exclusive global Oscars rights from 2029 through 2033, streaming free worldwide and ending ABC's run that began in 1976.
- The Academy's pitchman in Zurich wasn't a movie star. It was YouTuber Kane Parsons, sitting beside CEO Bill Kramer.
- Parsons' $10M debut Backrooms opened to $81.5M domestic and has passed $400M worldwide, A24's biggest film ever.
- The 2026 Oscars hit a four-year low of 17.9M TV viewers while social impressions jumped 42.4% to 184M+.
- Parsons called the short-form-only view of Gen Z "reductive," and the head of the Academy agreed.
- The lesson for creators: own the fan relationship, because that's the asset Hollywood now wants to borrow.
What actually happened?
Under a multi-year deal announced in December 2025, YouTube holds exclusive global rights to the Academy Awards from 2029 through 2033, per Variety. The ceremony will stream free worldwide, ending a run on ABC that began in 1976, according to The Hollywood Reporter. At the Deadline-moderated Zurich Summit last weekend, Kramer defended the move without hedging.
Parsons was on that stage because of receipts. Backrooms opened to $81.5M domestic and $118M worldwide, more than triple A24's previous opening record held by Civil War, per Deadline. At 20, he became the youngest filmmaker ever to open a movie at number one domestically, beating Josh Trank's Chronicle record, per Gold Derby.
Made on a reported $10M budget, Backrooms has since passed $400M worldwide, per Variety, after overtaking Marty Supreme as A24's highest-grossing film ever, per Variety. That's a YouTube channel turned into the studio's biggest hit.
"It almost feels risky not to do it."
Bill Kramer, CEO, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Deadline
Why does this matter for creators?
Because the power dynamic just flipped in public. Hollywood's oldest institution needed a creator standing next to it to make a streaming pivot look like the future instead of a retreat. Parsons built that leverage with free uploads on KanePixels, now at 3.6 million subscribers per Tubefilter, and a fandom that followed him from web series to theater.
He also torched a lazy industry myth. Parsons called the idea that Gen Z only watches short-form video "reductive," and Kramer echoed the word right back, per Yahoo Entertainment. Creators who build long-form worlds aren't fighting the algorithm, they're the ones selling out theaters.
Even his own fans expected a studio to fumble it. Parsons told the Zurich crowd that fans reacted to the trailer by bracing for Hollywood to "mess it up," per The Hollywood Reporter. It didn't happen, because the creator stayed in the driver's seat.
What's the bigger picture?
The linear audience is leaking. The March 2026 telecast drew 17.9M viewers on ABC and Hulu, down 9% and a four-year low, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Social impressions went the other way, up 42.4% to more than 184M, per Deadline. That's the entire case for YouTube in two numbers.
Kramer promised "a very different-looking Oscars," one that is more interactive and available in over 30 languages, per The Hollywood Reporter. He also noted that more of the show's audience lives outside America than inside it. Watch how much of that interactivity ends up built by creators rather than networks.
As for Backrooms, Parsons only offered "We'll see" on a sequel and floated a limited series as the ideal home for the saga's main ending. The creator, not the studio, is setting the terms of what comes next.
What does Fanvault think?
Fanvault thinks Parsons proves that audience ownership is the real asset, and platforms are rails, not landlords. His fans followed him from format to format, and creators deserve to keep most of what those fans spend: Fanvault takes an 8% platform fee so creators keep 92%, compared with 15% at Fanvue, 10% plus 30 cents at Passes, and about 20% at Fanfix. Every Fanvault profile also carries a storefront with auctions and buy-it-now drops of authenticated memorabilia, the same collector model fans already apply to filmmakers and athletes. If the Oscars have to borrow a creator's credibility, creators shouldn't be paying legacy-sized cuts.
The Academy spent five decades on ABC. Its next era runs on the platform where Kane Parsons built a $400M blockbuster, and everyone in that Zurich room knew who was teaching whom.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do the Oscars move to YouTube?
YouTube holds exclusive global rights to the Academy Awards from 2029 through 2033. The ceremony will stream free worldwide on YouTube, and on YouTube TV in the US, ending ABC's run as the Oscars' home since 1976, per Variety.
Why was Kane Parsons on stage with the Academy CEO?
Parsons is the YouTube-native creator behind KanePixels, whose Backrooms web series became A24's feature Backrooms. He joined Bill Kramer on a Zurich Summit panel about theatrical success in the age of YouTube and short-form platforms, per Deadline.
How much has Backrooms made at the box office?
Made on a reported $10M budget, Backrooms has grossed more than
Why is the Academy leaving ABC for YouTube?
The TV audience is shrinking. The 2026 telecast drew 17.9M viewers, down 9% and a four-year low, per The Hollywood Reporter. Kramer says YouTube offers global reach, interactivity, and more than 30 languages, and that "it almost feels risky not to do it."