Sony just handed its horror label to a YouTube lifer. Creators are the pipeline now.

Sony just put a 15-year YouTube veteran in charge of Screen Gems, the genre label behind Resident Evil, Underworld and Insidious. Fede Goldenberg's mandate is blunt: find creators who already have devoted online audiences and turn their projects into theatrical releases. It lands after a year where YouTubers made horror's biggest hits, led by Kane Parsons' Backrooms and its record $81M opening.

What actually happened?

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news as an exclusive on October 9, and Tubefilter followed the same day. Goldenberg spent 15 years at YouTube and has run its TV and film content partnerships since 2017. He replaces Ashley Brucks, president of Screen Gems since 2023, who moves into a producing role, per Screen Daily.

Goldenberg reports to Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures' Motion Picture Group, according to Deadline. TheWrap calls it the first time a studio division has reoriented itself toward creator talent. And Sony is explicit that it wants theatrical films, not streaming filler.

"After 15 years at YouTube, the world's biggest digital platform, I know firsthand that the next generation of great filmmakers is already building audiences on the platform. Expanding Screen Gems' creative vision to include digital-native creators is the right move at the right moment."

Fede Goldenberg, Head of Screen Gems, The Hollywood Reporter

Why does this matter for creators?

Look at the scoreboard. Markiplier self-financed Iron Lung for about $3M, released it himself, and opened to $8.9M domestic, per Variety. It finished near $51.2M worldwide, more than 15x its budget, per The Numbers.

Curry Barker's Obsession opened to $17.2M, well ahead of estimates (Deadline), then climbed past $200M globally to become Focus Features' biggest movie ever (The Hollywood Reporter). Two weeks later, Kane Parsons' Backrooms opened to $81M domestic and $118M worldwide on a budget of roughly $10M, per Variety. That more than tripled A24's previous opening record, set by Civil War.

Here's the part Sony won't say out loud: none of these creators were discovered. They spent years building IP and a direct line to fans before Hollywood ever called. Studios aren't hiring follower counts anymore, they're buying built-in opening weekends.

For mid-tier creators, that widens the door. A studio label with an explicit creator mandate means pitches that once died in development now have a buyer. The catch is that the audience has to be real, loyal and yours.

"Some of the most exciting new filmmakers and ideas are emerging from creators outside of traditional Hollywood development pipelines."

Sanford Panitch, President, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, TheWrap

Where does this go from here?

Screen Gems has tried the internet-horror play before. Its 2018 Slender Man adaptation, built on viral creepypasta lore, flopped, as Tubefilter notes. The difference now is that the creators themselves are behind the camera, and they arrive with proof of demand.

Goldenberg also isn't new to this game, since Tubefilter reports he championed creator-led theatrical events at YouTube, including French YouTuber Inoxtag's. Expect every studio with a genre label to copy this playbook within a year. Expect creator horror to get crowded fast, too.

The winners in that crowd will be the creators who walk in owning their IP and their fan relationships. The losers will be the ones hoping a studio hands them both.

What does Fanvault think?

The audience is the asset, so stop renting it at a steep markup. Fanvault takes 8% and creators keep 92%, versus Fanvue at 15%, Passes at 10% + $0.30 and Fanfix at about 20%, with memberships, paywalled posts, paid DMs, tips, wishlists and a storefront for auctions and authenticated memorabilia all in one account. Every point a platform skims off fan spending is a tax on the exact relationship Sony just reorganized a whole label to buy. Own the fans, own the IP, and show up to the Screen Gems meeting holding the leverage.

Hollywood finally figured out where the next horror hits come from. The only question left for creators is whether they cash the check or sign away the rights.