Michael Gallagher attends "The Leader" premiere during 2026 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theater on June 05, 2026 in New York City. WireImage Fad to the future.
Speaking of Tribeca, arguably the buzziest title coming out of the festival so far is the Heaven’s Gate cult biopic, “The Leader,” from writer-director Michael Gallagher.
The film stars Vera Farmiga, Tim Blake Nelson and Jim Parsons — but it’s Gallagher’s history as a filmmaker who got his start in YouTube with millions of followers from his work on shows like “TotallySketch,” which adds a special cachet to the film that is getting solid-to-strong reviews.
Following the success of 20-year-old Kane Parsons‘ horror film “Backrooms” and 26-year-old Curry Barker’s “Obsession,” Hollywood — at least at the moment — seems under the spell of a certain type of auteur; notably young ones who cut their teeth creating content on YouTube (as P6H has analyzed here and here).
Several agents have told P6H that they are hunting for the next Barker or Parsons, and it didn’t take long for The Hollywood Reporter to assemble its own short list of YouTube creators who may soon be called upon to try making a full-length feature. But some worry that the hype may be missing a larger truth about the creator economy.
“People are conflating the success (of the two movies) with the salvation of Hollywood. But these guys are outliers,” said a manager who works exclusively with creators.
“There are creators who aspire to be filmmakers, but most of the creators I work with didn’t get into this industry to be filmmakers; they’re more passionate about making content, building a fan base, making money and becoming famous. It’s great that these new avenues have opened up but the business model hasn’t changed, and so it’s really on the traditional film industry to make room for some new storytellers.”
