Moving from YouTube to TV is common these days: Lisa Nova, Brookers and Barats and Bereta are among those that have won deals with broadcasters.
David Lehre, creator of “MySpace: The Movie” (embedded below) is another Tuber making the move: he's been hired by Fox to make an as-yet-unnamed half-hour late night TV show. The pilot episode has a $300,000 budget, and Lehre is starring and directing. But a cocky quote from Lehre in the NYTimes today tells us why these deals might not work out - “I think the most annoying thing was having the producers on set telling you what they thought. If their opinions were that high and they are that good at comedy, they’d have their own show.” Whoa!
That's the issue here: YouTube producers don't work for the man. Just as entrepreneurs frequently leave the companies that acquire them, the free spirits at YouTube won't handle being bossed around. Switching to TV is about getting more money, status and greater distribution, but YouTube's reach is increasing daily, and YouTube users are about to get paid. I maintain that in 12 to 18 months, we'll see TV stars switching to YouTube, not the other way around.