YouTube is increasing its presence at this year’s Sundance Film Festival with new panels and workshops centered on its upcoming original shows.
YouTube’s slate of original programming is set to roll out on its ad-free subscription service, Red, next month. The lineup features a who’s-who of the video platform’s biggest stars, including Lilly Singh’s documentary A Trip to Unicorn Island, PewDiePie’s new series Scare PewDiePie, and a feature film entitled Lazer Team courtesy of popular channel Rooster Teeth.
A Sundance panel will be dedicated to the upcoming productions and will include YouTube star Singh, Awesomeness TV’s Matt Kaplan, Lazer Team’s Gavin Free, and former MTV exec (and current VP of YouTube originals) Susanne Daniels.
A second panel will be chaired by YouTube CMO Danielle Tiedt and will feature the platform’s virtual reality and 360-degree videos, reports Mashable. In November, the Alphabet-owned video service announced that its videos could be viewed via Google’s Cardboard VR headset.
Additional collaborations between YouTube and Sundance include the New Voices lab, where new artists will work with veteran producers and showrunners to develop episodic projects. Meanwhile, the Sundance Institute YouTube Creators Intensive workshop will take place at both the film festival and conclude at YouTube Space LA. YouTube is also sponsoring the festival’s short film program.
Commenting on the YouTube-led programs, Michelle Satter, founding director of Sundance’s Feature Film Program, said: “[They] will support the next generation of artists who are shaping the very nature of the form and bringing fresh, original series to audiences.”
YouTube isn’t the only online service participating at Sundance this year. Hulu is set to unveil its J.J. Abrams produced sci-fi conspiracy series 11.22.63 starring James Franco, Amazon is offering its documentary series The New Yorker Presents, and Starz is set to showcase its Steven Soderbergh-produced series The Girlfriend Experience.
