YouTube goes from pariah to partner in Hollywood under former Netflix executive
- Kelly Merryman’s partnerships with Disney and other media companies have helped boost YouTube’s profile and generated more money for the company
- Late-night hosts like The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah have shared interviews on it and infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci has also appeared
Since Kelly Merryman joined YouTube seven years ago she has worked tirelessly to change Hollywood’s perception of YouTube from pariah to partner.
The Google-owned video platform’s vice-president of content partnerships persuaded media companies to use the vast reach of YouTube to promote their shows and films. The premium content also benefits YouTube, which takes in revenue from ads placed on the videos and shares that money with partners.
The growing ties, deemed unfathomable 15 years ago, have strengthened during the Covid-19 pandemic, as studios have increasingly relied on YouTube to lure younger audiences to new streaming platforms.
US studios including NBCUniversal used YouTube as one of the digital platforms for releasing more than 10 paid video-on-demand titles in 2020, including Trolls World Tour. The Trolls movie brought in US$95 million during its first three weeks in online sales across a variety of platforms, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to comment.
“We’ve gone from the platform that made them no money and they were suing to the platform that is paying out massive amounts of money and lots of usage for them,” says Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s chief business officer. “Kelly is right in the centre of all of this.”