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The Colin and Samir Show

How Extreme Birdwatching on YouTube could redefine Hollywood.

The Colin and Samir Show

Colin and Samir

Business

4.9703 Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today on The Colin and Samir Show we speak with filmmaker Owen Reiser. When he realized his work in nature documentaries was drying up, he decided to make his own. The result was Listers , a two-hour birdwatching documentary he made with his brother. It cost him $16,000 and he uploaded straight to YouTube with the ads turned off. It reached millions of people, built a community around his work, and created an interesting revenue model for films on YouTube. We talk with Owen about how he pulled it off, how much he made, why he turned down Hollywood offers, and what Listers says about the future of filmmaking on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Sean has had some good ideas over the years.

0:05.0

But using Canva was a really good one.

0:08.0

Sean designed some social posts to promote his friend's car boot sale.

0:13.0

They looked good.

0:15.0

Really, really good.

0:17.0

Next thing he knows, someone came and bought the lot, including the car.

0:23.6

Now Sean doesn't know how he's going to get home.

0:27.6

Thanks, Canva.

0:29.6

One of the biggest trends this year has been the complicated relationship between YouTube and Hollywood.

0:35.6

And this relationship can be summed up by this quote from Jimmy Kimmel.

0:39.7

I'm very conscious of the fact that ABC pays for the show and YouTube pays nothing.

0:46.1

And YouTube gets to sell it and keep half the money.

0:49.9

And that's quite a deal for them.

0:52.3

It really is.

0:53.4

And this is a problem not just for Kimmel and ABC,

0:55.5

but this is a problem for everyone.

0:57.2

From studios like Lionsgate trying to justify

0:59.5

their massive budgets to independent filmmakers

1:02.6

searching for a way to make a living off their art.

1:05.1

So today we're highlighting an unlikely YouTube video

1:07.9

that might just show us the solution to this problem. Now you may have seen it, but if you haven't, I'm going to let the main character

1:14.6

explain the premise of this movie to you.

...

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