Most YouTube careers were made out of people doing it in their spare time and finding out people actually want to watch. That's the only way it works.
That just isn't true at all, and hasn't been true for at least a decade. Professional YouTubers typically have a background in film, with training in acting, lighting, and editing.
Source: I worked for a variety of YouTube-related startups in Los Angeles. This sentiment is just completely inaccurate.
I watch a lot of what I would call "blue-collar" YouTubers. Woodworkers, machinists, makers, electrical hobbyists, etc. When they talk about their income, all of them say that their Youtube ad revenue pays next to nothing. Some of them make a decent living via Patreon or have other ways that for their followers to support them (e.g., selling project plans).
I can say with 100% confidence that none of them went to film school.
most tech channels had zero background with that. I mean linus tech tipps (one of the biggest), started to make youtube videos with limited resources and basically was asked by his old company to help out, without prior knowledge.
most gaming related channels were not done with prior backgrounds.
also a lot of early youtubers had no prior background.
I abo'd tons of german channels who make a living with it, which didn't do anything media related before youtube (some of course did to a certain (small) degree, like jp-performance)
youtube is just so big that there a tons of people with tons of background. of course the most successful people are those who know how to sell.
there's a world of difference between high-production YouTube and individual creator YouTube. The parent comment seemed to be addressing the type of people who want to be the next PewDiePie, not those who want to compete with Will Smith or Jack Black.
That just isn't true at all, and hasn't been true for at least a decade. Professional YouTubers typically have a background in film, with training in acting, lighting, and editing.
Source: I worked for a variety of YouTube-related startups in Los Angeles. This sentiment is just completely inaccurate.