Can Web Stars Make the Move to Bigger-Screen Stardom?

It's one of the most pressing questions for the online world, especially at a publication like The Daily Reel, where our very mission is based on the possibility that today's YouTube auteurs are tomorrow's Hollywood mavericks. The United Talent Agency, one of Hollywood's biggest talent firms (which represents actors Jack Black and director M. Night Shyamalan, among many others) is making the bet that they will.

As reported in the New York Times yesterday, the Agency has just launched UTA Online, which was founded to discover the next generation of TV and film talent who may be lurking and working underground on the 'Net.

But UTA Online is also planning to pitch its clients to Internet-only venues that are seeking creatives to fill out their content. It's a major opportunity for actors, writers, and directors, who could potentially have an entire new place to pitch their wares and make a living doing it.

“In the old days, i.e., two months ago, it was about signing up those clients and immediately figuring out how to flip them into traditional media,” division head Brent Weinstein told the Times. “Now we can look at an artist and say, that might be a goal, but in the interim, or while we’re doing that, or instead of that, how can we monetize their interests online?”

But can web celebs like Little Loca (actress Stevie Ryan) and LonelyGirl15 (actress Jessica Rose) break out of the Internet ghetto and eventually make the leap to the big-screen world. Or are they destined to keep waiting and whiling away their careers strictly on computer screens?

If the future is anything like the present, web talents may have a tough time. Like television actors who struggle to break away from the boob tube and make a living in film, other types of media don't always welcome crossovers. For every George Clooney, who made the transition from "ER" to Hollywood heartthrob, there are hundreds of television faces that remain just that.