Conor McClay

So you think this barrier between what in the past, in our past, would be considered a hard line between amateur and professional is starting to erode?

I think it's completely blurred.

So do you have any speculation on how Hollywood picked up on this and finally clued into the fact that there's a goldmine of...

professional-grade content right below the surface?

So flowing on from that, do you think we can anticipate more of this kind of thing going forward?

I'm 100% certain that that would be the case going forward.

Now, here in New Zealand, we obviously have a lot of government programs at the highest level that make it easier to make films.

But those come mostly at the highest level, at the professional level, right at the top at Hollywood.

Do you think with this sort of new aspect of the amateur and YouTube moving up to professional that maybe we're backing the wrong end of the pipeline?

What caused that?

Is that a difference in technology?

So how do we do this?

If we wanted to, as you say, back that end of the pipeline and encourage more amateur content rising from below to give an easier path and help our industry, what's the path to doing that, do you think?

There's a third example of a YouTuber going big in recent weeks, and that's the amazing Digital Circus, the final act to a completely free animated series which is of very professional quality.

It made 26.4 million US dollars on its opening weekend on a shoestring budget.

You know none of this is real, right?

So what's the point in taking this moral high ground?

It's not just movies, and it's not just overseas creators.

Two New Zealand developers recently set global player records on Roblox, a platform built almost entirely on user-generated content.

And Kenny says New Zealand already has a shining example when it comes to success built on a digital community.