Independent Content Creators Online

"Rosen’s book provides a pathbreaking investigation into the internet culture of Israel’s Gen Y, focusing on user-generated videos. At times funny, provocative, nostalgic, and unsettling, these videos show how digital filmmaking offers an alternative to legacy media while revealing much about the attitudes and aesthetics of this generation of content producers. For anyone interested in global developments in digital media and popular culture, this book is a must-read.” —Dr Heather Inwood, The University of Cambridge "Independent Content Creators Online offers a compelling series of case studies of Millennial creators doing innovative storytelling to build audiences online, in their quests to overcome precariousness and make a living in the post-broadcast era of streaming. Most fascinating is Rosen’s capture of a zeitgeist that uniquely shapes a generation, the first whose lives are mediated by online screens and immersive video culture". —Dr Guy Healy, Author of The Production of Global Web Series in a Networked Age "A rich and insightful analysis of Israel's web creation in terms of digital culture, aesthetics, and production. Rosen explores in depth the complexities of online stardom, medium transitions, and shifting boundaries between authenticity and performance. This book makes a timely contribution to film and media studies, illuminating the evolving landscape of digital creativity in an era of algorithmic platforms and hybrid media forms." —Dr Ohad Landesman, Tel Aviv University This book analyses popular works by the first generation of Israeli independent content creators who gained their reputation by achieving viral success on social media. Some of them paved their way from the web to mainstream culture, yet so far, their fascinating innovations have not been researched. This pioneering book makes an important advancement in filling this gap, by discussing cross-over and transnationalism. It addresses, among others, issues of temporality, ideology, ontology, aesthetics, industry and commerce, humor, and stardom. Dr Ido Rosen is co-editor of New Directions in Israeli Media: Film, Television, and Digital Content (2025). His previous research project examined National Fears in Israeli Horror Films.