Report: YouTube Asks Hollywood For Help/content

YouTube may be in talks with Hollywood studios for original content. According to Reuters, executives from YouTube have been making the rounds in tinsel town, speaking to independent producers as well as big-name studios. The move would move the video upload site into direct competition with Netflix and Amazon.

Execs from Mountain View have been in Hollywood for around two months, gauging the "kinds of support" they would be able to tap into. Rather than hop aboard the made-for-YouTube train, it seems YouTube is also interested in getting studios to support their content providers, likely via the YouTube studios set up in Southern California.

Sources also claim YouTube wants shows of their own. Those programs lasting less than half an hour are what YouTube is looking at, along with higher production values.

YouTube is the leader in streaming video content, but relies on uploads from users. Viral hits make YouTube a destination, as well as homegrown releases that end up popular series'. YouTube has funded video channels on their own before, but never enlisted professional studios to aid content creators.

The real problem YouTube has isn't money, or content — it's image. If Google wants YouTube to be more than a viral video site, they'll probably need a partition. It's hard to watch some YouTube drama unfold when the next recommended video is a Sweet Brown remix.

Source: Reuters