Markiplier funded, directed, acted, and distributed Iron Lung alone

Markiplier has taken care of every part of Iron Lung's theatrical run, funding, directing, performing and distributing globally on his own. 

The horror film exceeded all expectations and made $52 million upon release on January 30.

This has led to Hollywood studios wanting meetings and asking, "How'd you do it? Where did you come from?"

The 36-year-old American YouTuber and filmmaker's reply was simple "38 million YouTube subscribers." 

However, when he tried to release the movie on home devices he ran into a digital issue he hadn't expected.

The traditional routes to aggregation-intermediaries that clear rights and metadata-would have required him to relinquish control, which he wasn't willing to do.

Describing the process of distributing on digital, which he called "arduous," in a live stream.

Markiplier went to the top of the food chain and lobbied YouTube CEO Neal Mohan on how selling on YouTube directly affects their economy.

They explained that due to trailers beneath the movies with purchase links, viewers who convert without exiting YouTube and revenue sharing.

YouTube agreed to the exclusive release of Iron Lung on their platform. It was an exception for one creator speaking with the company's top management as its policy remains the same.

This is an interesting comparison to Kevin Smith's original Clerks breakthrough, his 1994 indie success simply isn't repeatable. 

Markiplier is facing the same kind of paradox. His specific strengths in the industry (enormous audience, capital freedom, negotiating leverage) are not available to any creator aspiring to make independent movies.

Still, precedence is important as a future filmmaker asking for same conditions will be able to cite Markiplier's case.