Markiplier Goes to Hollywood

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: "Markiplier Goes to Hollywood"

Podcast: What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future
Host: Lizzie O’Leary (Slate Podcasts)
Guest: Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)
Date: February 10, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This episode explores the seismic success of YouTube star Markiplier (Mark Fischbach) with his self-financed movie adaptation of the horror video game Iron Lung. Host Lizzie O'Leary interviews Mark about his journey from pioneering "Let's Play" videos to directing and starring in a #1 box office hit. Together, they discuss what Mark's Hollywood breakthrough means for the larger entertainment industry—especially for creators on platforms like YouTube—and debate the shifting perceptions of digital-native talent within traditional film spaces.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Markiplier’s Path from YouTube to Hollywood

• Mark recaps his 14-year evolution as a content creator:
  • Early years doing "Let's Plays", sketch comedy, and choose-your-own-adventure projects
  • Overcoming significant personal and professional hurdles, including a health scare and job loss (11:29)
• Making Iron Lung:
  • Self-financed, self-directed, starring himself
  • Supported by direct fan engagement and a grassroots distribution effort, including a custom website built by his wife to track theater showtimes (06:44, 24:51)

The Emotional Highs of Success

• Mark speaks candidly about the emotional impact of hitting #1 at the box office and being supported by fans:
  • "I get emotional about it because this one...was just such a culmination of so many years of work for me." (07:07)
  • Mark's reputation as a "softy" is a long-standing joke with fans, and he feels no embarrassment about his tears of joy (07:07)

On Identity: YouTuber vs. Filmmaker

• Mark discusses the ongoing struggle to be taken seriously by Hollywood, despite prior projects and accolades:
  • He jokes about colleagues "humbling" him, even after an Emmy nomination, illustrating how little some perceptions change—even as his achievements grow (08:04)
  • Frames movie-making as an extension of his YouTube work: "For me, there's no difference." (08:46)
• Argues the biggest difference is scale, not creative skillset

The Origins of Markiplier & Motivation

• Mark’s entrance into YouTube stemmed from personal crisis and a desire for creative fulfillment after a medical scare and career uncertainty (09:22–11:29)
• ADHD and a compulsion to follow creative tangents led him to YouTube after art and music didn’t stick (11:29)
• Finds motivation in feedback loops; early Reddit success gave him the initial spark to keep going (11:29–12:53)

The Iron Lung Adaptation

• Selected Iron Lung not for broad appeal, but personal resonance and the creative challenge of its constraints (submarine, minimal visibility, large existential questions)
  • "I don't really care about doing broad appeal. I do what appeals to me." (14:11)
  • The intellectual and atmospheric ambiguity of the game drew him to the project (15:14)
  • Naively thought a single-room setting would make the film easier; discovered the opposite was true (15:50)

Hollywood’s Reluctance and the "YouTube Stigma"

• Studios struggled to take the project and Mark seriously, often dismissing the audience or likening YouTubers’ reach to mainstream entertainers like Taylor Swift (21:17)
  • Mark points out the business case for underestimating online audiences is laughable
  • Recalls being ignored on the Emmy red carpet by major media: "I just didn't understand why they wouldn't [interview me]." (21:17)
  • Hopes his breakthrough normalizes YouTuber transitions to film: "My objective here is to make it not weird to give more YouTubers that come after me a chance to be taken seriously." (23:15)

Movie Theaters vs. Digital Experiences

• Mark thinks theatrical releases maintain unique experiential value in an age of constant digital consumption (24:51)
  • Praises the communal, immersive nature of moviegoing as a "human experience" that offers something even home theaters can't (24:51)

The Future: YouTubers Making Movies?

• Mark is optimistic about more YouTubers bridging the gap to mainstream film
  • "It's inevitable. I think there are too many YouTubers to stop. And if they can't be stopped anyway...it's going to happen no matter what." (26:14)
  • Sees his own journey as opening a door, whether for emulation or motivation from detractors

Handling Public Criticism

• Mark is unbothered by negative reviews or criticism from critics:
  • "The thing about me is when it comes to comments and negative criticism, it's actually genuinely never bothered me." (27:16)
  • Only personal feedback from those he knows affects him (27:41)

What Drives Markiplier?

• Thrives on the cycle of creative challenge and instant feedback, admits to being "hopelessly addicted" to making things and quickly moving on to the next big idea (28:48)
• Already thinking about future projects rather than basking in the current success (28:48–29:55)

What's Next?

• Mark plans to continue self-funding and filling whatever production roles are needed, but hopes to collaborate with more talent over time (30:08–31:21)
• Confirms, unequivocally: "Oh, yeah, yeah. Many more [movies], probably." (31:21)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Seeing Success Unfold in Real Time:

  "It wasn't until Friday that we got numbers in for what the Thursday nights were. And then I realized, oh, we might actually have a competition with Sam Raimi here. And I was like, oh, it's on." — Mark Fischbach, 05:27

• On the Challenges of Industry Perception:

  "The implication was, you know, YouTubers, no matter how many subscribers they have, are never going to be like a mainstream celebrity. ...to not recognize from a business standpoint, the value of those audiences always makes me laugh." — Mark Fischbach, 21:17

• On Motivation and Creative Drive:

  "I am horribly addicted to the cycle of making things and pushing myself." — Mark Fischbach, 28:48

---

Segment Timestamps

• [05:05] – Mark introduces himself; starting "Iron Lung"
• [05:27] – When success became real; emotional responses
• [07:49] – Identity: YouTuber vs. filmmaker
• [09:22] – Mark’s origins on YouTube, medical crisis
• [11:29] – Motivation after illness; early feedback
• [14:11] – Why choose Iron Lung; creative risks
• [17:22] – Transitioning from interactive YouTube to multi-week shoots
• [19:00] – Struggles with Hollywood acceptance
• [21:17] – The “YouTube stigma”; industry anecdotes
• [24:51] – On the enduring appeal of movie theaters
• [25:59] – Can YouTubers cross over successfully?
• [27:12] – Critics and external validation
• [28:48] – Inner motivations and future plans
• [31:19] – The next movie and evolving collaboration style

---

Tone & Takeaways

The conversation blends humor, frank self-reflection, and a sometimes irreverent take on Hollywood norms. Markiplier comes across as self-effacing, emotionally open, and fiercely committed to authenticity—insights that may inspire aspiring creators and challenge the entertainment industry's legacy gatekeeping. The episode positions Mark’s success as the harbinger of a broader creative transformation, where online storytellers claim their place in mainstream culture—not just as influencers, but as artists and auteurs in their own right.

---

Transcript

[Paige Osborne]

Hey, this is Paige from Giggly Squad. We all have way too many subscriptions and bills and no good way to manage or track all of them. But now we have Experian. It's the best place to manage your finances because you can connect all of your accounts in one place, track all your spending, and you can let Experian do the work of finding ways to save you money. January is the perfect time to get your finances in order. It's the perfect New Year resolution. Let your big financial friend Experian do the work for you. So get started today with the Experian app.

[Monday.com Advertiser]

Now close your eyes. Focus. Listen to work getting done with Monday.com relax as AI does the manual work while your teams are aligned on a single source of truth. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform so flexible and intuitive it feels like it was built just for you. Notice you're limitless, limitless, limitless. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com, start for free, and finally breathe.

[Unknown Speaker]

I see that question in your eyes.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

For what purpose do we remain alone in the dark?

[Lizzie O'Leary]

If you took a look at the Hollywood box office for the weekend of January 30th, you'd see something a bit surprising. Sure, Sam Raimi's thriller Send Help is there, as is Melania. But right up there above the pseudo documentary about the first lady is a little movie called Iron Lung. It's based on a horror video game where you pilot a submarine through an ocean of blood and depending on how you count, it was either the number one or number two movie in America. A self finance movie without a big studio behind it, made by one guy. His real name is Mark Fishbach, but he is better known by his YouTube name, Markiplier. Mark has been making content for YouTube for over a decade. He was one of the early pioneers of let's Play videos, where he plays video games and comments on them for his fans. In his time on YouTube, he's made a ton of different things. In 2022, he was nominated for an Emmy for In Space with markiplier, a choose your own adventure style video posted to his channel. In 2024, he starred in the Edge of Sleep, a miniseries on Amazon Prime. But despite those successes and his millions of subscribers, when Mark wanted to make Iron Lung, Hollywood still saw a YouTuber today on the show, talking with Markiplier about his breakout success and whether the movie industry needs to take YouTube seriously. I'm Lizzie O' Leary and you're listening to a special midweek edition of what Next tbd, a show about technology, power, and how the future will be determined. Stick around. This episode is brought to you by Duck AI, a new product from DuckDuckGo. It's 2026 and the news is full of AI. It can be a little overwhelming, especially because it's easy to wonder if what you are asking a chatbot is actually secure. That's why DuckDuckGo built Duck AI. Duck AI is designed to let you chat privately with the same AIs you might already be using. Plus, it's completely free. No signups, no subscriptions. Duck AI promises to protect your info from hackers, scammers and data hungry companies. And it's from DuckDuckGo, the company that's been protecting your privacy, not collecting your Data for nearly two decades. If you want to use AI but you're concerned about privacy, visit Duck AI TBD today. That's Duck AI TBD from DuckDuckGo, where AI is always optional and designed to be private.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Dreaming of getting the all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Then stay in bed and let a Boost Mobile expert deliver and set it up for you.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Oh actually they will have to get

[Monday.com Advertiser]

up and open the door.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Oh right. Delivery available for select devices [e-mail] terms apply.

[BetterHelp Advertiser]

A better help ad hold on one second, I just need to. What if you had a room where no one interrupts? No notifications, no expectations, just space to talk with BetterHelp Therapy happens in a space that's yours. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of online therapy.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Mark, why don't you introduce yourself?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Hi, I'm markiplier, also known as Mark. I made Iron Lung the movie, not the game. David Szymanski made the game.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Was there a moment when you realized that Iron Lung was gonna be a hit? Like what was that like?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I think it was in gradual steps. I went out to an early screening at the Chinese Theater and I met some fans outside and I haven't met fans in a long time. Mostly I used to go to conventions a lot more before COVID and after Covid I fell out of the habit and also I kind of like not going and getting sick every time. Even if it wasn't Covid, it was. I would always get the flu or something. But when I saw the fans and I actually got their responses to it, I was like, oh man, maybe people actually enjoy this. And then I went to this regal Q and A and met more fans, talk to them there. But it wasn't until Friday that we got numbers in for what the Thursday nights were. And then I realized, oh, we might actually have a competition with Sam Raimi here. And I was like, oh, it's on. So I was making a lot of jokes about that. But then we kept, you know, the number one spot for a while after that. And then, yeah, I was. The whole weekend, I was just so. Big smile on my face, not for like a selling tickets, but just like, wow, I can't believe it's actually worked. I can't believe people are seeing in theaters. I can't believe it's in for. Actually, no, it was before that. It was when the website that my wife Amy built, we started uploading theaters to that we put on a map that she put together.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Right, that you can click on the map and find the theaters.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Exactly. Yeah. So the. The. The point where I was like, oh, God, this is going to actually be kind of a success came way before that when we hit about 500 theaters. And then when it hit thousand, it was quickly 2000. That's. That's when things really snowballed.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

I remember now I watched this clip of you on your channel where, like, you. You are tearing up about being number one. I mean, it seems like it was a very emotional process.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Yeah, I. There's a. Many memes about me many a year ago, because I've known to be a bit of a. Bit of a softy on my channel. But I just. I get emotional about it because this one. This one was just such a culmination of. Of so many years of work for me. And that's, you know, that's obviously arduous, but it was the fact that people believed in me, and it's just like the way that people rallied and came to my support, and it just was really, really, really rewarding to be at the center of that and just feel all that. And so it's overwhelming. I'm just a very emotional guy, so I don't like to hide anything.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Do you feel like what you are has changed? Like, have you gone from being YouTuber, albeit a very successful one, to, like, now? Are you filmmaker auteur? Are you something different?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I tried to pull that on my friends Bob and Wade. We do a podcast together ourselves. I came in with a director's hat and sunglasses, and, you know, they always knock me down. Like, I was. I was nominated for an Emmy for my last project, and they always. They humbled me because I didn't win the Emmy. So instead of being like, oh, man, you almost had. And they're like, oh, no, the Emmy losing director Markiplier. And so just that became a joke among my fans. And so they. They keep me humble on that. But as far as me and how I vision envision myself is I don't think I've changed much at all because I talked about this too. Is making a movie is a very high level of skill that has way more roles than you could ever do. But I still, you know, wrote, directed, and acted in it and edited it, which I'm. I love editing. But I don't take that as an ego thing. For me, it was always just like, well, I did that anyway when I was making YouTube videos. It's no different. It's just on a different skill level. Right. So I've had 14 years to build up that skill level to get to this point. So it was only natural for me to do Just so happened that this one was a success. I've done that for pretty much all of my past projects and they just didn't have headlines written about them and things like that. So for me, there's no difference.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

I want to go back for our listeners who don't know you or like, only have some casual idea of who you are.

[BetterHelp Advertiser]

Sure.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Let's go back to 2012.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

2012.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

What was pivotal for you? Like, why say, okay, I'm going to be a YouTuber now?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I actually, this was like the fifth thing that I tried to do. I had this tumor in my left adrenal gland when I was in 2011. They found it because I went in for side pain on my appendix and my appendix needed to come up. And they were like, oh, also you have a tumor. But don't worry about that right now. Rice, they're sending me back for surgery. And then I got laid off from my job. I was in engineering school, but I had like a co op, which is like an internship at an engineering firm. And I had been laid off from there. And I was kind of just spiraling in my hospital bed feeling like, oh, man, I don't know how I ended up here. So I knew that I wanted to try something, so I tried art first. I even hopped out of engineering school to go into art school. And then I was like, man, it's not for me. Hop right back to engineering school. And then I tried various different things while I was kicking around job. I was like, maybe I could do music. No, that didn't work out. And I was like, oh, maybe I could do like VFX, like some of the YouTube channels that I was inspired by. And I was like, I don't even know how to hold a camera. I was like, okay. And then my brother said, hey, you know, people just play video games and they, they post videos of it. And I was like, I play video games. I could do that. And so I, I, that's how I started. I knew that I still wanted to build the skills to do more advanced stuff. So it was kind of a. It was supposed to be an entry into doing the bigger things. But then the one channel became the hub of all the things, and I did let's Plays for Video Games. And then I started doing sketches and sketch comedy and little short films and slowly building my skills there over the past 14 years to get to where I am now.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

I want to ask you about the tumor because I've had cancer. And I feel like there is a thing that happens when you have a major health thing. You have this moment where you're like, oh, I'm going to live my life differently. Everything is different now. It is actually easy to go to the before or forget. It's really hard to make the full change. How did you find the motivation for that?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I mean, it was very difficult because you have all this motivation at first, and it's like, I'm gonna do art. And I was like, ah. My brother was a comic book artist, still is. So he makes comics online. He's been an artist forever. I think maybe I could try that. Okay, that didn't work. Okay, I can write. I think the only thing that kept me going is that I, I don't really quit, but I kind of jump from idea to idea all the time. It's part of having adhd. And then the first thing that actually worked where I released a video. And I'm so glad that in the first week or two, I had a video go on Reddit and get, like, kind of high up on the videos subreddit. And that got me my initial bit of attention. It only got me like, a couple hundred subscribers, but that was huge for me back then. It was just like, oh, my God, now I can actually do things. So I set up all these different things that I was starting with, and it wasn't until I hit the thing that actually worked that I was like, okay, I have a feedback loop that this can keep motivating me for, for as long as I keep doing it. And so long as I keep doing it, I'll be growing my skills. And so it really just, it needed that first spark in Ember to Catch on something. But it went around and the amber burned out and, you know, it got cold. But until it caught something, that's when the motivation fire started really burning. Why horror People wanted to see it. I actually didn't really like playing horror games. I was scared.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Really?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Yeah. And so that's what people liked. Out. I saw other people making compilations of people playing horror games. I was like, okay, I'll play this horror game, Amnesia, the Dark Descent. I'll react to it. And then I. And with that, I don't really have to try to write a script. It's just you record and you go and you play it. And then at the end of it, I was like, I'll make a compilation. Like the videos I've seen that work and people have see them, they want to watch it. So I was like, okay, I'll. I'll try that. And I spent and I learned how to put text on screen, which seems like such a fundamental skill now and so easy. But back then I didn't. I didn't even know how to edit. So trying to figure out how to put the text on screen and cut all the shots together, it was, it was difficult. Took me like, you know, a full day's work. Now think of like something being like, oh, it took me one full day of work and oh, that's so hard. Now. I worked for three years on this movie and I get to the end of it, but that's how it started. So, yeah, that's why horror, because people were watching it and I thought I could do it.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

So you worked really closely with Dave Symansky, the game developer, when you were working on Iron Lung. And I'm just curious why that one. Why that was the thing that appealed to you where you're like, no, I'm actually gonna make a full length feature with this. It doesn't naturally make sense.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

It doesn't. I think you're totally right about that. There's probably other ip. I hate to call it as ip, but a lot of people call it like IP have these kind of broader appeal and things like that. But it's like I don't really care about doing broad appeal. I do what appeals to me. And with this, when I played the game, it was so different from any other game and not in like the greatest way like this. What do you mean by it was just fundamentally, you had so many limitations from what other games play. Usually if you're playing a horror game, you're usually going into a building, either you have a gun or you're defending defenseless, you got flashlight. You're exploring the area and you're opening it up and you can get a sense of the space. Iron Lung had so many restrictions. You're in a submarine, you can't see. You have the worst camera in the world and you can only hear what's going on outside. And you're set in this setting that has such terrible implications like the, the quiet rapture, like Earth, Mars, everything totally post apocalyptic gone. But it's not even happening in the moment. It's already happened. So you have all these questions of like, well, what happened? Where did everyone go? How was everyone coping? How are they able to get resources? Why can't they do this? Why am I here? What is outside the. There's so many questions. And so I liked it from that perspective where it seemed like there were a lot of questions that could have answers if you dug deep enough and there were more answers to find. And he did a Lore update. And so talking with David Szymanski about it, you know, and exploring that world, it, it led to this curiosity. And I knew a lot of people that were fans of the game really, really liked how the universe was unfolding and all these questions and all these mysteries and this horror element that a lot of people like, maybe some people would prefer a more in your face horror experience. But this one was very much just like you don't know. And that's part of the fun is not knowing. So. And also contained environment, single room. I was naive and thought, oh, one room will be an easier movie, much harder, so way harder. And so I had some, a little bit of naivete going into there, but I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I picked that one.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

When we come back, is mark's success a one off or is YouTube the future of Hollywood?

[Unknown Speaker]

Here's how to stay alive longer so you can enjoy Boost Mobile's unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. Do not mistake a wasp nest for a pinata. Stay alive and switch now at boost mobile, after 30 gigs, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan.

[Stamps.com Advertiser]

Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things, so why waste time sending important documents the old fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with stamps.com, print postage on demand 24, 7 and schedule pickups from your office, office or home. Save up to 90% with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust stamps.com go to stamps.com and use code podcast to try stamps.com risk free for 60 days.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

So one question I have about your process is you're used to working in this environment where you get a lot of feedback and input, like almost instantaneously, right? YouTube is interactive in a lot of ways. Doing a 30 day shoot on this one project is the opposite of that. Did you doubt yourself or how did you feel in that process?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I felt fine because I had done some other productions before this, of varying degrees, some bigger. Actually, I did the previous project that lost the Emmy, this called In Space with Markiplier. And that was a 45 day shoot. Way more scenes, way more characters, way more involved, longer runtime, 89 videos in like six and a half hours total. If you added it all up, a very complex project. So with that, you know, I was going into that with confidence of all the other things that I did before and I was like, okay, I know that I can just get in my little editing hole or I actually, I didn't edit that one because there wasn't much to edit. I guided the edit because it's just all single shots basically for the whole video. It's first person. So I was, I was able to go into that being like, okay, I've made these before, people like them. I like surprising people with these things. So the confidence for, you know, the feedback wasn't really an issue. It was the confidence of the skills and building up this, this different experience. Those were the crunch points and the things that I tried to work on the most to, to deliver a cinematic experience that maybe people weren't expecting even if they had seen it on my channel before.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

But you struggled to get studios, distributors to take you seriously. What was that process like?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I've always had that. That's not really new.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Do you just think they're underestimating you?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I. I'm not sure. Underestimating kind of implies that they would have no knowledge of my success or my audience. And I think they did.

[Paige Osborne]

Right.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Like you had already done Edge of Sleep. Like that's where I'm kind of like, huh?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

And so what I want to say is that there were probably many more opportunities for deals to be made. But when you get to this point where I'm like self financing it and I'm able to release it and you know, I, I could, I have projects that were on the most shoestring budget that I've done myself to. This being one of the most expensive ones that I've done not the most expensive, but one of. And when you get to that point where you're able to do that all yourself and I'm able to edit myself, I'm like, well, why would I take a deal that really cuts me out of my own thing that I made and gives up all this control, which is the standard deal in Hollywood. And for its own good reasons. I'm not trying to shit all over that. Apologies for cursing. I don't know if that's.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Now you're good.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

But shooting all over that is because a lot of people have to take that route. And I always want to come out with an idea that, like, yeah, I'm in a position that I've built over 14 years. You know, a lot of people have to start out somewhere. But it just didn't seem right for me to. To take those deals. There were many calls that I had where people didn't understand what I was doing and what my channel was, but more of over. It was just a choice of, like, if I don't have to, why would I. And I didn't realize until like two years into the process, after several calls and struggles to make presentations and I did all the pounding of the pavement, I did a lot of this. I had plenty of meetings, but it didn't really go anywhere. So it was a mixture of it.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

I want to talk about the YouTube perception thing. In an interview you mentioned a studio had told you that your movie wasn't going to be like Taylor Swift's eras tour. And that is such a fascinating thing to me because they are nothing alike. But I guess the implication is what? YouTube. YouTube.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

The implication was like, you know, YouTubers, no matter how many subscribers they are have or followers they have, are never going to be like a mainstream celebrity. I think that's what the comparison was, is they're not as legitimate as these fans that go out for stadiums and when showed up for this real celebrity, and it's. I don't even care. I don't want to be labeled celebrities. I don't want YouTubers to have to deal with any of the stuff that traditional Hollywood celebrities have to deal with. I kind of like that youtubers exist in this pocket where they can do their own thing. They're not messed with. And maybe they get that little bit of treated, you know, not as properly as proper, you know, celebrities, but to not recognize from a business standpoint, the value of those audiences always makes me laugh, is because, like I said this before on a previous interview, like when I was at The Emmys. A lot of this comes out of that is a lot of those publications. And the people doing the interviews on the red carpet didn't want to talk to me, and I don't have any. I didn't want to talk to them ever. I hate red carpets. Not because I hate their publication, but because, like, I don't, like, I don't like being there. I don't like people just standing there and take my picture. It's just weird. But I thought, hey, if you interview me, it'd be good for your publication. And that's not ego. I just have a lot of followers. They'll find your stuff more if my name's on it. And so I just, Just didn't understand why they wouldn't. So it's. But it's that stigma. It's like YouTubers, they're not real. You know, their followers aren't real. But honestly, I think they're more real than the followers of a lot of things out there. So.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Yeah, well, ironically, that's part of the storyline now, right? Like, one of the reasons that I am talking to you, one of the reasons that the Hollywood Reporter wants to talk to you is like, YouTuber makes a movie.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Yeah, right.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Like, that fits a narrative that is interesting. It almost kind of comes full circle.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Yeah, yeah. It is this narrative that feeds into itself. The only reason that headline works is because so many people was like, I didn't think a YouTuber could do that.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Right.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

And so. But I recognize that this is a long process, and the more times that's in a headline, the more normal it becomes, and then it's not weird. And so my objective here is to make it not weird to give more YouTubers that come after me a chance to be taken seriously. Like, I don't care what anybody.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Even if that pushes you into Normie world.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Exactly. Yeah. No, I, I will gladly be in normie world because it's just, you know, that's what naturally happens. You get this overexposure and this normalization of all that you are, and it can dilute down the, the kind of effort that you put into it. I'm happy with that. I, I, I've never been bothered by what people think about me or, like, what people consider me as or what they want to label me as. But I know it matters to a lot of other people. A lot of other YouTubers suffer from this, where it's like the, the, the comments and the criticisms online can break down their motivation. And the last thing I want for people to do is lose motivation in terms of their creative spark. And if they can, if I can just shield just a little bit of those embers so that they can burn. And, and, and people often make jokes that I'm a masochist anyway. So if I can, if I can take some of that on the chin so that other people can be taken seriously like I'm always, that's my, that's what I want to do with this. That's what, that's how I want this to go.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

I think there's something kind of fascinatingly old fashioned in the movie theater. Butts in seats. Part of this, you know, where like that's a whole industry in and of itself. It is different from the streaming industry. It exists in a very old fashioned business. And yet you have this thing now on your site where you can go and like click and see the theaters. Talk to me about that part of it.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I think that in this digital world that we live in, people often forget that even the people themselves forget that people want to get outside. They want to go have an experience, they want to be able to go do something. And I think that a lot of people are looking for a reason to not look at the rectangle in their pocket or the bigger rectangle on their lap. You know, it's. People want to go have an experience at a movie theater that they sometimes can't get in their own home. People have bigger TVs than ever nowadays and some have nice sound systems. But for the majority of people, the movie theater is probably the most immersive experience that they're going to get for a while and probably for the near foreseeable future. So it's like I, and I, I think everybody loves movies. I doubt there's many people out there that are just like, I never watch movies. I've never seen a movie. I could never imagine myself going to see a movie. Like maybe there's some more now than others, but it's just like, yeah, I think it might be old school but at the same time as a human experience getting together with your other fellow humans and watching a story unfold on a big screen and with all this immersive sound around you, like that's special. And it's something that people can't get at home alone looking at a rectangle.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Do you think the youtuber to movie pipeline is going to grow? I mean, Chris Stuckman made Shelby Oaks. It did not do that. Well, I guess I'm wondering like, are you a trend? Are you a blip? Have you thought about it that way?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I haven't. Because honestly, it's. It's inevitable. I think there are too many YouTubers to stop. And if they can't be stopped anyway, because if people are able to put things out on their own, then it's like, well, it's going to happen no matter what. Because I know there's tons of YouTubers out there that have a lot of ideas, and some of them are going to go like, hey, look, Markiplier made something that's pretty cool. I think I could do that. And there's going to be others that be like, markiplier made the worst piece of shit movie ever. I got a big. Put something out there so people don't take us seriously as YouTubers. And that's fine too. That's great. I think that there's multiple reasons for motivation for those YouTubers to get. Get their projects going and a little bit of confidence that, like, okay, maybe, maybe it might not be an utter failure if I do this. Maybe there's a chance that this could be something big and there's going to be tons of YouTubers to come after that make bigger projects than I did. They're going to have bigger success, and I can't wait to see it. So I think it's just inevitable.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Does it matter to you if critics don't necessarily love it?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Oh, not at all. No, I don't. Like I said, the way that I work is I'm an emotional guy, right? So I'll wear my heart on my sleeve, I cry on camera. But the thing about me is when it comes to comments and negative criticism, it's actually genuinely never bothered me. And it's not even thing like, oh, man.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Even in this, like, even in this iteration where there's an industry doesn't matter

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

at all because they don't know me, right? And this, this also conversely applies to praise comments. I don't get anything out of that. If someone's like, you're the greatest ever, as, like, well, you don't know me, so it doesn't matter. And so those all fall in the same sphere of like, the, the critics, I don't know them. If there was a critic that I knew personally that was like, I considered a friend and they said something, you know, that was like, this movie had flaw flop, I would go, oh, come on. And if it was like a family member or someone that I knew personally, it would devastate me, you know, and do everything to be like, I gotta be better so I can make them Proud of me again. But when it comes to random criticism online, I don't care. People have their own opinions. It's for some people, not for others. I knew that making it and going into the development process of putting the movie together, I already hated myself more and this movie more than anyone could possibly imagine. And I came out of it at a point where I released it, where I was like, okay, I don't hate it anymore, go. And so all of my, my struggles and emotion with that happened over the three years that I was making it. So now I'm just like, all right, cool, can't wait for the next one.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

So what does drive you?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I am horribly addicted to the cycle of making things and pushing myself. Some people call me a masochist on that one and I'm not a masochist. I just like seeing how far I can go. I love the feedback loop of, I did a thing, I accomplished this. I did all those sleepless nights, I put it out there and now people can see it and hopefully they're enjoying it. If they're not, then it's like, all right, got to work harder on the next one. So I with YouTube, that cycle where I talk to you about doing all those other things leading up to this, I get that instant feedback of like daily. I put out a video, okay, get that little bit of dopamine, the serotonin, then I can make the next thing. And I'm worried about the next thing. And when I was filming this one, I was already thinking about the next thing. And so now that I'm done with it, I can't wait to think about the next thing and start working on the next thing. So that's what I mean. When I'm hopelessly addicted, I often don't even take the time to appreciate kind of what's happening now because like over the weekend I was really, I was looking at all the responses and now seeing all the fan art, but already my mind's just like, I can't wait to get started and destroy myself on the next thing. So yeah, it's extremely unhealthy and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Will the next thing be a self funded project where you do it all or is the next thing, you know, you walk into some big studio and they take your call. Now

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

I think it's just going to be a thing where I funded myself and do it all because I can not all. I don't want to be constantly the person doing the, the directing, acting, writing and editing people probably looked at this and we're like, oh, what an egotistical maniac. It was like, who else was going to do it? I didn't have anybody. Who else? I've done that for all the other projects. It was never a problem until now. And so. But that, that's. It's not ego. That would be like, well, I'll show you I can do it all. I already know I can do it all. I don't want to do it all. There's plenty of other people that are more talented than me that can help out doing it. Like, I didn't do the art department stuff for this one because I know that there's so many other people that can. That can make that set look beautiful. You know, I had a director of photography. His name was Philip Roy, and he's just like, I know how talented he is because he did all the two other projects that I had. You know, you got all the people working in makeup and wardrobe that I've worked with before. You got Anna and Erica, and you get some newcomers that I've met before with these incredible talent. So it's like, I recognize that there are people that have all these talents. I just like to fill the gaps where I can and focus on the things where I can help that puts it all together. So that's. That's what I like doing. So wherever I fit is where I'm going to land. And if there's a hole to fill, then I'll fill it.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

But safe to say you're going to make another movie?

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Many more, probably.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Markiplier, thanks a lot for coming on.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Oh, no problem.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Mark Fischbach is the director, writer, and lead actor in Iron Lung, which is in theaters now, and he also goes by Markiplier on YouTube. And speaking of YouTube, if you want to see my full video interview with Mark, head on over to Slate's YouTube channel. We'll post a link to it in the show notes. All right, that is it for our show today. What Next? TBD is produced by Evan Campbell and Patrick Ford. Our show is edited by Paige Osborne, who is the senior supervising producer for what Next and what Next tbd. Mia Lobel is the executive producer here at Slate, and TBD is part of the larger what Next family. And Mary will be back in your feed tomorrow, and TBD will be back on Friday with another episode. I'm Lizzie o'. Leary. Thanks for listening.

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

Thy ticket lady, Jennifer of Coolidge.

[Stamps.com Advertiser]

Well, many thanks, good sir. Here is my Discover card.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

They accept Discover at Renaissance fairs. Yeah, they do.

[Paige Osborne]

Here.

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Discover is accepted at the places I love to shop. Getth with the tongue, times with the times.

[Stamps.com Advertiser]

You're playing the loot. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right?

[Lizzie O'Leary]

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, based on

[Mark Fischbach (Markiplier)]

the February 2025 Nielsen report.

[Stamps.com Advertiser]

Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things, so why waste time sending important documents the old fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with stamps.com print postage on demand 247 and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90% with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust stamps.com go to stamps.com and use code podcast to try stamps.com risk free for 60 days.