We all know about YouTube and all its viral, global ways. The oldest internet joke in the books (well at least since 2005) has been how it has become the home for all the world's cat videos. YouTube serves now as both a shrine for the old (R.I.P Vine and regular-watching of music videos on VH1) and as a platform for the newest (and sometimes dumbest) memes.

YouTube is definitely a community of creators with challenge videos, What's In My Bag? content, and still remains the one-stop-shop for videos of people doing incredibly stupid things that are then immortalized. I regularly consume and refresh myself with a healthy dose of this content without fail.

However, what has been, in my opinion, wholly underrated by a majority of viewers is the community of filmmakers that produce some of the most interesting content on the Internet. Most recently, a filmmaker and creator that I follow called Hazel Hayes released a short-film called Anxious which was shown at Buffer Festival.

Buffer Festival usually takes place in Toronto and is an awards-show for YouTube content. Watching all the short films made by creators such as Jack & Dean, Hazel Hayes, Dom Fera, Dodie Clark, Bertie Gilbert, Sav Brown, and Sammy Paul (still only to name a few), has exposed me over the last six or seven years to conversation and art that I never before saw.

One of my first articles for Odyssey includes my accounts of interacting with content that one of my favorite actors produced, and even my interactions with the aforementioned Hazel Hayes. Through the nature of the YouTube platform, I have been able to build a forum of conversation and creation that would not have existed otherwise.

I highly suggest, if you are in the market for new content, that you check out some of the artists that I listed above, and fall into a rabbit-hole of viewing after the first couple videos. Hopefully, you'll find some amazing short films and music videos that inspire you or make your day better. Maybe you'll even find yourself a part of this close-knit community of artists and creators, with a chance to showcase your own, original works.