Video bloggers as digital auteurs: Casey Neistat and the evolution of auteur theory

Auteur theory, emerging in the 1950s and 1960s, likened film directors who leave a distinct personal imprint on their work to authors of novels. Traditional critiques argued that the collaborative nature of feature filmmaking made attributing authorship to a single individual problematic, especially within studio systems demanding high production values. The rise of digital production and distribution in the 1990s shifted creative power to individuals, enabling new genres like video blogging. This paper contends that auteur theory is particularly applicable to vloggers, who often control both the creative and technical aspects of their work. Central to this argument is an analysis of the work of Casey Neistat, whose technical competence, signature style, and interior meaning as an auteur exemplifies how vloggers can embody the criteria of auteurship more completely than traditional film directors.