From YouTube to the Big Screen: Andy Signore Takes on Hollywood

TAMPA — What began as a series of YouTube videos examining one of Hollywood's most bitter celebrity disputes has turned into something considerably bigger for Tampa-based creator Andy Signore.

On Saturday night, Signore's new independent documentary series, It Ends With Justice: Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni, was screened before a live audience. According to dozens of audience members who attended the screening, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with viewers describing the film as compelling, riveting and difficult to turn away from.

For Signore, the project represents the evolution of a story he initially approached the same way he covers most major entertainment controversies: by examining documents, questioning established narratives and discussing the evidence with his online audience.

Then he became part of the story.

From Popcorned Planet to Filmmaker

Signore is the founder and host of Popcorned Planet, a YouTube-based entertainment news and commentary operation approaching 1 million subscribers. The channel covers celebrity controversies, court cases and pop-culture stories, often bringing attorneys and other guests into lengthy discussions of evidence and breaking developments.

His career in online entertainment stretches back much further. Signore created Screen Junkies and its enormously successful Honest Trailers series before later building Popcorned Planet into his primary platform.

The Lively-Baldoni controversy became one of the channel's biggest ongoing stories.

The dispute originated around the production and promotion of the 2024 film It Ends With Us and ultimately exploded into lawsuits, allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation, accusations of a coordinated smear campaign and an extraordinary public-relations war.

Signore began digging deeper.

Production updates show him traveling to locations connected with the film and attending court proceedings in New York while developing the documentary. The project eventually became It Ends With Justice, an episodic investigation examining the evidence, allegations and media coverage surrounding the battle.

When the Reporter Became Part of the Story

Then came an unexpected development. Blake Lively subpoenaed Popcorned Planet seeking information related to the litigation. Signore fought the subpoena, arguing, among other things, that material was protected by journalist's privilege.

A federal court in Tampa ultimately denied Popcorned Planet's motion to quash. Court records describe Signore as the company's founder, CEO, main host and investigative reporter and describe Popcorned Planet as a publicly accessible news and commentary channel with nearly 1 million subscribers.

Suddenly, Signore was no longer simply documenting the controversy. He had become part of it.

That experience appears to have helped shape the documentary's larger theme: not simply who is right or wrong in a Hollywood feud, but how narratives are created, amplified and challenged in an era when YouTubers and independent creators can compete directly with traditional entertainment media.

The documentary is now moving beyond computer screens. Promotional material describes the project as taking audiences inside the Lively-Baldoni legal battle by examining its evidence, allegations and media narrative. A Houston event scheduled for Sept. 24 will screen the first three episodes before a live Q&A with Signore and guests.

Saturday night's screening suggests Signore may have found a format that translates well from YouTube to the theater.

For a creator who built an audience by asking viewers to question the story they were being told, It Ends With Justice represents a natural progression. Signore started by covering a Hollywood controversy. Then Hollywood subpoenaed him.

Now he's making a documentary about the entire experience.