Hey Creatorverse readers,
Hiya buddy,
At least one major studio is taking the creator wars seriously. Late last week, Sony Pictures Entertainment scooped up former YouTube executive Fede Goldenberg to lead its Screen Gems label.
Under Goldenberg’s leadership, the division will focus on theatrical projects from digitally native storytellers. Ashley Brucks, who has been the president of Screen Gems since 2023, will transition to a producing role.
This isn’t just another story of another company poaching a big name. Over his 15 years at YouTube, Goldenberg developed close relationships with several creators while also strengthening the company’s ties with Hollywood. Goldenberg was instrumental in YouTube acquiring the Oscars starting in 2029, and he managed relationships with early YouTubers like Maker Studios and Fullscreen. He doesn’t merely have an academic understanding of the creator economy; Goldenberg is fully part of this ecosystem. And now he’s bringing his expertise to Sony.
Under Goldenberg’s leadership, Screen Gems will only develop theatrical movies from creators, even though Sony has a Pay-1 licensing deal with Netflix. Sony is also interested in developing content from both shortform and longform creators, an insider familiar with the pivot told me.
This isn’t the first creator-focused move Sony has made. Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions are currently developing an R-rated adaptation of the “Bloodborne” video game with “Bloodborne” superfan Jacksepticeye (31.2 million YouTube subscribers), aka Seán McLoughlin, attached as a producer. Sony’s TriStar Pictures also acquired the feature rights to Trevor Henderson’s viral creation Cartoon Cat. This deal came after another one of Henderson’s creations — Siren Head — scored a feature adaptation from Warner Bros. with Brian Duffield directing and Zach Cregger writing.
And Sony and Warner Bros. aren’t alone when it comes to recruiting creators for the big screen. Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Focus Features have “Anything but Ghosts,” an upcoming movie from “Obsession” director Curry Barker. Blumhouse also has a shorts deal with Heidi Wong (5.9 million TikTok followers), an adaptation of the “Amanda the Adventurer” game from Matthew “MatPat” Patrick (5 million X followers and the creator of the “Game Theorists” YouTube channel) and “Lust” from Spencer Lackey (3.1 million TikTok followers).
A24 has Kane Parsons, of course, but it also has actor and creator Jordan Firstman’s (838,000 Instagram followers) “Club Kid,” Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman’s (7 million YouTube followers) sequel “Talk 2 Me” and a reimagining of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” from Barker.
Lionsgate is going all in on Dylan Clark, spearheading a feature adaptation of Clark’s “Portrait of God” short, which scored over 11 million views, and setting him as the director of an upcoming “Blair Witch Project” reboot. As for Amazon MGM Studios, it’s betting on Alex Kister’s (1.1 million YouTube subscribers) “Mandela Catalogue.” And Paramount Pictures has “Boys for Life,” which is directed by Tyler Falbo and co-written by Falbo and Max Barrett from Almost Friday (1.1 million YouTube subscribers) fame.
This is all to say that creators are no longer a fluke in the film industry. They’ve been tapped to head some of the biggest — predominantly horror — franchises in pop culture. And Goldenberg’s hiring further proves this isn’t a flash-in-the-pan trend.
Now onto the rest.
Kayla Cobb
Senior Reporter
kayla.cobb@thewrap.com
What’s New
Druski will become the first creator to host “SNL”
Druski (15.4 million TikTok subscribers), whose real name is Drew Desbordes, will become the first creator to ever host “Saturday Night Live” on Nov. 7. It’s a good fit. Druski is known for his sharp and often intentionally over-the-top sketch comedy. Plus, between Jane Wickline, Veronika Slowikowska and Grace Reiter, “SNL” has a good track record of showcasing talented creators (By the way, the trailer for “Minimum Wage,” Reiter’s Netflix series with the American High sketch group, dropped this week).
Speaking of NBC’s social synergy, “The Tonight Show” now has more than 127 million subscribers and followers, more than any other late night show. It’s no coincidence that Jimmy Fallon’s show, the late night hub that’s seen major creators like MrBeast and Jake Shane as its guests, has the most pop culture cred.
Joe Rogan ups Spotify partnership with multiyear deal
The Joe Rogan Experience and Spotify are sticking together. Rogan and the music streamer signed a new multiyear deal last Thursday, continuing a partnership that started in 2020. In 2024, the deal between the two was reportedly worth up to $250 million, but the terms of the 2026 deal weren’t disclosed. With 18 million followers, The Joe Rogan Experience is still the podcast king, but Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO has been giving it a run for its money this year.
Meta bans TikTok ads in the U.S. as feud escalates
Shortform mommy and daddy are fighting. Last Thursday, Meta, the company behind Instagram, started restricting ads and paid marketing from ByteDance Ltd., the former controlling owner of TikTok, in the U.S. The ban will also impact Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, and it all comes down to good old fashioned competition. A Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company doesn’t have to “run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our app.” Fair enough. As a reminder, there are three major shortform competitors on the market: Meta’s Instagram Reels, ByteDance’s TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
By the Numbers
Mark Rober’s Class CrunchLabs scores a $2.5 million grant from YouTube and Google
Class CrunchLabs, the free STEM education program founded by Mark Rober, is the recipient of a major grant from YouTube and Google. Created in partnership with the National Science Teaching Association, Class CrunchLabs designs standards-aligned school curriculums to give teachers free, ready-to-use science tools in the classroom. The funding will help the program expand to grades 3 through 8, translate the program into more languages worldwide and grow educator support.
Six out of 10 Americans trust a well-known news creator as much as a journalist when it comes to politics
The first-ever Industry Flash Report from Syracuse University’s Center for the Creator Economy found that six in 10 Americans say that they trust a well-known independent news creator as much as they trust a well-known journalist when it comes to politics. That being said, 79% of respondents see creators and journalists as occupying two distinct roles. The report surveyed 1,001 Americans and also found that respondents cited YouTube the most as a primary news source.
Podcasting platform Rebel Audio valued at $50 million after Series A funding round
Rebel Audio, the AI-powered podcasting platform, closed its Series A funding round last week. The investment was led by the creator media company and studio HardScope, a company led by DraftKings founder Matt Kalish. In its next phase, Rebel Audio will focus on bettering its AI technology and expanding globally.
Movers and Shakers
Kai Cenat wants to livestream in space, and Johnny Harris is exploring Earth
Kai Cenat recently announced a new dream: livestreaming in space. During a stream, he noted that this may not happen in 2027 but that conversations are taking place to make this a reality. Shoot for the stars, Kai.
Meanwhile, Emmy-winning creator Johnny Harris’ highly anticipated series “The Human Element” will premiere on YouTube on Nov. 7. Each episode of the adventure docuseries will follow Harris as he explores another part of the world as part of his quest to understand how global forces are shaping the lives of everyday people.
MrBeast, Joe Rogan and Khaby Lame Lead ESHAP and What’s Trending’s Creator Map
If you’ve ever wanted to know who the biggest creators online are, ESHAP and What’s Trending have your back. The two organizations debuted the second-ever Creator Map last week, and it’s about what you expect. For example, MrBeast leads YouTube, Khaby Lame leads TikTok and Joe Rogan leads podcasting. Still, it’s worth combing through as the most detailed map of the current creator landscape. Plus, Whalar’s Affinity Quotient indicates who has an engaged audience rather than just a big one.
Smosh adds four new voices, and BuzzFeed renames its social, TV and film division
Two pieces of news for anyone invested in 2010s comedy. The comedy ensemble Smosh added four new comedians to its roster: Courtney Theophin, Eli Gonzalez, Emily Wirth and Tatyana Guch. All four will appear in the brand’s digital and live programming as well as its upcoming Halloween special, Werewolf.
BuzzFeed is also on a creator hiring spree. The company added 10 new names to the BuzzFeed Creative Network, which was formerly known as the BuzzFeed Creator Program. Those include Ace Greene (1.8 million Instagram followers), Patrick Cloud (503,000 followers) and Erik Hung (1.2 million followers). Anthony Allred II, the newly named head of talent and creator partnerships, will lead BuzzFeed’s social, TV and film division.
@ashleytheebarroness What bothered me most was how familiar all of this felt. Keep people fighting each other. Keep everybody suspicious. Keep people so busy trying to survive that nobody has time to look up and ask who actually benefits. Fred Hampton was trying to get people to do exactly that. And apparently that scared the FBI enough to make up a whole story and try to get somebody killed. #fredhampton #fbi #americanhistory #historytok #fyp ♬ original sound – Ashley
Who to Watch
Ashley thee Barroness
Feel like learning something on TikTok? Look no further than Ashley thee Barroness (1.4 million TikTok followers), a shortform creator who specializes in breaking down wild historical stories predominantly about Black history and voting rights. Ashley’s able to pull off a social media magic trick, blending well-researched posts and her calm, soothing demeanor with a storytelling structure that’s designed to hook even the most compulsive swiper.
Bonus Content
- As Creators Increasingly Move Into Hollywood, Deal Terms Can Put Their IP at Risk (via Digiday)
- Conservative Podcasters Can’t Stop Talking About Affordability (via Wall Street Journal)
- Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Don Lemon’s Producer (via Wired)
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This report provides a weekly deep dive into the creator economy. It highlights key trends, political and technological developments, data points and industry leaders all with the goal of making you smarter about this constantly evolving space.
