News

Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry. This week, gun-loving creators are getting fired up, and experienced digital media execs are getting hired up.

Creator commotion

After YouTube’s latest firearm video crackdown, some creators have had enough. At least four channels in YouTube’s firearms community have announced moves to new platforms in response to a crackdown on machine gun videos and sponsored clips that market guns. This isn’t the first time YouTube has found itself at odds with firearms enthusiasts. Maybe this time, the aggrieved creators will take my advice and move to Pornhub.

Kurzgesagt speaks! Philipp Dettmer runs one of YouTube’s most popular channels but doesn’t give interviews too often, so we’re all over his chat with Forbes. One fun fact: Dettmer “didn’t know...

The 2025 edition of the Tribeca Festival will include a new piece of programming that will bring more independent artists into the fold. The annual gathering put on by production house Tribeca Film has announced a Creators Forum that will include talks, roundtables, and networking opportunities for and by the rising class of influencer filmmakers.

The Creators Forum will span multiple days during the 2025 Tribeca Festival, which will run from June 4 to June 15 in the namesake Manhattan neighborhood. A press release from Tribeca claims that the “broader filmmaking community” will be served by the new forum.

Industry leaders, indie hitmakers, and innovators will spearhead discussions on topics that bridge the gap between the social media world and Hollywood. One point of emphasis will be festival strategy and distribution — a logical focus given the Forum’s setting.

Tribeca Film sees the Creators Forum as an opportunity to expand its reputation as a support system for up-and-coming artists.

Michael Green, Reza Izad, and Dan Weinstein have reunited to form Underscore Talent, a management company helping creators leverage today’s “attention economy.” Joining them are Austin Mayster of UTA, Linnea Toney of Toney Media and Megan Brown of APA Named Partners.

Underscore Talent launches with a roster of artists, creators and entrepreneurs, including The Labrant Family, The Royalty Family (YouTube’s top 10 channels in 2020), Alex Wassabi, Alex Costa, Jon Cozart, Kayla Nicole, The Onyx family, De’arra and Ken, John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen, and Joy Wilson.

In the last couple of months, the initial group has executed millions of dollars worth of brand deals with companies ranging from Clinique to Verizon.

Underscore Talent is the first company established by Green, Izad, Weinstein since pioneering the digital creator management space through Studio71, formerly The Collective. Together Green, Izad, and Weinstein bring decades of experience representing and working alongside such names as Rhett and Link,...

The team that launched The Collective more than 15 years ago is reuniting to start a new digital-first management firm.

Michael Green, Reza Izad and Dan Weinstein have formed Underscore Talent, which will work with digital creators with the goal of helping them build long-lasting careers.

The trio has recruited UTA’s Austin Mayster, Toney Media’s Linnea Toney and APA’s Megan Brown as partners. Their roster of talent includes YouTube creators such as the Labrant Family, the Royalty Family, Alex Wassabi and Jon Cozart, as well as mental health entrepreneur Kati Morton and baker and writer Joy Wilson....

The team that launched The Collective more than 15 years ago is reuniting to start a new digital-first management firm.

Michael Green, Reza Izad and Dan Weinstein have formed Underscore Talent, which will work with digital creators with the goal of helping them build long-lasting careers.

The trio has recruited UTA’s Austin Mayster, Toney Media’s Linnea Toney and APA’s Megan Brown as partners. Their roster of talent includes YouTube creators such as the Labrant Family, the Royalty Family, Alex Wassabi and Jon Cozart, as well as mental health entrepreneur Kati Morton and baker and writer Joy Wilson....

The summer may feel infinitely far away, but VidCon is planting the seed for holiday gifting with the release of single-day Community tickets for the second time this year. The tickets, priced at $40 a pop, enable attendees Saturday admission, without access to any meet-and-greet lotteries. VidCon is also selling four-day passes at four levels: chaperone ($90), Community ($100), Creator ($150), and Industry ($600).

At the same time, the flagship YouTuber convention unveiled yet another fleet of Featured Creators who are set to attend the 11th annual VidCon U.S. this year. Featured Creators are invited to and lodged at the event for free in exchange for populating VidCon's myriad panels, fan meet-ups, and other activations.

The latest round include: comedic and music mastermind Jon Cozart, YouTube vet Timothy DeLaGhetto, TikTok stars Andre Swilley, Alana Rufael (who goes by the online moniker ThunThun Skittles), and Brittany Broski, Instagrammer Miah Griffith, Rob Czar and Corinne Leigh of the Diy channel ThreadBanger,...

This year’s Streamy Awards, co-produced by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter, are set to ditch the traditional singular host format, in favor of a faction of creators who will head up this year’s ceremony as so-called "collaborators.”

Past Streamys have featured The Try Guys, Jon Cozart, King Bach, Grace Helbig, Tyler Oakley, and Hannah Hart as masters of ceremonies. Instead, this year’s show will feature a number of creator-led segments that the Streamys says serve to emphasize the diversity of the space, including Emma Chamberlain, Mr. Kate, Rosanna Pansino, Mark Rober, Brandon Rogers, Patrick Starrr, and Hannah Stocking. All told, these collaborators count more than 100 million followers across multiple verticals including beauty, comedy, food, and education.

“Collaboration is a hallmark of YouTube culture -- so this year we're working with multiple creators to further showcase the diverse and robust range of creative talent within the digital community worldwide,...

Buffer Festival, a film festival and marketplace that looks to celebrate premiere projects in the digital sphere, has announced the initial lineup of creators who will showcase their latest works at its 7th annual gathering. Buffer Festival will be held from Oct. 4 to 6 at the Tiff Bell Lightbox in Toronto.

Over 20% of the creators attending Buffer this year will be there for the first time, the festival says, including comedy vlogger Mac 'MacDoesIt' Kahey (pictured above), trans non-binary YouTube star Ash Hardell, humor writer and digital storyteller Evelyn From The Internets, BuzzFeed's Freddie Ransome (of the publisher's 'Ladylike' squad), Sharlene Taulé from the Fox musical drama Star, and Hedy Clark -- the 14-year-old U.K. YouTuber and animator.

Returning Buffer attendees include filmmaking collective Wong Fu Productions, vlogger Elle Mills, comedy creator and musician Jon Cozart, sex expert Shannon Boodram, actress Whitney Avalon, YouTuber-filmmaker Pj Liguori, and author Melanie Murphy.

Joey Graceffa, Hannah Hart and LaurDIY are just three of the 75 “Featured Creators” that will attend Viacom’s 10th annual VidCon U.S.

The company announced its first round of Featured Creators on Tuesday morning, which includes VidCon founders John Green and Hank Green, along with Miles McKenna, Tré Melvin, Karina Garcia, Jon Cozart, MyLifeasEva, Ricky Dillon, Safiya Nygaard, and Rafi and Benny Fine. The first round slate is available for viewing at VidCon.com.

To commemorate VidCon‘s 10th anniversary, the company is also bringing back creators who were at the first VidCon, including some of the web’s earliest viral stars like Tay Zonday, who went viral after producing and singing an original he dubbed Chocolate Rain, a video that now has more than 100 million views. Other “Founding Featured Creators” will include Michael Buckley, Julia Nunes and Brittany Louise Taylor.

Also Read: Viacom Taps Former Lego Video Exec...

The Try Guys have some big shoes to fill. Following YouTube star Jon Cozart’s wickedly funny turn as host of last year’s Streamy Awards, the comedy quartet has been tapped to headline this year’s show.

The Try Guys -- comprising Ned Fulmer, Eugene Lee Yang, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld -- rose to renown on BuzzFeed with viral clips in which they attempted various uproarious feats, including labor pain simulation and swimming with sharks. Since the launch of the supergroup in 2014, the Guys have netted 1 billion views across all social platforms. In June, they ventured out on their own to form an independent production company called 2nd Try -- with BuzzFeed remaining onboard as an ad sales partner.

In addition to hosting duties (the Guys promised "amazing performances and surprises" in an Instagram post), the group is nominated for two awards this year: ‘Audience Choice: Show Of...

The sixth Buffer Festival, which annually shines a spotlight on noteworthy content hailing from YouTube and the greater digital realm, well welcome several starry creators later this month in Toronto.

Asian-American filmmaking faction Wong Fu Productions, veteran vlogger Anna Akana, Lgbtq+ trailblazer Stef Sanjati (pictured above), and Valleyfolk -- a comedy troupe formed in the wake of SourceFed's disbanding -- will all premiere new works at the four-day Buffer Festival, kicking off on Sept. 27.

Other creators slated to attend Buffer this year include Alexa Losey, Gaby Dunn, Akilah Hughes, Elle Mills, Jack Howard, Jonah Green, Jon Cozart, and Nicola Foti. (The full roster of all 80 Featured Creators is available right here).

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

For those uninitiated to Disney pin trading, it’s a fascinating hobby with a cult following that the media giant has officially endorsed since 1999.

Collectors can purchase limited edition lapel pins -- of which there are more than 100,000 featuring popular Disney characters, attractions, and movies -- at parks across the globe, or online. Then, when visiting Disney resorts, collectors can approach staffers wearing specially-designated lanyards with their own collections affixed to propose a trade. If a guest proposes a trade, the Disney employee usually has to accept it -- and certain rare pins can command top dollar, re-selling for thousands of dollars on eBay and the like.

Today, a startup in the digital media sphere called Officially Pinned is seeking to replicate pin trading culture for devotees of the world’s biggest YouTube stars. Officially Pinned is the brainchild of Supergravity Pictures co-founder Max Benator and noted talent manager Sarah Weichel,...

The Buffer Festival will host a star-studded array of digital talent at its first-ever Los Angeles event.

Musician Jon Cozart, vlogger Elle Mills, and sexologist Shan Boodram will attend Buffer Festival La on May 17, which will comprise panel discussions, a red carpet, and exclusive screenings of projects helmed by YouTube stars. Other attendees include actress Anna Akana, comedy vloggers Nicola Foti and Gus Johnson, and filmmakers Dom Fera and Tim Hautekiet. Additional talent will be announced in coming weeks.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

The latest conversations at cash-crunched publishers these days seem to be going something along the lines of, “Hey, Amazon seems to be doing pretty well. Maybe we should be more like Amazon and sell stuff and do, you know, stuff.”

And so, major publishers are trying to interpose themselves more substantially between buyer and brand, an effort that sounds wise, but may bring serious unintended consequences, ones that your average social-media influencer faces every day.

Hearst, for one, wants to tap the 120 million detailed user profiles it has built across its many publications (e.g. Esquire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, etc.) so it can get much further “down the sales funnel” and closer to actual purchase decisions, where it may generate significant revenue.

Hearst has invested in data science and profiling technologies, connecting audience preferences and billing information so it can be a better conduit between the brands who advertise on...

The 7th Annual Streamy Awards ended up being a big night for several preeminent members of the online video community, and Twitter was a big winner right alongside them.

The social media platform, which served as the event's official broadcast partner, ultimately picked up one million unique viewers on its Streamys live stream, more than doubling the audience that tuned in for last year's bash. VOD clips from this year’s Streamy Awards and the Streamys Red Carpet also garnered over 2.1 million views within the 24 hours following the show.

Twitter's live stream included the entirety of the two-hour Streamy Awards ceremony, during which 17 awards were handed out to outstanding online video stars. The winners of the two fan-voted categories -- Creators of the Year Dolan Twins and Show of the Year Sugar Pine 7 -- both factored into some of the night's most-discussed moments. Sugar Pine 7's victory ended...

After an evening filled with sharp, self-deprecating humor, the 7th Annual Streamy Awards ended by celebrating a parody of the vlog format and a pair of fraternal stars. The web series Sugar Pine 7, produced by Rooster Teeth, was named Show of the Year, while The Dolan Twins took home the Creator of the Year trophy.

Both Sugar Pine 7 and The Dolan Twins had to marshal titanic support from their respective audiences in order to triumph in the Streamys' two fan-voted categories. In accepting Show of the Year honors, Sugar Pine 7 ringleader Steven Suptic expressed disbelief that he and his colleagues had actually pulled off the win:

In total, 17 awards were handed out during Tuesday night's Streamys ceremony. Jon Cozart, with some help from his devilish wit and tiny guitar, delivered a memorable turn as the show's host. From the stage, he roasted dozens of YouTubers, himself, and the Streamys itself,...

“Sugar Pine 7” (Show of the Year) and The Dolan Twins (Creator of the Year) won the top prizes at the rowdy, political and Jake Paul-hating Streamy Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on Tuesday night . The full list of winners follows below. “It’s the A-list of the D-list,” host Jon Cozart cracked during his searing opening monologue. “We’ve all kind of lost. A few years ago this show was on VH1. Then it was on YouTube Live. Now it’s on Twitter.” With eligibility governed by the method of distribution (online video) instead of the flavor of the.

The brightest stars the online video industry has to offer are out in full force. The 7th annual Streamy Awards, hosted by Jon Cozart, can now be streamed via official broadcast partner Twitter.

The Streamys broadcast can be found at http://streamys.twitter.com; a direct link to the stream can be accessed here. As the awards are handed out, Twitter users will be able to add their input via rolling feed of tweets adjacent to the video player.

Cozart, the creator of the colorful YouTube channel Paint, is the evening's emcee. 17 winners will take home trophies, joining the 24 who earned victories at Sunday night's Streamys Premiere Awards. Several creators who have already secured Streamy wins this year, including DeStorm Power and Smosh Games' Mari Takahashi, will be among tonight's presenters. They'll be joined by a star-studded list of their online video colleagues, including Zach Anner, Gabriel & Jess Conte, Ricky Dillon,...

The first batch of 24 Streamy Awards winners were announced at last night’s Streamys Premiere Awards ceremony, hosted by Epic Rap Battles of History'sEpicLLoyd. Honorees included Ariana Grande in the 'Cover Song' category, Juanpa Zurita for best international creator, and Casey Neistat in ‘Cinematography’.

The Streamy Premiere Awards, held at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, serves as a prequel of sorts to tomorrow’s seventh annual flagship Streamy Awards show, which will be hosted by Jon Cozart and stream live on Twitter beginning at 6:30 pm Pt. Seventeen total awards will be handed out on Tuesday evening by presenters including Jc Caylen, Gigi Gorgeous, Ian Hecox, Jenna Marbles, Shaun ‘Shonduras’ McBride, Amanda Steele, and many more.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Once again, a creator known for his YouTube videos is set to host the Streamy Awards. Jon Cozart, who is best known for the melodious viral videos he has shared on his Paint YouTube channel, will emcee the annual celebration of online video's best and brightest, which this year will take place at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on September 26.

Cozart, whose videos often multi-part harmonies and witty cracks related to pop culture, has gathered more than four million subscribers on the Paint channel. His all-time most popular video, "After Ever After," is one of the most sensational viral hits in YouTube history. To date, it has received more than 73 million views.

Since achieving success on YouTube, Cozart has furthered his career in the comedy world, and he will bring a self-depreciating edge to his hosting duties. On Twitter, he termed the upcoming show a "night you will soon forget,...

The fifth annual Buffer Festival, a digital film festival and industry-wide convention, will welcome roughly 100 YouTube creators -- including Jon Cozart, Timothy DeLaGhetto, and Andrea Russett -- to Toronto from September 28 through October 1.

Held at the Elgin And Winter Garden Theater Center, the Festival expects 7,000 guests this year. In addition to hundreds of exclusive video premieres from acclaimed YouTube creators, the four-day event will also comprise an Industry Day for executives and a Creator Day for aspiring creators, with workshops, panel discussions, and case studies. Buffer Festival was founded by Canadian creators Corey Vidal, Saskia Vanell, and Corrado Coia in 2013.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Fullscreen and New Form Digital are teaming up to realize 10 fan fiction stories about some of the world’s top digital influencers in a new web series dubbed FANtasies. The anthology series will see creators like Mamrie Hart, Jon Cozart, Gabbie Hanna, and Smosh each starring in episodes inspired by over-the-top and sexually-charged fanfic culled from Wattpad and other platforms, according to Variety.

The show will bow on Fullscreen’s subscription service, which is priced at $5.99 per month, on June 22.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

YouTube star Jon Cozart Paint - creator of viral hits like Disney parody, 'After Ever After' brings his considerable talents to this week's Inside The Extras Studio, a musical episode in which he sings alongside Tony Award-winning actorBarry Bostwick Scandal, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Mary Kate Wiles The Lizzie Bennett Diaries. The song comes from Kenny Wood and Kahle McCann, the multi-award-winning songwriting duo behind short musical Sudden Death and the musical episode of Research. Watch the episode below...

Talent agency Wme is adding to its roster of digital stars, signing musician Jon Cozart, budding actress Andrea Russett, and quirky family vlog squad the Eh Bee Family.

Cozart, who recently dropped a scathing musical account of the YouTube landscape in 2016, blends pop culture and current affairs as a so-called “info-tainer,” according to Wme. His Paint channel counts 3.4 million subscribers and 267 million views.

Russett, who starred opposite Cameron Dallas in 2014’s Expelled (which was the second most-downloaded movie on iTunes that year), also appears in this summer’s Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, starring Zac Efron and Adam DeVine. In addition to partnering with top brands on her channel like Netflix, At&T, Pizza Hut, and Coca Cola, Russett is also an avid supporter of The Thirst Project, which aims to provide communities around the world with safe drinking water.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.