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, a streamer who likes collecting plaques is vying for a Grammy trophy, a soda brand is opening up a can of holiday cheer, and a huge acquisition shakes up the streaming landscape.
Pop culture minute
PlaqueBoyMax is the first streamer to go from Twitch to the Grammy nominee list. The 22-year-old New Jersey native is nominated in the Best Dance/Electronic Recording category for a track he co-created alongside British DJ Fred Again. Despite his rapid rise, Max admitted that he “didn’t expect” his first Grammy nom to come so soon.
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Markiplier’s horror movie finally has a release date. For years, the YouTube gaming star has been working on a film adaptation of the horror title Iron Lung. Now, we know that Iron Lung will get a limited theatrical release during the final weekend of January 2026. Can Markiplier bring excitement to a traditionally sleepy period on the Hollywood release calendar?
The Internet Racing League is revving its engines. Motorsports has become a significant creator content category (just ask Amelia Dimoldenberg and Squeezie). The IRL will look to turn that trend into a global phenomenon by pitting creators from various regions against one another across a variety of racetracks.
The ad world
Pepsi MAX recruited creators to share a message of holiday season mindfulness. The sugar-free beverage line teamed up with the agency NewGen to add a creator-led series to its global “it can wait” campaign. The initiative invites consumers to prioritize togetherness over day-to-day drudgery during the holiday season, and more than a dozen “ambassadors” are checking in to support that mission.
Stavros Halkias and Daniel Thrasher are helping Patreon go on the offensive against…Santa Claus? The stand-up comedian and the musician star in a spot that emphasizes Patreon’s supportive communities at the expense of raw consumerism. Santa may not like that shift in consumer behavior, but Patreon sees itself as a beneficial asset for creators. Even so, the creator economy hub is definitely going on the naughty list for this one.
Maybelline is the latest brand embracing the microdrama. Actors Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan are the stars of a makeup-oriented microdrama that gives off some serious Hallmark vibes. Viewers are flocking to short-form serials, so we’re not surprised to see brands following suit during a competitive holiday season.
Creator commotion
Jake Paul elevates his brother, raises $30 million for Anti Fund. The elder Paul sibling is the new General Partner at the funding firm co-founded by his little brother. Anti Fund has also raised a fresh war chest of $30 million, which the Pauls have earmarked for the “next generation of American innovation.”
CAA adds an internet legend to its creators division. For two decades, Greg Goodfried has been an innovative operative in the creator world. After co-creating lonelygirl15, joining UTA, and helping the D’Amelio family launch brands, Goodfried is now joining CAA as an agent.
Noel Miller is saying goodbye to the Tiny Meat Gang podcast. For years, Miller and his partner Cody Ko co-hosted one of the most-listened-to podcasts on YouTube. After sexual assault allegations against Ko caused him to step back from the show, Miller kept Tiny Meat Gang running, but he recently admitted that the “fundamental change” to the podcast’s personnel has been hard to get past.
A very special Netflix-Warner Bros edition of Have You Heard
Netflix’s Warner Bros. acquisition is an $82.7 billion deal. The streaming platform led by Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters announced its Warner Bros coup through a triumphant blog post. The bidding war for the legacy studio was fierce, but Netflix came out on top. Its reward is that it will have to contend with theatrical chains.
Paramount’s last-ditch acquisition effort is a hostile takeover. Netflix’s Warner Bros deal includes a mix of cash and stock, and it will require certain cable channels to be spun off. Paramount is positioning its all-cash offer as a stable option that is more likely to receive regulatory approval, though Netflix execs don’t seem to be worried about the possibility of their deal being nixed.
Larry Ellison’s plan for Warner Bros. would have been nakedly partisan. The Oracle boss and Trump ally wanted to acquire Warner Bros. so that he could force out certain CNN personalities. I think we can all agree that we dodged a bullet there. Ellison will have to settle for a massive role related to the spun-off version of TikTok.
The internet is a strange place
Is watching someone trip the key to longevity? In streams on YouTube, X, and Instagram, Bryan Johnson consumes psilocybin mushrooms while his followers watch from afar. Hearing people describe their trips is infamously dull, but there’s something oddly compelling about watching Johnson as he embarks on his spiritual journey.
Subreddit drama forced Reddit to tighten its moderator rules. After an /r/art moderator went on a bit of a power trip, Reddit put a limit on how many subreddits its mods are allowed to oversee. I guess that’s one way to discover that art is inherently subjective.
Columbia Sportswear tells flat-earthers to prove it. The apparel brand is promising to pay up if someone photographs the end of the world. Of course, if said photographer accidentally falls off the edge of the earth, how will they make it back home to claim their prize? For Columbia, the dare is a win-win.
