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Two-thirds of U.S. consumers see YouTube as a “realistic destination” for movies and TV shows

YouTube‘s success on TV screens is legitimizing it in the eyes of the average American consumer. That’s the main takeaway from a survey conducted by Looper Insights; the firm found that two-thirds of respondents agreed with the idea that YouTube is a “realistic destination” for TV shows and movies.

Looper surveyed 1,115 U.S. consumers about their media appetites. 66% of that cohort said that YouTube has become a reliable source for the sort of long-form content that was previously confined to TV networks and subscription-based streaming services.

Among a separate panel of 65 media executives, the percentage was even higher. 88% of those respondents agreed with the claim that YouTube is a realistic destination for long-form movies and TV shows. “Once only considered a short-form or creator-led powerhouse, YouTube has grown to become like television — across TV screens, tablets and phones — with a growing focus on films, series, and longer-form entertainment,” reads the report.

YouTube has hastened that growth by investing heavily in its TV presence. The most recent edition of Nielsen‘s The Gauge report found that YouTube has the largest audience share among streaming video services, claiming 12% of that market. At its annual Brandcast presentation, YouTube dubbed itself as the #1 most-watched distributor of content across broadcast, cable, and streaming in the U.S. since February 2025.

47% of consumers in the Looper survey said that the living room is the main location for their YouTube viewing, while 52% claimed that they would consider using YouTube’s free platform as a replacement for SVOD services like Netflix and Disney+.

Media companies are responding to that demand by stocking YouTube with premium film and TV content. A notable example of that trend occurred earlier this year, when Warner Bros. made more than 30 full movies available for free on YouTube.

At this point, YouTube’s ascendance to the top of the film and TV distribution landscape is nearly complete, and the platform will surely be a top player in that industry for years to come. When that happens, what role will YouTube’s homegrown creators play? A Deloitte report from March found that many members of Gen Z prefer creator content to premium TV, but more than half of Looper’s respondents said that creators are better off sticking to YouTube rather than pursuing projects on “premium” streaming platforms.

Some creators have struggled to meet expectations in the traditional TV world, even as some of their colleagues have thrived in similar spaces. But if the Looper report is to be believed, YouTube is now on par with TV and movie hubs in the minds of many U.S. consumers. If that’s the case, then creators can elevate their work to premium status without leaving YouTube at all.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, Statistics by Sam Gutelle
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Ulta Beauty isn’t just cool with its employees making social media content on the clock–it’s paying them to do it

The relationship between companies and employees who make content about their experiences working there has always been a tenuous one. A few years ago, employees were possibly more likely to get a call from the boss and a “Hey, stop that,” than a “Congratulations, you’re making our brand go viral.” Things shifted a bit during the pandemic, with TikTok letting everyone from fast food staffers to farriers share their daily lives at work.

And now? Cosmetics company Ulta Beauty is not just letting employees make social media content about working there–it’s paying them for it.

Its new ambassador program seeks employees who are already successfully making content about their Ulta workdays, christens these staffers as “Ulta Beauties,” and pays them to make two commissioned deliverables per month. Per Glossy, these deliverables are usually themed around Ulta’s current sales promotions and new product and category launches. The Beauties also consult with Ulta, helping it sharpen its owned account social media strategy.

Beauties are allowed to make content on or off the clock, too. Pretty sweet gig.

“We knew we had an untapped superpower with our [store] associates,” Stacy Coblentz, Associate Manager of the ambassador program, told Glossy. “They know what’s happening before we do.”

“Our associates are really the heartbeat of what we do,” Amiee Bayer-Thomas, Ulta’s Chief Retail Officer, added. “Our associates post and engage on all sorts of different [social media] platforms, and [last year] we said, ‘My gosh, our biggest advocates and those most passionate about what we do are our own associates,’ so we stood up this influencer program.”

Ulta announced the program at its recent field leadership conference, and ~1,500 associates applied. (For context, Ulta has around ~50,000 total associates in its ~1,500 stores, so that’s a decent chunk of their population.)

Not everyone gets in, though; Ulta has only accepted around 30 staffers for its first cohort. Those staffers range in position from cashier up to store manager, with expertise in (and content about) areas like hairstyling, makeup, skin care, and nail care.

One of the newly crowned Beauties is Jenn Rodriguez, who’s a General Manager in Lansing, Michigan, and began creating social media content a decade ago. She has 50,000 followers, and says that as part of the program, “We get to engage with the team on a whole different level, and I can feel that they respect us and value our input in so many different ways.”

Ulta says ambassadors that stand out in the program can be offered further opportunities, like starring in commercials and hosting Q&A livestreams on Ulta’s official accounts. All ambassadors get perks like PR packages from brands, paid trips to Ulta events, access to masterclasses, and educational opportunities with platforms like TikTok and Meta.

Ambassadors told Glossy the program has helped grow their follower counts. Between that and the other perks, they seem to be benefiting measurably–and so is Ulta, which gets high-quality social content that’s consistent with its brand messaging (all the Beauties’ deliverables have to be approved by corporate before they’re posted), help with its social ad strategy, and potentially some future marketing executives out of the deal.

“A lot of them want to end up at corporate in marketing, [creative social media, or PR],” Coblentz said. “I would say the possibilities are limitless. They could be CEO of Ulta one day.”

We wouldn’t be surprised if this forward-thinking strat is embraced by other brands–especially brands that want their products to sell in social-driven ecom hubs like TikTok Shop.

Filed under: Homepage Feature, Ulta Beauty by James Hale
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Sidemen management company Arcade gets creative with agency wing

The management team that represents the biggest creator group in the U.K. is appealing to brands and other advertisers. Arcade Media, which is partnered with the London-based septet known as the Sidemen, has launched an agency wing called Arcade Creative.

A press release from Arcade describes the new creative division as “a fully dedicated, creator-first agency” that will help brands reach the Sidemen’s passionate audience of Gen Z fans. Arcade Creative partners will work alongside the Sidemen to ideate and launch campaigns.

Joe Lamb will serve as the Head of Arcade Creative. “Arcade Creative’s role is to formalize and open up the Sidemen’s content inventory to media agency planners/buyers and brands…allowing brands to connect with Gen-Z and youth audiences,” Lamb told Tubefilter in an email. The agency is “establishing the Sidemen as a media buy in the creator publisher space,” Lamb added.

Arcade has been closely aligned with the Sidemen since the firm’s launch, and the two parties have worked together to diversify the septet’s activity across numerous commercial ventures. Some recent efforts have turned the Sidemen’s widespread influence into a commodity. The recently launched VC firm Upside, for example, is looking to create value for backed businesses by connecting them to the Sidemen’s videomaking operation.

Much of the group’s influence flows through YouTube, where the Sidemen have evolved from a brash, boyish septet to an entertainment empire known for its long-form content. With formats like Sidemen Supermarket Sweep and Inside, the Sidemen have shown that they are capable of producing work that rivals half-hour fare on TV and streaming. Some of those high-concept videos have had sponsorships attached to them — thus demonstrating the marketing potential of the Sidemen.

The group’s work was on display at a recent Sidemen Showcase held in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood. The presentation served as the Sidemen’s contribution to a growing trend of upfront presentations that feature creator-led programming. Now, through Arcade Creative, the group is showing that it belongs in the top tier of YouTube-based producers of premium content — an echelon that also includes acts like MrBeast and Dude Perfect.

If you want to learn what the Sidemen can bring to their brand partners, keep an eye on the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. The promotion for the summer soccer tournament included a pact with the internet’s favorite influencer footballers, and the Sidemen will be poised to stick around in the public eye as the tournament kicks off in the United States.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News by Sam Gutelle
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TikTok bans #SkinnyTok hashtag

TikTok is taking action against posts that depict the effects of disordered eating. Amid mounting pressure from regulators affiliated with the European Commission, the ByteDance-owned app has banned the #SkinnyTok hashtag, which was used to disseminate videos that perpetrate harmful beliefs about body image.

#SkinnyTok took off in April, when the namesake hashtag hosted thousands of videos that celebrated unrealistic and unhealthy female body standards. The #SkinnyTok clips heightened broader concerns regarding the social media industry’s deletrious effect on teen body image — a trend that can also be seen through the long-form popularity of diet pill and steroid-like drug videos.

It didn’t take long before #SkinnyTok drew scrutiny from regulatory bodies. Clara Chappaz, France’s Minister of State for Digital Affairs, brought the hashtag to the European Commission’s attention. Chappaz called #SkinnyTok “unacceptable” and urged the Commission to crack down on toxic body image beliefs.

TikTok quickly acquiesced to those demands. “[We] have blocked search results for #SkinnyTok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content,” said TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino in a statement published on June 2. In a post on X, Chappaz cheered the move as a “collective victory.”

This is not the first time TikTok has taken action to curb controversial body image content. Two years ago, the app caused a stir among creators when it restricted videos that promoted semaglutide drugs like Ozempic as weight loss solutions. YouTube has initiated similar crackdowns on its own platform, while companies like Meta and X have been criticized for relative inaction.

TikTok’s attempt to nix #SkinnyTok is a good step forward, but to fully address toxic body image standards and their effects on teenage users, the app has to do more. Playing whack-a-mole with dangerous hashtags is an imperfect solution. One idea would be to take a page out of YouTube’s book by tweaking recommendation algorithms to surface fewer videos that could be tied to disordered eating and related ills.

With a new lineup of features, TikTok is moving in the right direction. On Good Morning America, representatives for the app announced new self-care tools for the For You Page, including a topic manager, improved keyword filters, and an updated Safety Center guide. The popular app is becoming a healthier place to browse, even if it will take more work to reverse negative body standards.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, TikTok by Sam Gutelle
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Top 50 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels • Week Of 06/01/2025

[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇

MrBeast hit a huge milestone this week. The North Carolina-based creator now runs the only channel in YouTube history with at least 400 million subscribers, and he reached that benchmark in grand style. The MrBeast channel was the only YouTube hub to get at least two million new subscribers during the final week of May.

Meanwhile, five other channels got at least one million new subscribers over the same period. The also-rans behind MrBeast are struggling to keep up with Jimmy Donaldson’s blistering pace, but technological advances are starting to level the playing field a bit.

Generative AI has become part of the conflict between India and Pakistan

For weeks, geopolitical tensions in South Asia have brought significant change to our YouTube viewership charts. In particular, India and Pakistan are restating their conflicting claims to the region of Kashmir, bringing millions of views and subscribers to channels from those two countries.

At first, the channels pulling in Kashmir-related viewership made perfect sense. Indians and Pakistanis flocked to news hubs where they could receive the latest updates in the wake of a terrorist attack in the contested region. YouTube became such a useful vector for information that the Indian government chose to shut down Pakistani news channels that were sharing details about the ongoing strife.

What happened next was the sort of weird twist that could only happen on YouTube: More generalized content creators saw how many views India/Pakistan videos were getting, and they decided to get in on the trend, often in ludicrous fashion. In our latest Global Sub Top 50 ranking, there are no South Asian news hubs to be found, but there are multiple channels that are using generative AI videos to draw in millions of subscribers from two of the world’s most populous nations.

The clearest example of what I’m talking about comes on a channel called TISSAVRCARTO. That hub got 513,000 new subscribers during the final week of May, and all of its most-watched Shorts are generative AI slop videos that imagine India and Pakistan as wild animals duking it out in sports stadiums. Something tells me that a dog race isn’t going to decide which country is allowed to have sovereignty over Kashmir.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B8DNxUXwPbM

TISSAVRCARTO is not alone. While that channel has a clear focus on the India-Pakistan conflict, the events are becoming so newsworthy that more generalized channels are getting in on the commentary as well.

AI Funtoo, for example, is a typical generative AI hub that utilizes pop culture characters like Spiderman and Pikachu. These days, AI Funtoo has added in its own India and Pakistan avatars, and the viewers are rushing in. AI Funtoo reached 35th place in the Global Sub Top 50 by adding 413,000 new subscribers over a seven-day period.

Data via Gospel Stats

Is this trend yet another coup for channels that know how to read and react to domineering short-form trends? Or is it an overly goofy allusion to a serious situation that shouldn’t be the butt of silly videos? All I’ll say is that this phenomenon shows how important news media is on YouTube — and that’s something worth celebrating.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

India: 15
United States: 10
Spain: 3
Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Turkey: 2
Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia, Taiwan, and Vietnam: 1

This week, 39 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all our news by subscribing to our newsletter. You’re going to love it. 👉 Newsletter.Tubefilter.com.

Filed under: Articles, Homepage Feature, News, Statistics, statistics, YouTube, Youtube Chart by Sam Gutelle
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Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 06/01/2025

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇

As YouTube’s change to its view counting methods continues to rewrite the internet record books, top short-form channels are hauling in billions of views at a time. This week, two different channels (KIMPRO and Double Date) each collected more than 2.3 million weekly views, with KIMPRO just edging out its Australian rival for the #1 spot in the Global Top 50.

There’s a big dropoff after the top two spots, but 11 different channels — all of which are quite active on Shorts — collected at least one billion YouTube views during the week that was. As those hubs scale up, it’s become harder to tell truth from fiction, especially for channels that capitalize on popular memes.

Some people need to learn how to relax

Calming soundscapes get millions of views on YouTube by meeting the needs of light sleepers, studying students, and meditation practitioners across the globe. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years covering YouTube, it’s that bizarre channels will always find ways to repurpose top trends in a nonsensical fashion, and the evergreen popularity of relaxing content is no exception.

I understand that everyone prefers different means of relaxation. One person may be soothed by a babbling brook, while another may prefer ambient coffee shop noise. That said, I need to know who uses Prism Relax Vlog to take a load off.

Of the three words in that channel’s title, two are misnomers. The most popular uploads you can find there are not vlogs — they’re the typical Shorts uploads that are commonplace in the Global Top 50. The videos do feature many different colors from the prism, but are they relaxing?

Not to me. If you’re someone who can calm down by watching four different loud, clattering videos at the same time, more power to you. In my mind, it’s hard to imagine anything more overstimulating than this.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9Ykt4uhflnY

Apparently, I’m the one who doesn’t know how to relax, because Prism Relax Vlog is one of the biggest channels on YouTube. It got 525.9 million weekly views to reach 45th place in the Global Top 50. It’s possible that today’s youths have such low attention spans that only watching four videos at once constitutes a form of relaxation.

But that’s not what I think. With each passing week, channels that farm keywords — even if the videos themselves are completely incongruous with those terms — are taking up more space in the Global Top 50. East Asian countries provide a lot of those channels, and Prism Relax Vlog is one of Vietnam’s five representatives in the current ranking.

It’s almost as if doing the opposite of what your channel title says is the surest way to ensure high viewership. Another example is the hub Real Zaidify, which, despite its claims to realness, is populated with a lot of generative AI imagery.

Data via Gospel Stats

Will this ever end? How does YouTube itself feel about channels that capitalize on trends in the most chaotic way possible? It seems as if the new Shorts view counting methods only encourage these strategies, and creators all around the world are cashing in.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

India: 13
United States: 10
Vietnam: 5
Hong Kong: 3
Australia, Brazil, Russia, and Taiwan: 2
Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Peru, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey: 1

This week, 44 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all our news by subscribing to our newsletter. You’re going to love it. 👉 Newsletter.Tubefilter.com.

Filed under: Articles, Homepage Feature, News, statistics, Statistics, YouTube, Youtube Chart by Sam Gutelle
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At TwitchCon, TikTok-style vertical live streaming arrives for Twitch users

At its annual gathering, Twitch announced a revolutionary change: Streamers are getting the ability to rotate their broadcasts by 90 degrees. The arrival of vertical live streaming, announced at the TwitchCon event in Rotterdam, will bring Twitch content in line with rival platforms like TikTok.

Vertical live streams will make Twitch more streamlined for those watching from their mobile devices. Changing the orientation of the device will change the layout of the active stream; in other words, mobile Twitch viewers who want to revert to the classic horizontal mode only need to turn their phones to the side.

Notably, the vertical streams will not replace Twitch’s horizontal format. Streamers will be able to go live in both orientations at once, and a partnership with Aitum Vertical will enable dual-format broadcasting through the popular app OBS.

In a blog post, Twitch claimed that its dual-format streams will allow creators to better harness some of the platform’s monetization features. “The new vertical layout makes it easier for viewers to participate in events like Hype Trains and support you by subbing, gifting, and cheering while watching your stream in full screen,” reads the post. “They’ll also be able to customize chat to have more control over how much chat they see on screen.”

On TikTok, vertical streams have become quite lucrative for creators. The format’s sales figures are set to jump to $77 billion by 2027. Twitch owner Amazon has long coveted a piece of that pie. It rolled out a TikTok-like feed called Inspire in 2023 and brought a similar Discovery feed to Twitch a year later.

Those efforts, however, have mostly been uninspiring (no pun intended). Despite Amazon’s best efforts, TikTok is gaining on Twitch in the streaming universe.

Like Meta, Amazon has tried reaching into its deep pockets to build a community of vertical creators, but the new Twitch format feels more like a YouTube-style strategy in the way it harnesses a vast creator network. Twitch already accounts for far more streaming hours than its competitors. Now, it’s trying to move some of those hours to a TikTok-esque experience.

The TwitchCon announcement slate did not end with the reveal of vertical video streams. Twitch is looking to add 1440p to its list of video resolutions, providing a premium option for viewers with powerful devices. Streamers who are interested in trying out that feature can put their names on the waitlist here.

TwitchCon is always a big moment for the Twitch team, as the event gives CEO Dan Clancy and his executive team the perfect platform to show off incoming upgrades. The next chance of that nature will come on October 17. That’s when the Stateside verison of TwitchCon will return to San Diego. In the meantime, you can peruse the Twitch blog for details about the platform’s newest products.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News by Sam Gutelle
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TikTok has its sights set on the U.K. Can it maintain promising revenue growth across the pond?

TikTok is dealing with regulatory troubles across the globe, but consumers in the U.K. don’t seem to mind. In the nation with the world’s sixth-largest GDP, TikTok revenue went up 50% last year, according to the app’s U.K. commerce lead Kris Boger.

Boger acknowledged that businesses are currently facing “a challenging period,” but he expressed his belief that the app’s year-over-year growth can be sustained. He cited the upcoming U.K. rollout of the app’s search ads as one initiative that will juice TikTok’s bottom line.

As lawmakers in Washington have put regulatory pressure on TikTok, ByteDance decision-makers have eyed expansion in regions outside the U.S. As far as ecommerce is concerned, the U.K. is one of the most logical targets for that effort. British consumers served as early test subjects for several TikTok features, including its Trendy Beat sales platform and its brick-and-mortar pop-up locations.

The Times notes that 1.5 million U.K. businesses currently use TikTok. Boger argued that revenue numbers could continue growing as British culture takes a turn in the spotlight. The exec predicted that cultural happenings like the upcoming Oasis reunion will lead to a Britcore revival that will expand TikTok’s status as a “cultural engine.”

For TikTok, the U.K. also offers a measure of relief. The app’s operating status is more secure there than it is in America, and the Brexit of it all offers protection against regulatory pressure coming out of the E.U. These geopolitical factors help explain why TikTok promoted ad products like GMV Max in the U.K. after the Supreme Court upheld Congress’ ban attempt.

That’s not to say that U.K. lawmakers are unconcerned about TikTok’s effect on its young user base. In 2023, a British data protection watchdog issued a £12.7 million fine related to privacy breaches on the platform.

Even with that friction in mind, the diversification of TikTok’s business is still a worthwhile goal. Analysts have projected that TikTok’s global ad revenue could reach $32 billion over the 2025 calendar year as long as the app dodges a U.S. ban. That earnings potential gives TikTok a big incentive to reach new regions, and the U.K. is a significant target.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, TikTok by Sam Gutelle
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DOGE cut decades-old climate science departments. So 200 scientists are sharing their research on YouTube.

YouTube has always been a place where humans teach each other, and under an administration where basic provable science is being questioned, it’s becoming a vehicle for climate and weather scientists to reach the masses.

More than 200 of these pros are currently hosting a five-day round robin livestream on YouTube aimed at showing how valuable climate science is in the face of Trump admin budget cuts to orgs like NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation.

Hosted on a dedicated channel called The Weather & Climate Livestream, the event is slated to be around 100 hours long, and was organized by about a dozen scientists, including global warming expert Margaret Duffy, climate scientist Jonah Bloch-Johnson, and Union of Concerned Scientists fellow Marc Alessi.

It kicked off on May 28, with initial hosts documenting their last hours at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The GISS was founded in 1966, at the height of the Space Race, and worked on the Voyager program, among others. It was among the casualties of Elon Musk‘s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” and was ordered to shutter by May 31 in what NASA called an “attack” on the agency.

Duffy told Space.com Bloch-Johnson reached out to her with the idea to do a marathon educational stream. She quickly agreed, and the two of them, plus Alessi, “just immediately started reaching out to every contact we knew,” Alessi added.

Once the yeses started rolling in, their organizer team put together a five-day slate of mini lectures, discussion panels, and Q&A sessions. Marquee presenters include former National Weather Service directors, glacier researcher Britney Schmidt, and triple Emmy-winning meteorologist John Morales.

“We really felt like the American public deserves to know what we do,” Duffy said.

As Space.com notes, though, the folks behind this livestream are hoping viewers walk away not just more knowledgeable, but also galvanized to take action. The livestream links out to 5 Calls, which helps American constituents reach their reps in Congress. The stream’s organizers and presenters want viewers, armed with their newly learned information, to ask Congress to stave off further budget cuts that will affect the necessary scientific departments that do things like predict cataclysmic hurricanes and monitor droughts, so the farmers who grow our food can brace for incoming dry spells.

Stream organizers told Space.com budget cuts–both those already executed and potential future cuts–will have both short- and long-term effects. In the short term, we as a nation could be less prepared for natural disasters. In the long term…well.

“These talks serve as a reminder of the fact that the American public has invested in weather and climate research for decades,” Alessi said.

At press time, there are around ~900 people watching the stream live, and ~7.6K subscribers for the channel. Maybe that response means more events, especially since we’ve got three and a half more years of Trump left to go.

What’s interesting here is that these organizers chose YouTube as the place to meet the general public. YouTube has had misinformation issues (enough that it’s drawn the ire of Poynter‘s International Fact-Checking Network), but has tried to contain them with features like info panels and frontloading authoritative sources in search. And it’s maintained those features, while other platforms like Meta have slashed fact-checking in an attempt to cozy up to Trump.

It’s possible that, over the next three and a half years, more experts will follow this group’s lead and make YouTube a place for candid communication between scientists and civilians.

If cuts worsen the way they’re expected to, it may be one of the only places left.

Filed under: Homepage Feature by James Hale
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Tribeca Festival’s Creator Economy programming promotes digital voices who are “up next”

The Tribeca Festival is deepening its creator-oriented slate for the 2025 edition of its annual gathering. Highlights on the Tribeca Creator Economy vertical will include a showcase of social media creators who are “UP NEXT,” as well as a conversation with the TikToker and podcaster Tinx.

For the second year in a row, Tribeca’s partner for its Creator Economy vertical is Whalar Group. The multifaceted company, which just secured a strategic investment from backers like Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, will bring its creator-related expertise to the Downtown Manhattan festival.

One piece of programming backed by Whalar is a June 9 conversation with Tinx, which will take place at the Crosby Street Hotel. The host of the It’s Me, Tinx podcast will dish on a wide range of topics, including comedy content, pop culture, and dating.

For more than a decade, the Tribeca Festival has offered a canvas for creators who display their artistry on social media. That initiative dates back to the days of Vine, when Tribeca hosted a competition for six-second films. As creators pursued more expansive projects, Tribeca continued to support them. Creators affiliated with the multi-channel network Maker Studios once premiered work at the festival, and a 2016 partnership with actor Josh Hutcherson brought more digital-native content to attendees.

These days, Tribeca is still eager to champion creators who bring cutting-edge material to their subscribers. The members of the UP NEXT cohort will screen their passion projects at a one-off live event that will take place at the AMC 19th Street East 6 theater on June 12. The creators in that group are Ari at Home, Christina Young, Coco Mocoe, Danny Cortez, Eric Jeng, Lauren W, Patrick Hicks, Public Opinion, Spencer Lackey, Stef Dag, and Walker Ward.

“The UP NEXT Creators program is our way of recognizing the incredible innovation happening in the creator economy,” said Tribeca Festival Senior Programmer Jarod Neece in a statement. “These creators are pioneering new forms of cultural storytelling—and just like the filmmakers and artists Tribeca has always championed, they deserve a spotlight.”

The 12-day Tribeca Festival will run from June 4 to June 15. Many different ticketing tiers are available, ranging from festival passes to multi-screening packages to Tribeca memberships. You can peruse all of the options by clicking here.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, Tribeca, Tribeca Enterprises, Tribeca Film Festival by Sam Gutelle
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Have you heard? Stokes Twins hire a CEO, OnlyFans seeks a sale, and Baby Shark eyes an IPO

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, big deals were everywhere: A creator announced his latest investment, a risqué platform negotiated with potential buyers, and the brand behind a ubiquitous kids’ song made noise about an IPO.

The biz

Mario Joos is the Stokes Twins’ new CEO. The former Retention Manager for MrBeast announced on LinkedIn that he has accepted an offer to become the top executive for YouTube’s top identical twin duo. The Stokes Twins have shone on Shorts by utilizing some of the growth hacks employed by other big creators. Bringing in some of that MrBeast magic is a good way to keep the upticks coming.

Steven Bartlett stans for Stan with ownership stake. The Diary of a CEO host has led the vanguard of creator-investors through his savvy business moves. Now he’s joining creator commerce platform Stan as a co-owner to build (in his own words) “the future of entrepreneurship, one Creator-entrepreneur at a time.”

Trace Alexander takes good eats to the next level with his own oat brand. The health food influencer, who has a significant following on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, is rolling out a product line titled Trace’s Oats. The trend of better-for-you food brands launched by creators is so hot right now, and Alexander is in the perfect position to get in on the phenomenon.

Creator commotion

Filian gets charitable with some Fil-anthropy. The leading VTuber gave out $10,000 to smaller streamers during an initiative on her Twitch stream. This makes me want to start a stream of my own so that I can get a little Filian bump for myself.

Should Hasan Piker have been banned for reading a murderer’s manifesto on stream? The political commentator earned yet another suspension from Twitch after he read the Capital Jewish Museum shooter’s screen during a live broadcast. He indicated that if Twitch’s rules don’t change, he could take his talents to YouTube.

A creator got herself banned for life from Carnival Cruise Lines. Here’s a word of advice for Courtney Murley: If you’re going to sneak alcohol onto your cruise by hiding it in your carry-on luggage, maybe don’t post about on TikTok afterward.

Platform headlines

OnlyFans eyes $8 billion sale. Can a hub for user-generated paywalled videos (many of them NSFW) turn itself into a tech unicorn? There might be easier ways for OnlyFans to raise a big chunk of change, but that strategy would require some…saucier maneuvers.

X launches account to promote its original programming. The platform formerly known as Twitter is getting ready to roll out a lot more original shows, which will join content from celebs like Khloe Kardashian and Anthony Pompliano. Viewers who want to keep track of those programs can follow this account.

YouTube brings some clarity to its yellow dollar signs. Getting hit with demonetization sucks. That’s why YouTube is updating its review process to automatically investigate videos that get hit with yellow dollar signs. Peep the relevant Creator Insider video for more details.

Pop culture minute

Kesha is launching a platform for musicians. Through Smash, users will be able to connect, collaborate, and work with other artists while retaining the rights to their creations. It would have been nice if Kesha could have named her platform after her biggest hit, but I think “TiK ToK” was already taken.

Nik Noctural is taking a YouTube break to focus on his music career. The guitar-shredding creator dropped an EP after announcing that he would step away from the channel he has run for more than a decade. I hope the other guitar players on YouTube will send him off with a suitably epic solo.

Lydia Ko’s training plan involves a lot of Grant Horvat videos. The LPGA Tour golfer said that she prepared for the U.S. Women’s Open by watching videos from one of YouTube’s top golf creators. Seems like Ko is the perfect candidate for Horvat’s next collab.

The internet is a strange place

‘Baby Shark’ purveyor Pinkfong is aiming for an IPO. The South Korean company, which created an inescapable children’s entertainment earworm, wants to go public. I look forward to seeing what sort of numbers Pinkfong can do-doo-doodoo-doodoo on the open market.

A Nigerian creator flaunted her wealth so hard that she earned a prison sentence. At a party, TikToker Murja Kunya sprayed money in the air. That’s a neat flex, but it’s also apparently an illegal move in Nigeria. A local court punished Kunya’s swagger by handing her a six-month sentence.

The CIA kept tabs on spies via a Star Wars fan site. Can I also learn how to turn a meme page into an intelligence operation? Yes, but not from a Jedi…

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