[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.]

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Lucan Pevidor‘s reign as the leader of the Global Sub Top 50 has come to an end. The Brazilian creator was #1 in this ranking for the entire month of September, but October is MrBeast‘s time to shine. Boosted by a host of new videos and partnerships, Jimmy Donaldson added two million weekly subscribers on his primary channel. Pevidor, in second place, could only make it halfway to that total.

All of the channels in the Global Sub Top 50 added at least 280,000 weekly subscribers. Some of them are picking up viewership at a rate that’s downright spooky.

October is a good time to get a little scary on YouTube Shorts.

Sam and Colby aren’t the only creators who know how to take advantage of spooky season on social media. Across YouTube, enterprising videomakers are pulling out their makeup kits and retelling their favorite creepypastas as they ring in the month that ends with Halloween.

In this week’s Global Sub Top 50, Halloween fever has been particularly acute in Mexico. That’s where several local creators boosted their subscriber counts with videos that hit on common spooky season tropes.

First, let’s take a look at Lily Belloncle. Thanks to her loud outifts and detail makeup routines, she’s hard to miss, and millions of YouTube viewers have been paying attention to her. During the first full week of October, Belloncle added 300,000 new subscribers, bringing her lifetime total up to 22.5 million. Her subscriber count increased by 50% week-over-week, pushing her up to 33rd place in the Global Sub Top 50.

Belloncle’s most-watched Shorts clip helps us see why October is a good month for her. Her toothy, nightmare-fueling look may be difficult for her to remove, but it’s a hit with her fans, which is why it’s up to 240 million lifetime views.

Not everyone has Belloncle’s costuming abilities, but that doesn’t exclude the rest of the field from a little spooky season fun. Another one of this week’s Global Sub Top 50 entrants belongs in the Halloween conversation based on her channel name alone. That’s right, Jenny Devil is back in business.

Ms. Devil cracked the top 40 in our subscriber chart last week. Now, she’s hanging around in the Global Sub Top 50 and sparing no expense to keep the followers flowing in. Not everyone would purchase real-life versions of the Five Nights At Freddy’s animatronics just to please their fans, but for Jenny Devil, it’s just another day at the office — and her 19.2 million subscribers are grateful for her commitment to the bit.

Data via Gospel Stats

There’s really nothing quite like spooky season on YouTube. Other tentpoles on the calendar may center around shopping (the holiday season) or athleticism (the Super Bowl), but October is a month filled with unbridled creativity.

Lily Belloncle and Jenny Devil are two of the creators who display their artistry ahead of Halloween. If you’re not afraid of no ghosts (or a little latex paint), you can be just like them.

Channel Distribution

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

• United States: 13
• India: 11
• Mexico: 7
• Brazil: 4
• Argentina and Indonesia: 3
• United Kingdom: 2
• Colombia, Kazakhstan, Panama, Russia, and Singapore: 1

This week, 38 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.

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Major social platforms just love their chatbots–because those chatbots mean users are now responsible for fixing their own recommendation algorithms, instead of big tech companies having to (gasp) pay people for code cleanup.

YouTube did it, X did it, Instagram did it, and now Facebook joins the ranks. Its new “Your Algorithm” system asks users to tweak what they see on Facebook by telling an LLM topics they’re interested in, and by giving posts on their feeds a thumbs up or down.

“You can now fine-tune your experience and interact directly with the algorithms that rank and recommend what you see on Facebook, meaning you’ll see recommendations that are more relevant, more nuanced, and more you,” Facebook said in a company blog post.

An example shows Facebook’s chatbot telling a user, “Lately you’re all about good tunes, staying strong, salty ocean mornings, chasing great eats, and capturing every moment.”

The interests it recommends for them include music festivals, fitness, ocean kayaking, foodie adventures, videography, and grill recipes. Where the customization comes in is the little “+ Add” button at the end of the list for the user to tell it more topics they want to see in their feed.

There’s also a separate section for the user to tell it what they don’t want to see (in the example, banished topics are “hiking” and “horror movies”).

As for thumbs up and thumbs down on the feed, Facebook says tapping on the “Are you interested in this post?” button at the bottom of recommended content will bring up options asking the user to explain more about why they are or aren’t interested.

“You can easily tell us, in your own words, what you want to see more or less of, and your recommendations will update in real time,” the Meta-owned company says.

Facebook adds that it thinks its ranking system (aka its recommendation algorithm) was already “remarkably good” at “inferring what you’re into from what you engage with on Facebook.”

But “large language models are helping us take a genuine leap forward,” it believes.

“LLMs can incorporate the interests, context, and intent behind natural language, unlocking an algorithm you can actually talk to,” it says. “Under the hood, this marks a real evolution in how ranking works: by bringing freeform text together with everything we already understand about what you enjoy, the algorithms behind your Feed and Reels keep getting more relevant and responsive over time.”

In an era where constant exposure to drip-feeding algorithms can result in choice paralysis for users, it is interesting that platforms are now telling people to take back the reins by choosing what those algorithms ‘know’ about them.

This kind of system might also theoretically lessen the amount of personal information a platform would scrape from users (although that aspect will probably stay firmly in theory; we all know how salable private data is).

But, again, platforms might cite it in an attempt to free themselves from culpability for algorithm problems. If someone is regularly recommended harmful content, a platform with a chatbot could say, “Well, why didn’t you talk to the algorithm and disable that?” instead of altering the algorithm itself to prevent harmful content from even potentially reaching users.

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[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.

T-Series has been on a hot streak in the Global Top 50, but this week, the most-watched YouTube channel of all time could only manage a third-place finish in our weekly viewership ranking. U.S.-based channels Zack D. Films and MaviGadget surged past the Indian record label, with Zack recording 1.39 billion weekly views and taking first place.

It’s rare to see an independent creator like Zack at the front of the Global Top 50. That being said, not all entrants in the Global Top 50 are one-man shows. Some are affiliated with brands that are using smart ad campaigns to haul in massive view counts.

Into the Top 50 with a hop, Flip, and a jump

It’s been four years since YouTube announced that ads would be coming to YouTube Shorts. In the time since then, Shorts ads have matured into a full-fledged ecosystem that drives significant purchase intent among YouTube viewers.

We haven’t seen too many advertisers reaching the Global Top 50 on the strength of their short-form spots — that is, until recently. Seasoning brand Maggi had a moment in our charts during August. In September and October, Flipkart has been shining.

Flipkart is a Bengaluru-based ecommerce brand with an outsized presence on YouTube. During the first full week of October, Flipkart’s official YouTube channel collected 400.9 million weekly views to reach 36th place in the Global Top 50. The company’s viewership rose 20% week-over-week, and it now has more than 1.1 million YouTube subscribers.

Much of that viewership stems from short-form advertising. The most-watched Flipkart video is a spot for its “Sneaker Project.” That clip is approach 200 million lifetime views.

Flipkart deserves credit more its success, but the glut of Indian creators in the Global Top 50 is equally responsible for the ecommerce brand’s uptick. After all, Flipkart’s ads target domestic consumers, so when there are 24 Indian channels in the Global Top 50, Flipkart has a lot of chances to put its campaign in front of the right viewers.

That’s the most important lesson that can be taken away from Flipkart’s time in the Top 50. For YouTube Shorts advertisers, the nature of the inventory only matters if you’re partnering with the right channels.

That’s why, when YouTube decided to bring mindfulness into the Shorts feed in the form of Hit Pause, it teamed up with kid-friendly creators who regularly show up in our charts. If Ryan or Meekah tells kids to take a break, those youngsters are more likely to get the message. As a result, Hit Pause has hovered above 300 million weekly views since the start of 2026.

Data via Gospel Stats

This strategy won’t necessarily fit right for every brand. Relevancy matters, so don’t expect a spot in the Top 50 just because you run ads against KL BRO Biju Rithvik videos.

But if there’s any way your brand can find a way to appeal to kids or global audiences or both, that link is worth pursuing. For Flipkart, those connections come naturally.

Channel Distribution

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

• India: 21
• United States: 9
• Canada and Indonesia: 4
• Australia: 2
• Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and Taiwan: 1

This week, 40 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.

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For the second year in a row, YouTube has brought its Economic Impact Report across the pond. The eminent platform broke down its capital contributions across Europe as part of its effort to promote more harmonious dealings with continental regulators and media companies.

The report claims that YouTube’s creator economy added €8.4 billion to the European gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025. That ecosystem supported more than 220,000 of what YouTube calls “full-time equivalent” (FTE) jobs.

Compared to 2024, both of those numbers are up. The previous European edition of the Economic Impact Report claimed a €7 billion GDP contribution and support for 200,000 FTE jobs. And while TikTok uses slightly different metrics for its Economic Impact Reports, YouTube seems to be more lucrative in Europe than its ByteDance-owned rival. TikTok’s latest European report showed a €2.6 billion economic contribution and support for 52,000 FTE jobs.

“Our revenue-sharing model, the YouTube Partner Program, pays eligible creators more than half of the revenue generated from their channels, and in turn they invest – green-lighting their own shows, building the media companies of the future, and hiring editors, camera operators and studios,” reads YouTube’s report. “YouTube acts as a powerful export engine for European culture, with over 70% of watch time on content produced by EU27 channels coming from outside the region.”

YouTube is just bragging for the sake of it. In Europe, it and its Big Tech brethren are facing significant pushback. EU officials are taking aim at everything from smart glasses to AI chatbots, and traditional broadcasters are resisting the future, too. In the UK, a protracted dispute has pitted YouTube against media companies like the BBC, who want preferential treatment from algorithms at the expense of independent creators.

YouTube’s European Economic Impact Report, released during the MIPCOM conference in France, seems like a pointed reply to those British institutions. Instead of agreeing that public broadcasters need the scales tipped in their favor, YouTube is outlining the consequences that result when creators don’t get enough support.

To wit, the report claims that 63% of creators receive little to no support when engaging with government bodies. The majority of creators also said that they lack sufficient access to training, public grants, and dedicated studio spaces.

In a more pointed attack aimed at the BBC and its ilk, YouTube reported that 83% of creators rely on recommendation algorithms to achieve growth and earn revenue. 71% of that cohort said that reduced visibility would harm their ability to make a living from their content. Translation: Traditional media companies may need an advantage on YouTube, but creators need it more.

Finally, 64% of the creators in YouTube’s European sample said that more support from traditional entities would help them succeed. That’s the message YouTube is bringing to MIPCOM: Cooperate with us, and we can start making some US-sized GDP contributions together. It’s a compelling proposal, but some of Europe’s stuck-in-the-mud broadcasters will probably need some more convincing.

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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, the newest fast-casual menu item comes from a streaming star, two internet legends get into the Christmas spirit, and an NFL lifer takes another step into the Minecraft community.

The biz

The Pokimane Pollo Asado and Steak Bowl has arrived at Chipotle. Keith Lee and Salish Matter need to make some room in the burrito queue, because another creator is turning her signature order into a Chipotle menu item. Poki’s bowl is launching alongside the return of Chipotle’s pollo asado, and the chain is hoping that its partnership with a well-known streamer will generate significant social chatter.

Pinterest is letting brands sponsor creator Pins. Pinterest’s creator monetization push is no secret, and the next step on that path lets brands promote Pins posted by their creator partners. The ad format kinda-sorta sounds like Meta Partnership Ads, but with that creative twist we’ve come to expect from Pinterest.

Ads for online gambling companies are contentious, but YouTube is allowing them. Starting on October 21, gambling firms can run Masthead campaigns that appear at the top of the YouTube homepage. Many platforms have barred those companies from carving out ad space, but YouTube’s creators have long partaken in the so-called “gamba meta” — and the site itself is rolling the dice itself.

Pop culture minute

Burnie Burns and Matt Hullum are bringing ‘Bad Toys’ home for Christmas. We haven’t heard much from Burns and Hullum since Rooster Teeth — the entertainment company they co-founded — went under. Now, they’re reuniting for a Yuletide horror-comedy that, according to its logline, will draw inspiration from “medieval Christmas elf folklore.” So not exactly Red vs. Blue, I’m guessing.

Skweezy Jibbs Makes A Movie tours 71 cities. When comedian Tim Savage took his alter ego Skweezy Jibbs on the road for a comedy show, fans turned up after discovering the character on social media. Skweezy has a significant following, which Savage paid off in the form of a feature film that he paired with post-screening Q&A sessions. Such is the life of an indie creator who strikes it big.

Vertical, short-form feeds are impacting the work of art curators. Thanks to TikTok and Instagram, attention spans aren’t what they used to be. That’s why an art museum in Estonia responded with a new exhibit that features “Instagrammable” locations and a fast-paced flow. You can still explore the art at a leisurely pace if you’d prefer.

Creator commotion

Haley Kalil hits back at Pete Davidson. After the SNL alum told Variety that he thinks female lifestyle influencers are following a “lame” and “insane” career path, Kalil went scorched earth. In a scathing TikTok post, Kalil questioned whether there’s any difference between a social media influencer and a stand-up comedian. They both write their own material and have to support themselves while pursuing their art, so she has a poitn.

Sam and Colby celebrate Hell Week with Uscreen partnership. The haunted house explorers are always busy in October, and 2026 is no exception. Sam and Colby are relaunching their XPLR Club, which offers a more “cinematic viewing experience” for their longtime fans. Its the sort of initiative that will keep Sam and Colby in the foreground as they endure another spooky season full of frights.

BenDaDonnn’s visit to a college football locker room ended with arrests. Texas A&M invited the creator to visit the Aggies locker room during a recent SEC showdown. After the game, Ben and his crew refused to vacate the Northgate bar district, so officers took them away in handcuffs. That’s quite the turn of events for one day.

Platform headlines

Warren Buffett has come clean about his YouTube addiction. Buffett is one of the richest people on the planet, but he spends his evenings the same way we do: Falling down the YouTube rabbit hole. The 96-year-old’s niche interests include old TV commercials and Glenn Close, so he and I clearly have very different algorithms, even if we generate similar amounts of watch time.

Meta bans ByteDance ads after safety spat. TikTok banned Meta ads that implored the ByteDance-owned app to adopt the safety features that were outlined in Meta’s multibillion-dollar settlement with U.S. attorneys general. In response, Meta hit ByteDance with a playground classic: I know you are, but what am I? By banning the Beijing-based corporation’s ads, Meta is escalating a feud that seems like it could go on for a while.

YouTube tests right-aligned comments on desktop devices. On the desktop versions of TikTok and Instagram, comments appear to the right of videos — so why wouldn’t YouTube try that? The test may seem purely cosmetic, but all those old videos that ask for responses “down in the comments” may need some updates.

The internet is a strange place

Mike Tomlin is becoming a Minecraft YouTuber now. Last week, we discussed the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach’s long-running adventures in Minecraft’s creative mode. People loved Tomlin’s Minecraft city so much that he decided to present more of it. The project takes center stage in the first videos to arrive on the NBC pundit’s new YouTube channel.

A Great British Bake Off hotshot learned to bake from YouTube. If you’re watching this year’s Bake Off season, you’ve certainly fallen in love with the immensely talented 21-year-old student Mo Mahir. Apparently, Mahir’s baking career began on YouTube. That’s great news for those of us who still harbor dreams of one day facing the gingham altar.

A YouTube channel went viral for “Black family recipes,” but they were AI-generated the whole time. Do you want some gravy on that AI slop?

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As major film studios seek deals with directors whose careers began on social media, Sony Pictures Entertainment is taking a slightly different approach: It’s bringing the business side of YouTube to Hollywood.

Sony has announced the hire of Fede Goldenberg, who will serve as the head of Screen Gems. After a 15-year stint at YouTube — during which he became the company’s Head of Film and TV Partnerships — Goldenberg is taking the reins of a production and distribution label that delivers many mid-budget horror flicks.

An entity called “Screen Gems” has existed for nearly a century. Initially, the name applied to the animation arm of Columbia Pictures; then, it was applied to the unit now known as Sony Pictures Television. In contemporary times, Screen Gems is known for its emphasis on genre films. In particular, it has deep roots in horror, producing installments for hit franchises like Insidious and Resident Evil.

As it turns out, YouTube creators are adept horror directors. The biggest creator success stories in Hollywood have come within that genre, and more are on the way.

Thus far, Screen Gems’ biggest gamble on creator content came in 2018, when the label cooked up a feature adaptation of the Slender Man lore that went viral through internet creepypastas. The Slender Man film was a flop, but it paved the way for future creator-led endeavors in Hollywood. Despite failing to score a hit, Sony showed that creepypastas could spin gold at the box office — a strategy that would later pay off for A24 thanks to Kane Parsons’ Backrooms. And a film built around deep internet lore opened the door for Invisible Narratives and its ongoing attempt to turn Skibidi Toilet into a piece of multiplatform IP.

Now that creators have gotten so hot in Hollywood, Sony wants a piece. By hiring Goldenberg, the studio is bringing in an exec who championed theatrical events led by creators like Inoxtag and helped Markiplier release his film Iron Lung on YouTube. In a statement, Sony confirmed that it will “expand its longstanding focus on traditional genre films to include theatrical projects from the next generation of digital-native storytellers.”

So if you’re a creator with a gory tale to tell, Goldenberg might have a development deal with your name on it. By putting a YouTube vet in charge at Screen Gems, Sony is showing that the creator invasion of Hollywood has legs as long as Slender Man.

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Syracuse University‘s Center for the Creator Economy has published a report that will make traditional news outlets quake in their boots. In its first-ever Industry Flash Report, Syracuse surveyed 1,001 Americans and found that YouTube is relied on most often as a primary news source.

Alongside research partner Prolific, Syracuse surveyed U.S.-based respondents about their media and news-gathering habits. One question asked the respondents to name the news source they use the most, and YouTube topped that list with a 16.5% share. TV news came in second at 16.1%, while print and online media ranked third at 15.7%.

TikTok has been credited for its popularity as a news outlet among Gen Z, but it trailed both X and Facebook in the Flash Report, with only 10.4% of respondents claiming it as their most frequent source for headlines. Podcasts, newsletters, and LinkedIn trailed the field in that category. Overall, 60% of Syracuse’s sample turns to a social media platform first when they look to get informed.

One could argue that YouTube’s growth as a news source reflects its broader ascendance. After all, it has become the most dominant streaming service on TV screens, and much of the news it delivers comes from traditional outlets.

Studies have shown, however, that the consumers who get their news from social media are more likely to seek out creator-broadcasters than traditional journalists. Syracuse’s report supports that idea. 61% of respondents said they trust independent news creators as much as network broadcasters, and two-thirds of the sample claimed that reporting ability is a more important qualification than journalism credentials.

If I can show off my journalistic skills for a sec, I’ll remind the room that the source of these findings must be taken into account. Syracuse is incentivized to publish statistics that show a general preference for independent news creators. After all, if an aspiring journalist wants to make a career of their passion, and they believe they have to be an independent creator to make that happen, they’re more likely to seek out one of the first degree programs dedicated to creator content.

Even with that caveat, it would be irresponsible to ignore the Flash Report entirely. Local TV stations are recognizing shifting appetites by treating their reporters like creators. If Syracuse’s findings are to be believed, that trend will only become more common in the coming years.

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At its annual Made On presentation, YouTube announced several tools that help brands forge partnerships with creators. Now, a related feature has been spotted in the wild.

On X, creator growth platform VidIQ shared a screenshot that shows a YouTube Studio tab described as a “creator discovery” hub. The page shows analytics from the channels of other creators, including the product reviewer Sambucha.

“You can search certain channels and see their backend data: unique viewers, watch time, audience age and gender, top countries,” reads the tweet. VidIQ said that YouTube has dubbed the feature Channel Search.

In a statement shared with Tubefilter, a YouTube spokesperson confirmed that the platform conducted an experiment that brought creator data directly into YouTube Studio for “a small number of brand channels.” The data shared with those brands was limited to public information that was already available through the Creator Partner Hub. The creators who made their analytics available this way opted into the data-sharing agreement.

Observers have questioned whether the new tab will evolve into a tool that lets creators compare their stats against those of their colleagues. According to the YouTube spokesperson, that’s not the case. The experiment “strictly targets brand channels only.” In one case, a non-brand entity was given access to Channel Search, but YouTube rolled back the experiment after discovering its error.

Even if Channel Search won’t let creators compare themselves to their competitors, YouTube clearly wants its community members to draw inspiration from one another. One product discussed at Made On was a research tool that highlights popular videos from other creators within YouTube Studio.

So while Channel Search may not materialize beyond the initial experiment, it indicates the direction in which YouTube Studio is heading. More data points can lead to more informed insights from the AI agents who are becoming part of YouTube’s brand partnership ecosystem — and a few brands got chances to see those data points with their own eyes.

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Two weeks after OpenAI announced the hire of Sam Yam as the head of its Creator Product division, the Patreon Co-Founder is already hard at work. Yam’s team has announced a partnership with Chloe Shih, who will use OpenAI tech to produce a parenting series.

Shih gained a significant following across platforms like YouTube and Instagram by uploading sincere, polished videos that document her life and her career in the tech industry. Empowered by her success, Shih launched Office Drama, a podcast that features conversations with business leaders and anonymized bits of workplace gossip submitted by listeners.

In tandem with OpenAI, Shih — who is currently pregnant with her first child — will explore the role technology can play in parenting and early childhood education. “Being a parent is becoming increasingly expensive and even out of reach for many who are already trying to balance their professional and personal lives,” Shih said. “I’ve often seen tech products focusing too much on convenience and not enough on addressing actual problems that the everyday person faces, and I want to make sure we build for people outside the tech bubble, too.”

As OpenAI dips its toes into the waters of creator content, its development strategy seems to be diverging from the approaches adopted by more traditional entertainment platforms like YouTube and TikTok. While those companies cast a wide net when producing original content, the maker of ChatGPT is focusing on Silicon Valley discourse. Its acquisition of TBPN turned a notable news podcast into an official OpenAI mouthpiece, and Shih will now explore other applications for OpenAI products within the broader tech industry.

Some of those products will help Shih produce her series. She will be an early user of Dots, the agentic AI assistant that was unveiled at OpenAI’s recent DevDay event.

Yam had previously said that DevDay would bring announcements that would explain his new role, and he was able to follow through on that promise. His partnership with Shih shows us the direction OpenAI will take as it interacts with creators — though release details about the Office Drama host’s new project are being kept under wraps for now.

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AI-generated text has become a major concern in classrooms, offices, and publishing houses, but the European Union has proposed a solution. The continental body is beginning to enforce the EU AI Act, and OpenAI is one of the first tech companies that will comply with the law by placing invisible watermarks on text generated by ChatGPT.

The EU AI Act, first published in 2024, is expected to fully take effect over the next four years. As national governments put the regulation into operation, OpenAI is finding itself in the spotlight. The Microsoft-backed tech giant is complying with the EU’s demands in the form of textGrain, a subtle solution that changes the choices ChatGPT makes while generating text.

Since textGrain is baked into ChatGPT’s linguistic abilities, it is touted as a more durable watermark than a traditional solution (e.g. invisible symbols attached to the text). Theoretically, users will be unable to remove textGrain information by copy-pasting or reformatting the text. At the same time, textGrain will not share any details about the user who generated the original text.

Tech companies operating in the video space are already quite familiar with the concept of AI watermarks. The application of those labels has become standard across platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and Big Tech firms have collaborated to develop more advanced AI identification tools. Notably, the implementation of the C2PA standard has made AI videos easier to track as they move from platform to platform.

The EU’s recent crackdown on smart glasses shows that it is serious about protecting its constituents’ rights as technological advancements infringe on their privacy, autonomy, and security. The AI Act brings that battle to the LLM landscape, and the work tech companies have already done will help the incoming statute be more effective.

But labels are unlikely to be a sufficient solution on their own. TikTok has pivoted to a more education-based approach after studies showed that AI watermarks did not significantly change user behaviors on their own. Will that system be more effective on text, or will student continue to sneak AI into their schoolwork even after the AI Act goes into effect?

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Canon is putting another $100,000 straight into creators’ hands to help them bring their dream projects to life.

Last year, Canon introduced its First Cut Contest, which called on digital content creators and filmmakers to submit a video pitch for the project they would make if they had proper production support and funding.

Winners Braxton Haugen, Jazzy Hawley, Zahra Hussain, and Josiah Selvig each took home $25,000 by impressing Canon (and pro creator judges Colin & Samir, Josh Richards, Michelle Khare, and Rory Kramer) with ambitious glimpses at the stories they wanted to tell.

Hussain, for example, sent in a VFX showcase short film where a woman is captivated–and maybe even captured–by a mysterious old TV she finds on the street. Hawley offered a trailer for Edge of the Lot, her “Superbad meets Gossip Girl with a small-town twist” coming-of-age comedy series based on her experiences growing up in Mariposa, California.

Now, First Cut is back–and giving creators an even greater chance to shine.

Canon wants video content-makers to send in their “boldest pitch yet”: a one- to three-minute video that goes beyond the typical and gives judges a taste of their unique perspective, cinematography, and storytelling skill.

Just like last year’s competition, all submissions must be posted publicly to YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

Canon will bring 12 finalists to Los Angeles for a grand premiere hosted by Remi Parsons. Each finalist will see their pitch aired on the big screen and receive an “ultimate creator kit” containing Canon’s EOS R50 V camera, an RF-S14-30mm F4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens, a DM-E100 stereo microphone, and an HG-200TBR tripod grip.

But unlike last year, First Cut 2026 will sort submissions into four categories, “each built for a different kind of storyteller,” it says.

The categories are:

1. Cinematic Narrative (judged by Anna Sitar)
2. Action-Adventure (judged by Zach King)
3. Documentary (judged by Sam Newton)
4. and Lifestyle/Vlog (judged by Eva Gutowski)

One winner from each category will get $25,000 in funding and an hourlong mentorship session with one of the judges.

“We’re thrilled to host the second year of the Canon First Cut Contest and work with our fantastic panel of creator judges,” Kevin McCarthy, Canon USA’s Senior Marketing Director, says. “Canon is always looking for ways to empower our customers to express their creative vision through video, whether that’s a narrative short film, a documentary exploration, or stories from their own lives. We designed this contest for creators to show us their boldest ideas yet, and we’re looking forward to seeing the imagination and creativity displayed in the submissions this year.”

Submissions for Canon First Cut 2026 open Oct. 8 and close Nov. 10, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. To be considered, creators must both fill out the form here AND post their video on YouTube, TikTok, and/or Instagram. Make sure videos tag @canonusa and use the hashtag #canonfirstcutcontest.

Finalists will join Parsons, judges, and Canon in L.A. Dec. 8 to crown four winners and kickstart their projects’ production.

Canon is a Tubefilter partner.

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Dhar Mann has his name in lights at this year’s Advertising Week New York.

As the event’s first “Chief Creator Officer” (and keynote speaker) he came in with a pledge to liaise between brands and creators in hopes of brokering $100 million worth of sponsorship deals by the time AWNY ends.

According to Digiday, Mann claims he’s already reached that amount thanks to pledges from CMOs–though he wouldn’t name those CMOs, and none of the pledges are inked as official deals.

Mann told the outlet that because brands plan their marketing budgets quarters ahead, “they’re not suddenly going to unlock dollars that [do] not exist,” but he hopes creator/brand relationships fostered during AWNY will result in future campaigns.

“People will meet people during this week that they otherwise would not have met in order to get those deals to happen,” he said.

On top of personally holding conversations with brands and creators to encourage CMO spending in our space, Mann opened a challenge where creators who completed seven tasks could earn a golden Zillow key (not sure what that key entitles them to), and ran The Masked CMO, a Masked Singer parody hosted by Nick Cannon.

Mann (who makes his living as YouTube’s “moral philosopher,” publishing parable videos with titles like Ugly Girl FAKES PRETTY To Find Love, BILLIONAIRE PAYS Poor Boy To Date Her, and Middle Child FORCED TO HIDE Her Face From Family) said that despite growing mainstream interest in the creator industry, there is still a disconnect between CMOs and creators.

His plan is to link both sides: use hard numbers to show CMOs what creators can offer, and mentor creators who might find themselves pitching in brands’ boardrooms for the first time.

“I would have thought it’d be more of a brand problem,” he told Digiday. “When I asked creators to participate [in the creator challenge at AWNY]…I said, ‘I’m going to have you on stage and pitch a brand some ideas.’ Some of the biggest creators in the world were like, ‘Wait, are you serious? I don’t know how to do that.'”

Mann wants his creator mentorship to extend beyond AWNY

During his keynote, he unveiled “Creator City,” his new Los Angeles-based, four-acre production campus.

“The creator economy was built on technology and platforms, but unlike the industries around it, it has never had a physical home of its own, the way technology has Silicon Valley, finance has Wall Street and entertainment has Hollywood,” Dhar Mann Studios said in a press release. “Creator City is Dhar’s vision for that home.”

Creator City offers five soundstages and resources for producing videos, podcasts, live events, and collaborative creator projects.

“Creator City will bring creators, Hollywood, brands and technology companies together to make content, build businesses, experiment, learn from one another and develop new partnerships,” the studio added.

The campus will open during Super Bowl weekend in February 2027–timed, undoubtedly, because Mann is also the NFL’s “Chief Kindness Officer.”

Both these endeavors–Man’s $100 million AWNY goal and Creator City launch–are attempts to give top brands and major studios more insight into our creator world, which is increasingly seen as ripe for plucking, but still not quite understood.

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