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 creator finds a fitting way to promote his candy company, a Pinterest vet heads to the world of public radio, and the most-subscribed YouTube creator adds to his total.

Creator commotion

Ryan Trahan is looking for the state with the biggest sweet tooth. Trahan loves a coast-to-coast challenge, so he gave a boost to his candy company Joyride by visiting all 50 states in search of confection-crazed fans. The stunt will conclude with Joyride Day, a live-streamed celebration that will include Guinness World Record attempts and a whole lot of sour candy.

Julian Shapiro-Barnum is going Outside Tonight to bring late-night TV to YouTube. Through shows like Recess Therapy and Celebrity Substitute, Shapiro-Barnum has proven that he’s an expert when it comes to kid interviews. Now, with his take on the late-night format, he will show that he has some adult interview skills, too.

Ben Azelart gave it the ol’ college try on American Ninja Warrior. In his YouTube Shorts videos, Azelart sometimes draws on his extreme sports background to help him through challenges. That experience was helpful for him when he took on the Ninja Warrior gauntlet, but after conquering a few obstacles, he sank faster than a video that has been deranked in the algorithm.

Movers and shakers

YouTube vet Nadine Zylstra goes from Pinterest to NPR. After serving as YouTube’s Global Head of Originals, Zylstra occupied a similar role at Pinterest. Her next move will put her in charge of a team of 600 journalists and storytellers. As NPR’s Chief Content Officer, Zylstra will cook up content initiatives that are capable of thrilling well-to-do liberal boomers wherever they listen.

Snap’s Wearables whisperer comes to Meta. While at Snap, Jim Shepherd negotiated relationships with celebrities and other high-profile partners. He’ll occupy a similar role at Meta, with a specific eye toward wearable products. If you start seeing more cool and fashionable people clad in Meta Ray-Bans or other similar products, you can credit Shepherd with that development.

The biz

At 500 million subscribers, MrBeast isn’t slowing down. Jimmy Donaldson’s main YouTube channel is the first YouTube hub to reach a half-billion fans. If you thought such a major milestone would slow Donaldson down, then you don’t know MrBeast. His latest venture is a board game published alongside Moose Games, which also worked with Donaldson on his toy line.

Just Ameerah is sliming up the toy aisle with a new product line. Speaking of creators who are finding their way to retail shelves, Just Ameerah has teamed up with WeCool Toys. The partnership will beget the Compound Kings range, which will bring Ameerah’s slime-making adventures to the masses. On YouTube, her primary channel reaches more than 5.5 million subscribers.

Kareem Rahma brings interviewees into The Pit Stop for a Toyota-branded series. Fresh off YouTube hits like Subway Takes and Keep The Meter Running, Rahma is now bringing his conversational skills to the world of branded content. His Toyota team-up takes interviews with race car drivers like Bubba Wallace and filters them through the cringe comedy lens pioneered by the likes of Eric Andre and Zach Galifianakis.

Agency dealings

GameSquare signs SypherPK to Click Management. Through acqusitions of companies like FaZe Clan, GameSquare has become a sprawling gaming and entertainment network that caters to esports fans. In that niche, GameSquare’s Click Management firm has added a powerful new client: For years, SypherPK has been one of the top ambassadors for the Fortnite community.

Underscore Talent goes full speed ahead with 20 new hires. Across categories like comedy, sports, and fashion, Underscore is deepening its Partner roster while also breaking into new territory. For example, an “experts” category will align Underscore with influencers who possess specialized knowledge in particular areas.

Pop culture minute

Obsession star Inde Navarrete has a fun Twitch archive. The horror hit has made creator-turned-director Curry Barker into a hot commodity, but he’s not the only one benefiting from the film’s success. Lead actress Inde Navarrete streamed on Twitch for years before breaking out in Obsession. Now that she’s a household name, her old The Last of Us playthroughs are getting thousands of fresh views.

KevOnStage doubles down on Tubi with multi-year deal. Kevin Fredricks was one of the people Tubi turned to when the Fox-owned service wanted to increase its library of creator content. The man known as KevOnStage liked working with Tubi so much that he’s now committing to multiple new projects that will be released on the platform. That allotment includes two upcoming feature films set to drop in 2027 and 2028.

Lyrical Lemonade and Whalar Group’s Lighthouse have new shows on deck. For years, Lyrical Lemonade’s social channels have been dependable channels for music fans. To up the ante, the company’s programming arm is now working with Whalar Group. Six new original shows are on the Lyrical Lemonade docket, and viewers can expect to explore categories like comedy, music, interviews, and internet culture.

The internet is a strange place

Airrack is auctioning off a bunch of stuff he stole from other creators. Airrack challenged himself to steal from top creators like Jake Paul, FaZe Rug, and Salish Matter, and it turns out that he’s pretty good at theft. After completing his string of five-finger discounts, he is now auctioning off the contraband at a ten-lot sale. If you want to bid, watch out: The YouTubers Airrack stole from definitely have enough money in the bank to outbid you (on their own stuff).

The Japanese Coast Guard is using VTubers as a recruiting tactic. The line between fan service and military service has never been blurrier.

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As the World Cup, NBA Finals, French Open, and Stanley Cup Finals dominate global sports discourse, another professional league is quietly carrying on. The 2026 Major League Baseball season began in March, but over a lengthy 162-game schedule, baseball’s top circuit struggles to generate as much hype as other sporting events.

To solve that problem, the MLB needs to turn its biggest stars into recognizable celebrities — and that’s where the MLB Players Studio comes into play. The new content arm, which will focus on talent incubation, brand partnerships, and original programming, will harness the creative potential possessed by big-league legends.

For years, the MLB’s streaming technology was far more notable than its streaming content lineup, but the tide began to shift in the 2020s. That’s when the MLB forged partnerships with baseball-loving creators like CouRage and Jomboy. As the 2026 season got underway, a deal between the MLB and TikTok signaled that this campaign will feature an increased amount of creator-led baseball content.

The Players Studio is a key part of that plan. The MLB has enlisted content studio Portal A, which has experience at the intersection of pro sports and creator culture. Portal A will now apply that approach to baseball by producing four original series set on the diamond. Catching Up will turn games of catch into interviews, Set Up Man will spotlight MLB pranksters, 6th Tool Sessions will explore players’ off-field passions, and Lore Drop will bring notable moments from baseball history to TikTok.

“The power in sports media is shifting towards the players, as athletes are owning their audience like never before,” said Portal A Co-Founder Nate Houghteling in a statement. “We’re thrilled to work with MLB Players, Inc. to connect MLB players directly with fans through authentic storytelling and original formats.”

The MLB Players Studio’s content strategy is a double play. To go along with its originals, the 150-year-old league is also creating opportunities for current and former players. Some MLB standouts, like Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, have already become content creators on social media. To build shows around those stars, the MLB is working with sports representation and marketing agency Athletes First. After forging connections between brands and NFL players, Athletes First is now rounding the bases.

One program that exemplifies the MLB Players Studio strategy is Werth Talking About, a video podcast hosted by Jayson Werth. The former Philadelphia Phillies fan favorite will lead frank conversations about baseball, which he will bring to the MLB’s All-Star Game. When fans and players gather in Philly next month for the Midsummer Classic, Werth and his microphone will be there.

Creators have already revolutionized leagues like the NFL, and MLB wants to use that strategy to find the star power it needs. More information about MLB Players Studio can be found in a press release issued by the MLB Players’ Association.

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It’s not every day you get flexed on by a grandma.

Marlene Flowers was 65 when she entered her very first bodybuilding competition. She worried it’d be a tough crowd, but she was used to tough things. She’s been through a lot in her life, she explains, including two divorces and a years-long struggle with an eating disorder.

With her second husband, Flowers founded an auto repair shop; after their separation, she became its sole proprietor, and spent more than a decade doing everything from running the front office and managing employees to diagnosing cars herself.

It all started catching up with her–and her body. “I live on a small farm,” she says. “I have horses and I had to climb this hill up and down to go feed them every day, and I was getting really weak doing that. I decided that I had really poor eating habits. So I started exercising, which I did here at home, to try to build my strength and my stamina because I was really losing it at that age, and that’s a little early to be doing that.”

She made significant progression at home, completing follow-along programs like Body Beast. It got to the point, she says, where she’d mastered those and wasn’t making any further progress.

That’s when her son Ryan stepped in. “He’d started going to the gym, he’d been a little bit of a couch potato and decided to get physically fit, and he transformed his body by going to the gym,” she says. “When I got bored, he said, ‘Well, why don’t you go to the gym with me and try it out and lift weights?’ So I did–hesitantly.”

Her main concern? Anxiety about exercising in front of a bunch of people. “I was used to the isolation,” she says. But she went, and kept going. “I guess I started bulking up, and people in the gym noticed,” Flowers says. “They were suggesting, like, ‘Wow, she’s got some muscles. Why don’t you go compete?'”

She initially dismissed the idea, but with further encouragement from gym folks and Ryan, she agreed to enter a competition. She competed in the Women’s Classic Physique division, which involved getting up onstage in a bikini and flexing, followed by a short pose routine set to the theme from 1983 classic Flashdance.

“I was really proud of myself,” Flowers says–and for good reason.

She decided she’d keep going. That first competition was in the spring; she enrolled for another one in the fall. Somewhere in between, Ryan decided to start filming her. He set up accounts across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram–all under the name “Granny Guns“–to document Flowers’ already impressive accomplishments and continued #gains.

One of his earliest videos is a pretty excellent encapsulation of Flowers’ content. Set to an uber-slowed, meme-y rendition of The Neighborhood’s viral “Sweater Weather,” the clip has Ryan asking, “Grandma, do you wanna go to the gym?” Flowers, dressed in a demure pink sweater, shrugs and says, “I’ll try it.”

Smash cut to her bulging biceps as she dominates the curl machine.

These days, Flowers has more than 2 million followers on both TikTok and Instagram, and another ~120K on YouTube. After Ryan moved cross-country, she got some temporary help with videos from her niece, but now she’s a one-woman show (supported by the team at Viral Nation, which reps her). She films, edits, and posts all her own content, much of which is aimed at inspiring people to overcome challenges and live their best lives while keeping their bodies healthy and strong.

And a big part of keeping bodies healthy and strong is making sure they’re fueled. Flowers, who’s been taking it easy on competitions for a while as she recovers from two torn rotator cuffs and deals with arthritis, is a protein-consuming machine. As soon as I mention my partner and I have struggled to find protein bars that actually taste good, she’s off and running, giving me personalized recommendations based on the many she’s tried.

But of course her biggest recommendation is her own product: Granny’s Protein Cookies, which were born out of the gym-conscious cooking adventures she posted on her socials.

“Amongst the many cooking videos we were doing and experimenting with, we came up with the idea of making a protein cookie that was low in sugar, high in protein, low in fat,” Flowers says, then chuckles. “Well, they’re not so low in fat, but they’re fairly low in fat and carbs. It’s something gym people will really like.”

Flowers has been perfecting the cookies for years, and has come up with nearly a dozen different varieties. The brand officially launched this week with five flagship flavors: chocolate chip, white chocolate, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, and s’mores.

For now, the cookies are available for purchase on Flowers’ Granny Guns website. She says some local gyms have also agreed to stock them.

So what’s next? Much of Flowers’ focus currently is on giving her body time to heal. She plans to return to competitions later this year. She’s also got a memoir kicking around; she says it needs a polish, and then will go out on submission to publishers.

When I asked what Flowers likes most about being the internet’s buff grandma, she says her biggest joy is motivating other people.

“When I post a video and I get positive feedback, people tell me they’re so thankful and inspired by what I do and it gets them motivated–that makes me feel good,” she says. “It makes me want to keep going, because I want to make other people healthy. I want them to be happy. I want them to be inspired, because being physically fit helps you so much. I have a better attitude toward life and I don’t let things drag me down because I have something to look forward to. I think that if people feel better about themselves, it keeps them going. And helping others gives me more incentive to keep going and set an example.”

Viral Nation is a Tubefilter partner.

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LinkedIn is doubling down on its plan to transform its professional social media platform into a multifaceted creator economy hub. The next phase of the platform’s creator-facing pivot involves the launch of a Creator Marketplace that connects brands with the LinkedIn influencers who can best meet advertisers’ campaign goals.

The LinkedIn Creator Marketplace resembles similar matchmaking services that pair brands with like-minded voices who have significant social followings. In this particular case, marketers can find vetted creators by searching for specific topics. They can also amplify and monetize revent creator discussions by employing LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads.

Creators, meanwhile, can put their profiles into the Marketplace to receive attention from top brands. Long story short: Even if you’re not able to use LinkedIn to find a job, you can probably use it to find a brand partnership opportunity.

LinkedIn has spent the past decade chasing creator partnerships and implementing the necessary infrastructure to realize those deals. After launching a native video player in 2017, LinkedIn began to attract unique voices who found novel ways to talk about their professional lives.

2021 brought a $25 million accelerator and a Creator Mode designed for influencers. LinkedIn started onboarding big names like MrBeast while supporting the homegrown creators whose stories had attracted large followings.

Fast forward to 2026, and LinkedIn’s revenue sharing program is now turning attention into dollars. There are now entire companies — such as Creator Authority — that are primarily focused on the business of LinkedIn influencer marketing, and those firms are happy to see the Creator Marketplace arrive.

“As a LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Partner with alpha access, we’ve tested this against live client briefs,” Creator Authority Brendan Gahan told Tubefilter. “We’re excited to see it come to fruition and its a big signal of LinkedIn investing in the creator ecosystem.”

For LinkedIn, the Creator Marketplace follows the prevailing trends of the hub’s namesake industry. According to a Pressroom post, 83% of surveyed B2B marketers are looking for credibility in their brand messaging, while 70% of marketers are turning to peer voices and experts in lieu of brand-produced content. Both of those data points show that brands need an easy way to connect with the LinkedIn users who cultivate credibility with thousands of followers. In theory, that’s exactly what the Creator Marketplace will provide.

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When architect Antoni Gaudí began working on Barcelona‘s Sagrada Familia cathedral in 1883, TikTok was just the sound a clock makes. Nearly 150 years later, the Sagrada Familia is close to completion, and TikTok is showing up to be part of the historic moment.

In partnership with Sagrada Familia officials, TikTok has launched a content series that dives into the history, culture, and architecture of Spain’s most famous church. The culmination of that coverage was a special live stream: On June 10, Pope Leo XIV visited the cathedral to offer a blessing for the recently finished Tower of Jesus Christ, and a TikTok live stream allowed viewers around the world to witness the mass.

TikTok unveiled its Sagrada Familia as part of TikTok Live Comes Alive, an education initiative that takes viewers inside famous museums and cultural sites. Participants included New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Chicago’s Field Museum, and the Sagrada Familia, which teamed with TikTok for an eclectic array of original videos.

In typical TikTok fashion, the app connected with local creators to shine light on the Sagrada Familia. The art history channel Aartemis Artworks shared snippets from a tour of the cathedral, architecture creator Jordi Martí interviewed the facility’s lead architect, and violinist Astrid Torrente streamed a concert that she held there.

The papal live stream, hosted on the official Sagrada Familia TikTok hub, put a capstone on all that activity. The current Pope has stayed up to date on tech issues by commenting on topics like AI and social media addiction. Now, he’s using TikTok to commemorate one of the most significant Catholic achievements of the past 150 years.

@sagradafamiliagaudiVeiem per primera vegada la torre de Jesucrist il·luminada! L’espectacle de llum iniciat des de la base fins a la il·luminació de la creu ha culminat amb una composició de llums guiats per drons, que han dibuixat la figura Gaudí i la frase «primer l’amor, després la tècnica». ¡Vemos por primera vez la torre de Jesucristo iluminada! El espectáculo de luz iniciado desde la base hasta la iluminación de la cruz ha culminado con una composición de luces guiadas por drones, que han dibujado la figura de Gaudí y la frase «primero el amor, después la técnica». We see the tower of Jesus Christ illuminated for the first time! The light show, starting from the base up to the illumination of the cross, culminated with a composition of lights guided by drones that traced the figure of Gaudí and the phrase “first love, then technique”.

♬ sonido original – Basílica de la Sagrada Família

For TikTok, being part of a historical moment is a significant breakthrough. The app’s pitch to advertisers centers around its ability to provide crucial reach amid the biggest cultural moments on the calendar. Streaming a papal mass shows just how far TikTok’s influence can extend.

Even after the completion of the ballyhooed religious ceremony, there will still be more opportunities to highlight the Sagrada Familia and its unique architecture. After all, although the Tower of Jesus Christ has been completed, work on the cathedral is expected to go on for another decade. That gives TikTok plenty of time to cement itself as Pope Leo XIV’s favorite place to stream.

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Cannes Lions is just over a week away, and not only is Tubefilter returning for its third year as official media partner for the festival’s content creator track, LIONS Creators, but we’ll also be on the ground with a number of top industry companies and activations.

Want to join us? Here’s what we’re up to…

Epidemic Sound x Teachable’s Creator Villa

Tuesday, June 23, 4-6 p.m.
Private Villa, Mougins

Following last year’s Tubefilter x Epidemic Sound team-up, we’re joining up with both Epidemic Sound and Teachable to host an exclusive creator villa that’ll bring together creators, media leaders, and industry professionals for an afternoon of discussion, networking, and good eats.

Our very own CEO Drew Baldwin will be there, along with Olivia Owens, Teachable’s Head of Product Marketing & Partnerships; Gracie Schram, Global Head of Creator Partnerships and Strategy at Epidemic Sound; Kelly Song, Partnerships Marketing Manager at Teachable; and Marcus Bernette, Partner Development Manager at Epidemic Sound.

2025’s Epidemic Sound gathering drew folks like Drew Binsky, Hannah Stocking, Zack Hornarvar, Tejas Hullur, and Yes Theory, and we’re expecting one heck of a turnout this year.

Spots at the villa are limited, but you can still register here.

Comscore x Tubefilter Creator TV Roundtable

Tuesday, June 23, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Comscore Executive Suite @ Mondrian Cannes Hotel

Join us and global media measurement/analytics company Comscore for a roundtable focused on the current creator entertainment landscape and the value of reaching audiences outside the norm. Comscore’s Chief Commercial Officer Steve Bagdasarian will moderate.

Later on the 23rd, you can also hop over to Comscore’s panel at Sport Beach, which is also about creator content, why it should be counted as TV, and the fact that it’s “an essential part of today’s media buy.”

That panel will include songwriter/rapper will.i.am, creator Baylee Lefton, John Battaglia (Head of Social Video & Creator @ YouTube), UPROXX‘s Jarret Myer, and Bagdasarian.

RSVPs for the roundtable are closed, but you can still register for Comscore’s panel here.

Billion Dollar Boy’s The Great Unlearn

Wednesday, June 24, 12:30-4 p.m.
Canopy by Hilton Cannes Rooftop

We’re the official media partner for Billion Dollar Boy and FiveTwoNine‘s rooftop session, The Great Unlearn, where BDB will present its new report Creator Instinct: Unlocking the Social Code.

Billion Dollar Boy has produced thousands of pieces of creator-led sponcon across the U.S. and U.K., and this report collects its top learnings from all that experience. We just highlighted a case study with IKEA and Chupa Chups based on Billion Dollar Boy’s advice to design ad campaigns that embrace strong–but not always positive!–emotional responses in consumers.

This gathering is aimed at encouraging other agencies and brands to “unlearn comfort” and “unlock growth in a creator-led world.” It promises discussions with brand leaders and platforms, plus the opportunity to meet creators sponsored by Billion Dollar Boy’s Creator Fund–a grant that helps up-and-coming content-makers afford events like Cannes.

You can request a spot here.

The Creators List

Right here, right now

In partnership with Comscore, the Whalar Group, and Gospel Stats, Tubefilter has curated The Creators List, an expansive directory of every top creator expected to attend Cannes Lions. The List was specifically designed as a one-stop resource for brands that want to connect with content-makers on the ground during one of the world’s largest industry events.

We have hundreds of creators, their reps, and their contact info, and we continue to add names as more creators book travel. If you want face time with creators in Cannes, The List tells you exactly who’ll be there and how to get in touch.

Request it here.

See you in France!

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In response to user demand, YouTube has brought back a much-requested feature. Six years after discontinuing its original form of direct messages, YouTube is once again letting users slide into each other’s DMs with a new version of the classic communication format.

A YouTube blog post alludes to a “new messaging icon,” which users can tap on if they want to send DMs to other accounts. Recipients must consent to receiving DMs before they can be sent a viral video link or a relevant reaction.

“Our community loves to share videos with their friends and family, and we want them to be able to do it in one place,” reads the post. “Today, we’re starting to expand our in-app video sharing and messaging feature to the U.S. and other global locations so more users 18 and older can connect over their favorite videos directly on YouTube.”

This isn’t the first time DMs have been available on YouTube. In 2017, the platform tried to win traffic away from rivals like Instagram and Twitter by setting up a mobile-oriented messaging service that enabled in-app, private discussion about trending videos. That feature didn’t last long. By 2019, YouTube had moved away from its DMs, choosing instead to prioritize public comments.

During YouTube’s six-year DM hiatus, the social media landscape shifted. Instagram Head Adam Mosseri has noted that his company is prioritizing “sends per reach” in its recommendation algorithm, and a system that favors sharing works best when paired with a robust messaging product. To that end, Instagram supercharged its direct messages with nearly two dozen new features, and users can even shop in their DMs, too.

Other platforms, including Snap, TikTok, and Spotify, followed Instagram’s lead by adding to their own DM capabilities. Now, it’s YouTube’s turn. After responding to a “top feature request” by testing its new DMs in European countries like Ireland and Poland, YouTube is rolling out the product widely.

YouTube’s decision to give DMs their own real estate on its mobile app makes this iteration of the feature more visible than last decade’s experiment. Will that layout change bring more usership? Consumers still associate DMs with Instagram first and foremost, but there’s room for YouTube to be part of that conversation as well.

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These days, with YouTube and TikTok the entertainment space for all ages, one-third of kids want to be content creators when they grow up. But back in 2012, if you asked a bunch of ten-year-olds what their dream jobs were, the digital world was still fledgling enough that you would’ve gotten a lot of traditional answers–things like “astronaut,” “teacher,” and “veterinarian.”

Not if you asked Jordan Barclay, though.

Barclay was just five years old when he first started editing YouTube videos, and was ten when he posted his first video as EYstreem. He knew he wanted to do this for as long as possible, and officially registered “The EYstreem Company” as a teenager.

Now, at 23, Barclay’s original channel is the most-watched global gaming YouTube channel produced in Australia. He has 13.6 million subscribers and brings in between 75 and 100 million views a month by posting new Minecraft content at least once a week.

But his business has grown far beyond his own channel. “EYstreem” went on to become Spawnpoint Media, a multimillion-dollar production studio in Melbourne. Barclay opened the studio in 2024, backed by a $5 million deal with Spotter, and now it posts dozens of long- and short-form videos a month to a handful of proprietary channels, including Firelight (4.2M subs), Milo and Chip (4.1M), EMazing (307K), and Make Waves (424K).

As we wrote back in 2024, Spawnpoint operates on a unique model. When it wants to add a channel to its portfolio, it doesn’t go hunting for an established creator to sign. Instead, it conceptualizes and develops a channel’s creative identity and planned content, then goes external and casts local Australian talent to become the channel’s face and voice.

Spawnpoint’s team–now numbering over 100 people–scripts each video, builds any digital set they’ll need in Minecraft, and brings in the actors to record their voiceovers in the Melbourne studio’s booths. Some content, like all videos on the Make Waves channel, require live-action teams and completely physical sets.

In the last two years, off the back of the deal with Spotter, Spawnpoint has become “more than just a full-service production company, we have expanded staff globally and locally to bring business functions internal,” Barclay tells Tubefilter. “Data analysis, brand partnerships, marketing, ecommerce operations and finance, product–it’s all internal.”

“The Spotter deal came at a really critical time for us,” he adds. “We were at a stage where we needed significant capital to take the business to the next level, and that meant building our multi-story HQ here in Melbourne.”

The headquarters now has 12 recording suites, a cyclorama, a full soundstage, automated AV systems, offices, conference rooms, and more. “That facility is what’s allowed us to scale production the way we have, and it’s what makes our live action content like Make Waves possible,” Barclay says. “Creative work really benefits from having people in the same space, and live action simply isn’t possible without it. So that early capital was very critical for us, and it’s a big reason we still have a really good relationship with Spotter.”

And, to pair with all that high-production-quality content, Spawnpoint has focused on developing long-term partnerships with brands.

Spawnpoint’s strategy with brand deals has involved appealing to parents. Barclay is very well aware of just how many parents co-view YouTube with their kids, so Spawnpoint keeps parents front-of-mind when developing ad integrations.

“The reason brands love us so much is because we have better conversion,” he says. “We significantly exceed their expectations.” The reason? Spawnpoint factors in longevity. Compared to, for example, kids’ content airing on TV, “These videos live forever,” Barclay says. “So we treat ads as content, and because of that, we have multiple ads where we see 0% viewership drop because our viewers have chosen to watch.”

He calls attention to Odoo, a business platform that’s one of Spawnpoint’s longtime partners. Content promoting Odoo is obviously aimed at co-watching parents, but it still has to be interesting enough that kids don’t want to move on to another video.

“One month,” Barclay explains, “they wanted us to promote their inventory product. So we created a Minecraft video where an underwater civilisation had been destroyed by the land people, with some light education around overfishing. To rebuild the city, we needed a lot of resources, which meant we needed inventory management. The ad is built into the story. It’s part of the content, not separate from it.”

That, he says, is “how we achieve 0% retention dip on many integrations, by treating integrations like our own content, not ads. Viewers choose to watch out of enjoyment, rather than be forced to.”

And because they choose to watch Spawnpoint’s ads, the company is “selective about who we work with,” Barclay says. “We’d rather say no upfront than deliver a bad result.”

On top of income from brand deals, Spawnpoint is now making “a lot” from what Barclay calls “non-YouTube platforms.”

That includes “syndication across platforms like Roku, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Spotify,” he says. “So we’re looking ahead at things like Netflix and Netflix kids.”

The studio is specifically looking for expanded opportunities for its kids’ brand Milo and Chip, which follows two brothers through their Minecraft adventures and generated 16 billion watch minutes from May-October 2025. (For reference, the megahit KPop Demon Hunters generated 20.5 billion in the same time period.)

“It’s been a massive success. 16 billion watch minutes between May and October 2025 is almost the same as SpongeBob SquarePants, and well over half of Bluey’s global watch minutes. So it’s doing really great.”

Barclay adds that Spawnpoint is dipping its toes into new monetization with Milo and Chip, with the IP selling hundreds of thousands of Minecraft skin packs and thousands of Milo plushies.

“The first [Milo and Chip] skin pack outsold Star Wars on Minecraft Marketplace and is still our number one best-seller,” Barclay says. For the Milo plushie, “We launched and within two weeks, we were completely sold out. We had 4,000 orders with no paid marketing whatsoever.”

“We didn’t anticipate how strong the IP had become,” he adds.

Now that Spawnpoint knows what its creations are capable of, “Our real focus for the next year or two is brand partnerships and merchandise,” Barclay says. “We see both of those as significantly bigger businesses than our content business.”

Spotter is a Tubefilter partner.

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CAA and TPG want in on the creator economy spending spree, so they’re linking up to launch a company that will invest in and acquire creator businesses. The major talent agency and the private equity firm are the partners behind Compound Creative Holdings, which is launching with a $250 million war chest that will be deployed across a range of creator-led companies.

TPG, the former majority owner of CAA, is reteaming with its one-time subsidiary through Integrated Media Company, one of TPG’s current holdings. Through Compound, CAA and IMC will “acquire, operate and grow a portfolio of leading Creator Economy businesses,” according to a press release.

The launch of Compound comes amid a boom time for content creators. The biggest voices on platforms like YouTube and TikTok are taking over movie theaters, sports arenas, and shopping malls. Through those endeavors, creators are establishing themselves as legitimate mainstream forces in the entertainment world.

Creators have harnessed their cultural cachet by forming multiplatform media companies, and those money moves have attracted substantial attention from private equity firms. Blackstone-backed Candle Media arguably kicked off the gold rush with its 2021 acquisition of CoComelon producer Moonbug, deep-pocketed firm Lunar X made a splash by picking up MatPat’s Theorist brand, and Electrify has spent its millions to grab stakes in channels like Veritasium and Simple History.

Tucker Brown, a CAA Evolution Partner with I-banking experience, has been part of some major creator economy transactions, including a nine-figure investment in Dude Perfect. Now, he’s set to lead Compound as its Managing Partner. In that role, he’ll be supported by an executive committee that will consist of leaders from both CAA and IMC.

“Creators are no longer just talent, they are enterprise builders and increasingly operate with the scale and sophistication of established media companies,” Brown said in a statement. “Our goal is to provide the appropriate capital architecture and operational support necessary to help these businesses grow sustainably and capture lasting value.”

CAA’s roster provides some good examples of the sort of enterprise building Brown alluded to. The agency reps YouTube stars like Amelia Dimoldenberg, Rhett & Link, and Dhar Mann, all of whom are breaking into fields like content production and talent incubation through their respective companies.

Whether Compound invests in those companies or looks outside the CAA roster, the message is clear. There are now dozens of creators whose businesses are big enough to command a slice of Compound’s $250 million fund. We’ll keep our ears tuned to learn how the new firm will allocate its spending.

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On September 14, creator economy professionals will gather in Venice, California to celebrate a handful of industry luminaries while simultaneously raising money for a good cause. That’s the plan for the upcoming edition of the Creators In Action event, which is being put on in partnership with the Saban Community Clinic.

Creators In Action is a celebration of digital excellence that doubles as a benefit gala. Funds raised at the event support the Saban Community Clinic, which provides health services to underserved communities throughout the greater Los Angeles area.

The September gathering will be the fourth annual edition of Creators in Action. Previous editions have honored creators like Valkyrae and Jay Shetty, as well as executives like Chris M. Williams of pocket.watch and Malik Ducard of Pinterest.

This time around, the creators in the spotlight will be Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, the creator economy experts whose content empire extends across YouTube videos, podcast episodes, and IRL events. Colin and Samir will be recognized for their help distributing the $3 million relief fund spearheaded by YouTube in the wake of the 2025 Pacific Palisades fires, which personally affected the two creators.

Colin and Samir can also be lauded for the work they’ve done to bring more professionalization to the booming creator economy. Through events like Press Publish LA, they’ve given creators a seat at the table in the world of traditional entertainment.

The same can be said for Whalar Group, whose co-founders will be feted at Creators In Action. Neil Waller and James Street built their company into one of the most prominent creator marketing firms, and Accenture’s recent acquisition of the Whalar agency shows that some of the world’s largest corporations are paying attention to the work Waller and Street are doing.

Whalar Group continues to operate several creator-facing businesses, including IRL locations that will be part of the Creators In Action ceremony. The 2026 event will take place at The Lighthouse, Whalar Group’s bi-coastal hub for creator gatherings.

CAA Partner Brent Weinstein and Mythical Entertainment President Brian Flanagan are spearheading the 2026 Creators In Action event. “The creator community holds immense power to shape culture, inspire action, and drive meaningful civic impact,” Weinstein and Flanagan said in a joint statement. “We are thrilled to honor Colin, Samir, Neil, and James, visionaries who have not only built sustainable blueprints for digital entrepreneurship but have continuously used their platforms to lift others. Their commitment to community perfectly mirrors the vital mission of Saban Community Clinic.”

More details about Creators In Action can be found on the event’s website. From that destination, interested parties can buy tickets or sponsor the event, with proceeds going to the Saban Community Clinic.

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One day before the first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a YouTube blog post revealed the creators who will cover the tournament on the platform’s behalf. Two dozen top channels will serve as official YouTube correspondents during the 39-day gauntlet, and an additional cadre of creators will participate in a “Creator Cup” that will kick off on June 12.

YouTube announced earlier this year that it had secured the coveted “preferred platform” designation ahead of the soccer world’s quadrennial gathering. Another one of those preferred platforms, TikTok, recently announced its lineup of so-called “creator correspondents.” Now, YouTube is following suit.

There are some similarities between YouTube and TikTok’s World Cup cohorts. Both platforms, for example, have assembled lineups full of international flavor. YouTube’s creator roster spans 11 different countries across four continents.

That diverse bunch will investigate a multitude of topics related to the Cup. Like TikTok, YouTube understands that its connections to global culture represent one of its biggest strengths, so viewers will be able to watch Max the Meat Guy‘s stadium food reviews, Ashley Alexander‘s match-day outfits, Jeenie Weenie‘s “chaotic itinerary,” and much more.

“I grew up watching the World Cup with my family, and now I get to experience the games IN REAL LIFE? Oh, I’m absolutely about to be the loudest person in the stadium,” said Courtreezy, who is one of the featured creators. “This is going to be a summer to remember. I am SO excited.”

Other aspects of YouTube’s World Cup playbook feel more distinct. The platform’s previous live sports broadcasts helped it assemble a reliable stable of sports pundits, and some of those voices — including Deestroying, Haley Kalil, and Jesser — will be part of YouTube’s soccer-watching crew. YouTube is also representing the massive soccer community on Shorts by supporting creators like Celine Dept this summer.

The YouTube FIFA Creator Cup also feels distinct. It is a creator-on-creator match that will give featured YouTubers the chance to put on an entertaining show. Translation: YouTube wants to host its version of the annual creator soccer matches put on by The Sidemen (who are also included in the platform’s World Cup lineup).

As good as creator coverage is, it goes best when paired with live broadcasts of World Cup matches. YouTube, like TikTok, will offer live look-ins on the action rather than full match streams. Participating partners can broadcast the first ten minutes of matches, but if you want to hear creator commentary for all 90 minutes, Twitch will be the place to go. That’s where stars like iShowSpeed and Jynxzi will host watch parties for millions of fans.

When you add up all of these initiatives, the 2026 World Cup will be the most creator-filled edition of the event to date. YouTube believes its community is sparking a “football revolution,” and it’s ready to show the world what that means beginning on June 11.

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It is indeed a beautiful day on YouTube, because Mister Rogers has taken up residence on the platform. The sweater-clad educator hosted Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on public television for 33 years, and a mix of full episodes and clips from that run can now be accessed through an official channel run by Fred Rogers Productions and Little Dot Studios.

The YouTube channel’s initial offerings include several classic episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, including its debut and the groundbreaking 1969 installment “A Visit with Officer Clemmons.” There are also short-form clips that impart Rogers’ wisdom and grace, as well as compilations that depict the show’s evolution across its three-decade run.

For years, Mister Rogers‘ Neighborhood had no official YouTube home, even as other classic programs like Sesame Street amassed billions of views on the platform. Rising trends, however, have shown a widespread hankering for the empathetic, slow-paced, and developmentally beneficial brand of children’s programming that Fred Rogers made famous.

Ms. Rachel, for example, has leveraged her knowledge of early childhood educational philosophies to become one of the biggest family-friendly creators in the world. Some of the biggest producers of kids’ YouTube content, including CoComelon parent Moonbug, have inked partnerships that bring clearer developmental goals into videos. And in a recent video, creator Asa Park received millions of views by describing Mister Rogers as the antithesis of the fast-paced, consumption-driven fare hosted by MrBeast.

To meet demands for more kindness on YouTube, Little Dot announced earlier this year that it would team up with Fred Rogers Productions to bring the studio’s most famous export to the world’s preeminent video platform. While similar initiatives have paired iconic kids’ shows with TikTokers (Reading Rainbow) and kidfluencers (Sesame Street), the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood revival is laser-focused on the titular host’s timeless appeal.

“Now is a great time to bring Mister Rogers’ messages of kindness, empathy, and community to YouTube,” Fred Rogers Productions Co-Executive Producer Kristin DiQuollo told Tubefilter. “They’re as relevant today as they were when the show premiered in the 60s. Then, Fred Rogers wanted to create something of value for children using the widest available platform at that time – television. YouTube is a place where millions of people are watching today, and we can help do the same thing for a new generation of children and fans.”

Select Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes are available on local PBS stations and the PBS Kids app, but DiQuollo said that the YouTube channel will allow Fred Rogers Productions to reach deeper into its 900-episode archive. By offering a rotating ten-episode selection of full episodes, the YouTube channel will broadcast installments that are “rarely seen or not seen in a long time,” DiQuollo said.

In doing so, Fred Rogers Productions will expand the reach of its Neighborhood, but breaking through on YouTube is easier said than done. In an ecosystem defined by hyperkinetic short-form videos aimed at viewers with low attention spans, is the really a market for Rogers’ deliberate, meditative take on children’s programming?

DiQuollo thinks so. She argued that Rogers’ authenticity has the power to transcend platforms. And compilations on the channel will be limited to 30 minutes, encouraging kids and parents to break free from YouTube rabbit holes and explore the outside world.

“We hope the videos, when they land in someone’s feed, will help slow their scrolling,” DiQuollo told Tubefilter. “An affirmation about making mistakes, a song about how you’re special, quiet conversations with friends, moments of imaginative play, factory visits, feeding fish – all of this was designed very thoughtfully and intentionally by Fred, with the support of child development experts, of which he was one, to be engaging for children.”

The eventual arrival of original content on the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood YouTube channel will give the hub’s producers more chances to cut through the clutter. Even though Fred Rogers passed away 25 years ago, he is still unlocking new opportunities to connect with new generations of curious kids.

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