Creatorverse: Creators Are Developing Their Own Talent Pipelines

Hey Creatorverse readers, In case Hollywood didn’t have enough to worry about, creators are now entering their executive producer era. At least that’s the evolution Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry are eyeing with their Big Idea Fund, a partnership with Adobe that involved Rosenblum and Chaudry awarding $25,000 to a creator to make their dream project. Helping a promising creator achieve their dreams isn’t something that’s new for Rosenblum and Chaudry. It’s the next step after the duo’s 48-hour creator competition Weekend Film Fest as well as a way to experiment with producing. Documentary creators Jackson and David Hughens were the ultimate winners of the Big Idea Fund for their plan to make a five-part documentary series about the Pinkertons, a family who have adopted five children with Down Syndrome. The series is inspired by the filmmaker’s friend Jay Carr, and the pilot for “A Home Full of Love” from the Hughens received over 1 million views on YouTube. The views don’t lie. Though it’s only 17 minutes long, the Hughens’ gentle filmmaking would feel at home on HBO or as a higher caliber Netflix doc. “It was very fun and rewarding. The discovery of talent is one of my favorite things that we’ve done over the past decade of our career,” Chaudry told me. Chaudry and Rosenblum aren’t strangers to scouting out creator talent. For years, the duo hosted their Weekend Film Fest, a competition where participants were given 48 hours to submit a short that would be voted on by the audience. Initially, there wasn’t a prize for the winners, just the promise of an audience who would watch. “The reason we came up with that was because we felt this immense sense of anxiety when we were starting out as creators and knew what it felt like to put a lot of effort into something and for nobody to watch,” Chaudry said. “Some of the people who won are like incredible creators today, and that kicked off their journey.” One of those early winners was filmmaker Braxton Haugen (128,000 Instagram followers). So when Chaudry and Rosenblum decided to evolve the Weekend Film Festival, they went to one of their brand partners and pitched them a contest. Even though they were offering a monetary prize this time, their audience for the Big Idea Fund operated in the same way as the Weekend Film Fest community, watching other creators’ shorts and leaving supportive comments. The contest was also the first step in the duo dipping their toes into the world of producing. “I think that’s a natural state of where we’re going and the natural evolution of the Colin and Samir brand,” Chaudry said, noting that they’re often asked for guidance and production help by other creators. “I want to mentor, produce and use the 15 years of daily analysis and practice of creating and what we’ve learned about the internet to support other really talented creators.” Using a digital shorts competition to launch the next generation of talent is an approach that’s worked before. That was the model behind Channel 101, Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab’s shorts hub that helped fuel a generation of alternative comedy. Channel 101 was also the birthplace of the short that would go on to inspire “Rick and Morty.” And Rosenblum and Chaudry are far from alone in this desire to mentor. On Monday, Alex Cooper’s Unwell added 103 student creators to its professional development offering, Unwell University. Kai Cenat has hosted his creator bootcamp Streamer University two years in a row and has plans to bring the program to Europe, and Amelia Dimoldenberg has Dimz Inc. Academy. This is all to say that it’s not just the top studios and streamers who are fighting over impressive creator talent. Creators themselves are starting to develop their own talent pipelines. And who would you go with: an industry professional who has built exactly the kind of following you’re hoping to achieve, or a legacy player who doesn’t know the difference between a creator and an influencer? Food for thought. Now onto the rest. Kayla Cobb Senior Reporterkayla.cobb@thewrap.com YouTube What’s New Disney partners with Dude Perfect, “Las Culturistas” and PAVE Studios Disney is seriously upping its creator game. The big news is that Dude Perfect will be developing channel content for Disney events and franchises like Super Bowl LXI, the 50th anniversary of Star Wars and “Avengers: Doomsday.” Additionally, some Dude Perfect content is coming to Disney+. On the podcasting side, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ iHeartRadio show “Las Culturistas” will be coming to Disney+ and Hulu as will two true crime podcasts from PAVE Studios. “Clues” is hosted by Kaelyn Moore, and “Mother Knows Murder” is hosted by the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning star Niecy Nash and her daughter, actress Dia Nash. The move comes as streaming rival Netflix has been heavily investing in podcasts and creators in an attempt to compete with YouTube. Creators score more small business protections Last Thursday, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released small-business guidelines for qualifying content creators. That means it’ll be easier for qualifying creators — a classification that includes filmmakers, video producers, podcasters and “social media entrepreneurs” — to receive loans and other resources from the SBA. Creator businesses were previously eligible for SBA support, but clear guidance around who exactly qualifies has been a major creator complaint for years. UTA expands its creators leadership team UTA named seven agents this week as part of its expanded Creators Leadership Team. Those agents include Beth Hatchett, Ike Zhang, Nicole Lonner, Rebecca Bibb, Sarah Mathews, Scarlett Perlman and Shelby Schenkman. The move emphasizes how important creators are becoming to the agency. UTA has several major creator clients including Audiochuck founder Ashley Flowers, podcaster Alix Earle, TikTok star Charli D’Amelio and YouTube’s biggest star MrBeast. The YouTube logo appears on a smartphone screen with an illustration of a streaming site catalog in the background. (Credit: Photo Illustration by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Platform Updates YouTube is testing a Shorts bonus program YouTube is experimenting with a new program that would pay Shorts creators a monthly bonus. The program will reward creators for maintaining a consistent posting schedule, and creators who are part of the YouTube Partner Program in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Brazil, Japan or South Korea are eligible to take part. Spotify will let creators sell subscriptions directly through the platform Yesterday, Spotify rolled out Memberships, an offering that lets podcasters sell subscriptions directly through the music platform. That means creators are able to offer their members everything from the option to listen to episodes ad-free to bonus episodes, all for a monetary fee. The option, which is starting in 34 markets, is part of the larger trend of companies trying to keep creators on their platforms. Now podcasting creators don’t have to sell high-tier subscriptions on Patreon; they can do it right on Spotify. Threads partners with the NFL The Meta-owned Threads launched the NFL Threads Creator Program this week, a group composed of former NFL players, veteran commentators and Threads community members. These members will have access to NFL games and major League events, such as international games, Super Bowl LXI and the 2027 NFL Draft. “The Eyes of Ghana” (Credit: TIFF) Movers and Shakers IShowSpeed’s documentary with the Obamas, “The Eyes of Ghana,” is coming to theaters Streamer IShowSpeed’s collaboration with the Obamas is coming to U.S. theaters on Oct. 28. Speed produced “The Eyes of Ghana,” a documentary from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground and Breakwater Studios, which premiered during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie follows Chris Hesse, the personal cameraman of African leader Kwame Nkrumah, a revolutionary who was the president of Ghana from 1957 until 1966. It’s also a subject that makes sense for Speed, who made headlines late last year for his tour through Africa. Kenya Barris launches his first project with REVOLT Kenya Barris, the creator of “black-ish,” has unveiled his first project after being named the vice chair of REVOLT Labs, a media and creator-focused initiative of REVOLT. Barris is behind Season 6 of “Bet on Black,” a series that pairs entrepreneurial experts with student founders. The first episode under Barris premiered on Monday. Three Wattpad stories are coming to the microseries platform, ReelShort The user-generated storytelling platform Wattpad is partnering with the microseries platform ReelShort to adapt three stories. The first is Emily Jean’s “Just One Kiss,” which premiered in late September and already has over 30 million views. That will be followed by an adaptation of FLEURNJARDIN’s “Worth the Chase” on Oct. 27 and a take on Annica Dahl’s “Taming The Playboy Boss” in early 2027. It’s a pairing that makes sense. Microseries audiences love steamy romances, and so do Wattpad authors and readers. Who to Watch Karly Sargent We got Grace Reiter, Veronika Slowikowska and Jane Wickline on “SNL.” What about one more emerging comedy queen? Karly Sargent (715,000 Instagram followers) perfectly encapsulates that awkward friend you want to ditch but feel too guilty to leave behind. Her comedy is just bizarre enough to make comedy fans giggle while still feeling mainstream friendly. Someone hire her. Bonus Content Culinary Creator Desmond Scott Launches and EPs Digital Cooking Series With BET and Paramount | Exclusive (via TheWrap) It’s ‘Incomprehensible’ That Instagram Allowed an AI Image of Mia Goth to Spread, Say Her Reps (via The Verge) Demi Adejuyigbe Thinks You Should Only Post 3 Times a Day (via Wired) Want more? Explore WrapPRO now. This report provides a weekly deep dive into the creator economy. It highlights key trends, political and technological developments, data points and industry leaders all with the goal of making you smarter about this constantly evolving space.