Creators Reveal What Their Hollywood Takeover Actually Looks Like

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Fans of Jmancurly, a creator known for his blue curly hair and yellow tape across his chest, flooded the Expo floor at VidCon 2026 with the creator’s signature yellow duct tape wrapped around their arms or waists. The Gen Alpha kids, accompanied by their parents or moving in groups with chaperones, collected near a massive blowup of the creator’s head, indicating where the fans should congregate.

Other fans may not have worn the costume but brought white t-shirts or clipboards with Sharpies — not just for autographs, but to get the handles and numbers of their fellow fans, bringing the online community into the real world.

The Anaheim Convention Center felt noticeably younger on Friday, illustrating in real life that Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who were born into a fully digital world, are the primary consumers of creator content.

It’s that younger audience, which also includes many Gen Zers, that are flocking to creators and at the same time confounding Hollywood, which over the last two months have had to wrestle with once-reliable franchises like “Star Wars” hitting a wall while YouTuber-turned-directors Curry Barker and Kane Parsons each broke out with their respective surprise hits, “Obsession” and “Backrooms.”

At VidCon, the largest gathering of online creators and fans (which slightly overlapped with Cannes Lions this year), the conversation circled around those two films two floors above the Expo floor in the industry section. That’s where studio executives, creators and platform leaders talked about Hollywood’s newfound interest in creators, the value of IP in the future, the rise of live video — and live fandom — and how more creator content is making its way to the living room.

Some creators urged Hollywood gatekeepers to more readily take a risk on creator content.

“We’ve seen other movies or franchises get launched with much bigger budgets with much less proof,” Joe Ochoa, co-founder of Creator TV, told TheWrap. “To folks who make the decisions, what more do you need?”

Even with this piqued interest, some believe creators still aren’t getting their due.

“Creators are just undervalued. Period,” Chris Williams, founder and CEO of pocket.watch, said on a panel Friday. “Everybody is getting more value from creators right now…They’re paying so they’re paying so little for the value there.”

Here are five major themes discussed at VidCon.

‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms’ spark new conversations

VidCon came at a pivotal point in the summer, following the breakout box office success of Barker and Parsons. While creators have always been king at the convention, the industry panels this year suggested the tides are shifting with Hollywood finally taking notice.

Barker’s horror-comedy “Obsession,” which has made over $370 million globally at the box office thus far, is now the highest-grossing film ever acquired at a film festival, a record that was previously held by Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Parsons’ “Backrooms” is the highest-grossing film in A24’s history, making $330 million worldwide.

These creator success stories come on the heels of “Iron Lung,” a self-funded and self-distributed horror movie from Mark Fischbach, best known as Markiplier, that grossed over $51 million worldwide. Fischbach told TheWrap at VidCon that he does not think he led the charge for creator success at the box office, but he certainly broke down the wall for those behind him.

“As soon as the wall starts to tip, it gets broken down, and then it becomes normal,” he told TheWrap. “Then everyone in the industry is like, ‘Okay, fine, you’re in the club, and we accept you, and now you can make money, and we want to work with you more proactively than before,’ but it’s just a natural thing. You never know when it was going to happen, it just so happened to happen this year.”

Bryan Smiley, CEO Hard Carry Media, which wants to build brands and IP for Gen Z men, called on Hollywood to jump on board.

“People need to start taking creators very effing serious,” he said on a panel. “They understand audience, they understand story. They’re talking to their audience often a weekly basis, more so than most traditional creators or filmmakers do.”

He noted, though, that he does see people leaning in. The former Sony Pictures exec predicted that traditional entertainment companies will give the opportunities to “the right creators.”

“I promise you, every studio executive in town is scouring the internet looking for the next big creator, because it’s been proven they can actually move tickets,” he added.

Mackenzie Turner, whose YouTube channel The Besties has over 3 million subscribers, shared that while Hollywood has taken an interest in creators, they still don’t have the mindset of taking risks that makes digital-first talent successful.

“We’re playing with our money, whereas, the world of Hollywood, they are using other people’s money. They have all these other investors,” she said. “Having that YouTube brain, and partnering with YouTubers who are super analytical, like, learning the psychology of human behavior from the videos … It’s so important to think with that, with the intention of making these movies and TV shows for the future.”

Younger audiences dominated

YouTube has become the new PBS or Disney Jr. for Gen Alpha children, dominating as the primary platform watched by kids ages 2 to 12. This was evident on the ground at VidCon, where many attendees were accompanied by parents.

Statista projected that more children will watch YouTube than linear television in the United States in 2026, with 58.6% watching YouTube and 57% watching broadcast.

Vice President of VidCon Sarah Tortoreti was particularly aware of this demographic when planning programming for this year’s convention.

Over 15 years, VidCon has grown up alongside the creator economy — and, from Tortoreti’s vantage point, its audience has gotten younger in ways that say a lot about who now drives culture and commerce. The attendees are increasingly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, “digital natives” who have never known a world without online video and parasocial relationships with creators.

That shift tracks with a broader industry reality: the primary consumers of creator content today are adolescents and young adults who see YouTubers, Twitch streamers and TikTok stars not as fringe figures but as their default celebrities.

“Gen Z and Gen Alpha are driving culture and commerce right now,” Tortoreti added. “Getting in front of them is hyper important for any brand.

That convergence of fans, creators and executives is what keeps VidCon relevant as the creator economy matures. Rather than serving a single audience, the convention has increasingly become the place where every corner of the ecosystem intersects.

“All of these communities exist online, but VidCon removes that layer and brings them together in real life,” Tortoreti said. “We are the only event that brings together the entire creator ecosystem under one roof—fans, up-and-coming creators and the professionals, all in one place.”

Rejection of the Hollywood IP model

One reason why Hollywood has been slow to embrace creators is the industry’s focus on franchises and well-known properties. Markiplier’s film “Iron Lung” may not even have made it to theaters if it were not for his rabid fans frequently calling their local theater chains.

For creators, the feeling is mutual, with some eschewing the lure of working on big franchises or even thinking about sequels.

When asked about the potential for a sequel or a franchise opportunity, Markiplier said that’s not at the forefront of his mind.

“That’d be a really smart business thing to do to have a sequel ready for as soon as the movie came out, but we [Markiplier and collaborator David Szymanski] are just, we’re both Midwestern guys,” he told TheWrap. “If the idea’s not there, why work on that? There’s life to live outside of it, so there’s no rush for me.”

“Backrooms” director Parsons also turned down the idea of moving into IP, directing a “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” film. The 20-year-old filmmaker answered Matt Beloni on “The Town” with a blunt, “No.”

“I’m not too interested in IP work. I pretty much entirely want to focus on original projects,” he said. “I do this because it’s my way of processing life, as is art, and I typically find needing to step into someone else’s view of life tends to just kind of damage the initial point for me.”

This mindset is a stark difference from Hollywood. So much so, Markiplier said that he is not seeking out conversations from any executives at this point in time. He is more interested in working on new original ideas and bringing other digital-minded filmmakers up with him.

“I’m not in opposition of the industry, I’m not here to destroy all and take over. I just want more people to be able to make movies, and more people to be able to tell stories and more people to see cool stories,” he added.

Creators are still undervalued

Pocket.watch’s Williams argued that in his work he finds that the traditional streaming partners still undervalue creator content. His company specifically works with family-friendly creators and helps them license content to partners, including Prime Video and Disney+.

Williams said that many of the streaming companies are getting more value out of the creator content than they are paying for.

He specifically referenced creators like Salish Matter and Ms. Rachel, who have partnerships with Netflix. Matter’s father-daughter content became a global hit, spending over two months on the Netflix Top 10 list. Ms. Rachel released only four episodes with Netflix in the beginning of 2025 and became the seventh most-watched Netflix series in the first half of that year, accounting for 53.4 million views. It also ranked as the most-watched season of any children’s show in the first half of the year.

“There was a bit of fear, like how is that bigger than Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?” Williams said. ”Fast forward, and I think everybody’s getting a little more comfortable with the idea that YouTube content is going to do extremely well no matter what platform it’s on.”

Next stop: Dominating the TV

As powerhouse creators like MrBeast and Dhar Mann have moved some their digital content to the television screen, VidCon illustrated that there are now pipelines for creators with niche communities to do the same.

While many people consume creator content on mobile devices, the pivot to televisions and living rooms underscores the greater demand for this content for the whole family. Distributors like Amazon’s FireTV and streaming network Creator TV are opening doors for creators to more easily pivot to FAST channels and linear distribution.

Creator TV adapts social media creators’ content for FAST channels and streaming platforms to better serve audiences where they are.

“A lot of creator partners don’t know that there’s an opportunity to reach new audiences on television,” co-founder of Creator TV Ochoa told TheWrap. “Unless the platforms adapt and start to bring on their own creator-led content, they’re just gonna fizzle out.”

One of the categories that Creator TV is exploring is sports and game show-like challenges. The platform has collaborated with the World Poker Tour to bring internet creators to Vegas and compete on the greatest gambling stage. The platform is also leaning into other niche sports like pickleball – it even hosted a Creator Pickleball Tournament on the Expo floor at VidCon, allowing fans to interact and play with their favorite creators.

“When you bring the creator element to it, then it becomes not just about the sport … it kind of felt like a reality show that was fun to watch, and not just for the gameplay but for the vibes,” he explained.

Dan Green, global head of partnerships at Amazon and Fire TV, said Amazon sees creators as a “huge area of focus” and notes a whole generation that grew up on tablets/phones is now shifting that viewing habit to the TV. The company is launching its Fire TV Creator Hub this summer, “linked directly straight off the main menu on the Fire TV – literally top‑level creators, quick and just pure creator content for the customers.”

“We’re TV, so we obviously naturally focus on horizontal, long‑form content – that’s what people want to watch,” he said. “It fits more of a laid‑back TV viewing experience versus on a mobile.”

Rise of live

Social platforms across the board have placed an increased emphasis on live. TikTok has leaned into the tool, allowing creators to monetize through virtual gifts, subscriptions and commission through the TikTok Shop. Meta has leaned in with Instagram and FaceBook live. And YouTube has invested in streamers, doling out multi-million dollar contracts for exclusivity to their platform.

Twitch has invested solely in live for the past 15 years. CEO Dan Clancy told TheWrap that live video is not simply a format but a communal experience for the creators and their fanbases. Twitch is designed so viewers “pull up a chair and stay for a while,” he told TheWrap.

“On Twitch, we don’t have something to distract you,” Clancy explained. “Average watch time on a live stream on Twitch: 73 minutes. On TikTok, less than 73 seconds.”

While other platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook have experimented with live, Clancy argued that their algorithms are built to distract and bring you onto the next thing. He found that creators build more dedicated audiences on his platform as opposed to the social media competitors.

Twitch’s algorithm “dictates very little,” he said. Users can mostly watch who you follow for long stretches. That time together forges emotional bonds — not only with the creator, but with other viewers.

Clancy even noted that some streamers who signed multi-million dollar exclusivity deals with YouTube returned because they missed the community. Twitch hosts around 8 million unique creators, while YouTube has around 47 million active creator accounts, according to YouTubeToolkit.

Monetization mirrors this philosophy. Over two-thirds of creator revenue on Twitch comes directly from fans, primarily via subscriptions and especially gift subscriptions, which function like digital patronage with social status baked in – one fan pays, and the whole crowd benefits.

The post Creators Reveal What Their Hollywood Takeover Actually Looks Like appeared first on TheWrap.