It’s Friday and YouTube is now officially the most-used podcast platform in the U.K., according to new data from Edison Research.

Today’s News

🎥 Disney is giving YouTubers red carpet treatment
🎤 An Instagram comedian is going big-time
🧟 A horror competition calls for YouTube filmmakers
🤝 Hololive charges $40 for meet-and-greets
📖 The litslop era

CREATOR EVENTS

YouTube videos are getting a Hollywood premiere.

Disney is rolling out the red carpet for creators (and giving them a studio tour)

The premiere: Hollywood studios are shelling out millions to turn creators into feature film directors. Meanwhile, Disney and Jon Youshaei are exploring a different idea: What if the work creators are uploading to their channels represents the real future of cinema?

On September 17, some of those videos will get the Hollywood treatment at an event called Created in L.A. At the historic El Capitan theater, Disney will roll out the red carpet to give creators (and their content) the glamorous reception that is typically reserved for the latest Marvel movie.

The conference: Created in L.A. is a two-day affair. On September 18, the scene will shift to Disney’s studio lot in Burbank, where a conference will be held. As with Colin and Samir’s Press Publish LA, the Created in L.A. confab will focus on creator opportunities within the Hollywood system.

Youshaei, a former YouTube exec who interacts with big names like MrBeast on his personal YouTube channel, noted that “every attendee is hand-selected.” If you want to be in that number, you can apply via the Created in L.A. website.

The context: In 2026, creators have taken over movie theaters across the world. Projects like Iron Lung, Backrooms, and Obsession — all helmed by creators who came up on YouTube — have enjoyed groundbreaking success at the box office.

Disney wants to be a part of that boom. The Mouse House has already indicated its plan to increase its investment in short-form content and creator projects. Through the Created in L.A. showcase, Disney will get in touch with some of the most exciting voices who are active on social media today.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Sheila D Yeah is known for the skits she posts on Instagram.

Sheila D Yeah is developing a TV show. She’s filled up her IG with 530 comedy skits, signed with Viral Nation, and connected with Media Trifecta and its Chief Creative Officer Kevin Healey. Details about the project are being kept under wraps for now. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
Beehiiv wants to build your Community. The newsletter (and website and podcasting) platform just launched a community product that lets subscribers interact with creators and each other.
Is India the next frontier for Roblox? The sandbox already has a huge presence in countries like Brazil and The Philippines. Now, by introducing support for Hindi-language content, Roblox is targeting a market filled with more than one billion potential players. (Beebom)
YouTube is reportedly a leading candidate to land the rights to a local broadcast hub that will bring NBA games to in-market fans. The hub will reportedly be geofenced, because the NBA isn’t interested in cannibalizing its own NBA League Pass product. (Awful Announcing)

HORROR FILMS 😱

James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca are building a horror anthology.

A contest co-hosted by a YouTube horror hub will provide Hollywood with Fresh Meat

The contest: After the success of creator-led horror films like The Backrooms and Obsession, Hollywood studios are looking to turn more of YouTube’s scare masters into directors. A contest dubbed Fresh Meat will meet that demand by turning a string of frightful creator shorts into a feature-length theatrical release.

As reported by IndieWire, submissions for Fresh Meat will open on July 25 and close on August 24. English-language work from anywhere in the world will be considered, and the winning creators will get financial stakes in the resulting anthology.

The judges: As creator horror has boomed, Dead Meat has consolidated its position in that space. James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca’s content brand recently held its first IRL ceremony for its Dead Meat Horror Awards. Now, it’s using Fresh Meat to shine light on the up-and-coming crop of creator-directors.

Dead Meat’s partner for Fresh Meat is Atlas Entertainment. The studio is launching a Gen Z-facing horror label called Hades Films, which will handle the release of the Fresh Meat anthology.

The movie: Hades will waste no time turning the winning Fresh Meat entries into a theatrical piece. An October 12 release date will get the film to moviegoers while the creator horror phenomenon is still red hot.

Beyond the anthology, there may be additional opportunities for some of the selected shorts. Dead Meat and Hades will give first look consideration to Fresh Meat projects that could be developed into feature-length films.

VTUBER ECONOMY

$40 for 60 seconds of VTube.

How much would you pay to talk to a Hololive VTuber?

The deal: Hololive is looking to cash in on custom meet-and-greets with its stable of virtual personalities. The Tokyo-based VTuber production agency is offering ¥6,600 (~$40) virtual meet-and-greets during its ReGLOSS 3rd Anniversary Oshaberi Festival this September.

Meet-and-greets include one VTuber, will last 60 seconds, and have strict rules: no giving gifts/letters to the VTuber, and absolutely no recording the interaction. Fans who do want to memorialize the moment will have to fork over an extra ¥3,500 (~$22) for a “Chat Memory” add-on where Hololive will record the meet-and-greet from its side and send the resulting video afterward.

A separate ¥2,500 (~$15) add-on will let the fan take a virtual photo with their chosen VTuber before the meet-and-greet starts.

The precedent: Does Hololive’s move mean your average American content creator will start charging to meet them? Probably not.

Hololive operates on a model similar to the J-pop and K-pop industries. It creates virtual characters–often in themed groups or “seasons”/”waves” of newbies–and then hires people to fill those roles with no attribution or ownership for themselves. J-pop and K-pop agencies also charge fans to meet “idols,” and strictly control what can happen during meet-and-greets. There’s a thick layer of separation here—by design.

But the veil between most content creators, including independent VTubers, is much thinner. A fan can get a shout-out from a Twitch streamer for following, or get a response to a thoughtful YouTube comment. The only person controlling fans’ access is the creator themself.

What we’re most curious about here is if Hololive’s talent will get a cut of the meet-and-greet revenue–or if that belongs to Hololive, too.

WATCH THIS 👀

Man Carrying Thing discusses a classic tale of revenge.

Maybe it’s a classic novel. Or maybe it’s “litslop.”

The lit crit: When he’s not uploading satirical skits, the creator known as Man Carrying Thing critiques contemporary literature trends. He noticed that Gen Z has fallen in love with The Count of Monte Cristo — the classic Alexandre Dumas novel featuring betrayal, exile, and sweet revenge — so he decided to talk about it.

Monte Cristo is a classic, but is it a good book? Man Carrying Thing’s video essay examines the universal tropes that draw contemporary readers to classic books, even when those books were critically derided back in the day. If you’ve ever wondered how badly-written books become page-turners, this video is for you.

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