ICYMI: Brands, Here’s What Creators Actually Want
[📸 Jesse Leon | Colin and Samir with Johnny Harris] Greetings from the Publish Press: LA creator summit. It’s Thursday afternoon and I’m writing the newsletter from a folding chair at the event. With all the creators here, I decided to ask what a great partnership looks like from their perspective. The responses weren’t just a plea for more creative freedom (we’ve all moved past the prescriptive brief, right? Right?!) The partnership requests were personally relevant, creatively collaborative, and built for the long term. ⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
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🔑 ONE THINGInside the Press Publish Summit: What Creators Actually Want from BrandsThere’s a new creator conference in town: Press Publish LA. While it’s actually the second conference from YouTubers Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, it’s the first to take place in Los Angeles. Speaking to the 500+ creators gathered, Samir shared that the people in the room collectively represented a staggering 1.3B subscribers and followers across all platforms. “But there is an asterisk,” joked Colin. “That does include MrBeast because the team from MrBeast is here.”
[📸 Jesse Leon | Colin and Samir with Markiplier] What: Colin and Samir hosted The Hollywood Creator Summit, a one-day event exploring how creators — and legacy Hollywood — are building the future of entertainment. Where: The summit took place at the historic Fox Studio Lot in a faux New York neighborhood, complete with bodega and Publish Press newspaper box. The location seemed especially relevant for a summit centered on the intersection of creators and Hollywood. There was also a YouTube-themed diner where creators could get questions answered at the counter, a Google Gemini photobooth, and a Red Bull garage and fueling station. The attention to detail — and commitment to the theme — was incredible. Who: Speakers included top YouTubers such as Markiplier, Michelle Khare, and freshly minted Emmy winner Johnny Harris; Smosh CEO Alessandra Catanese; and YouTube executive Kim Larson. While Press Publish is still a relative newb in the event space, this seems like the future of conferences:
Key ThemeTrue to its name — the Hollywood Creator Summit — the conversations on stage focused on the confluence of creators and traditonal entertainment. “It feels like to me that there’s a few factors that have turned what used to be us making videos into us as creators making shows,” said Samir during a conversation with YouTube VP Tim Katz. According to Samir, as more viewers watch YouTube on TV screens, expectations are changing toward longer, more premium programming. “We’ve also seen new brands enter the space,” Samir, added. “There’s a lot more money in the space for creators to finance productions.” According to Katz, brands are increasingly interested in buying into full seasons of creator-led shows, mirroring traditional TV models. In response, more creators are structuring their content into episodic formats. “We’re literally in a golden age right now” said comedian Tom Segura during a separate panel — What Hollywood Actually Wants from Creators — with the head of Fox Creator Studios, Billy Parks. “If you have ambitions to be doing movies or television, it’s never been more accessible and possible than right now. This is the best time in history for somebody that didn’t follow a traditional entertainment path to end up with something like that.” Creator WishlistDuring Katz’s session, Samir asked how creators can be good partners. “The two things that we hear from advertisers all the time is they is they want return on their ad spend and they want brand relevancy,” replied Katz. But what do creators want in return? I asked several attendees what would make them say an immediate “yes” to a brand partnership. Beyond compensation. Beyond creative freedom. Here’s what they said: “Spotify actually does this really well. They understand your interests and who you are as a creator. For example, I love Dua Lipa. They invited me to a Dua Lipa concert. They also took creators to Barcelona for Olivia Rodrigo. I don’t listen to Olivia Rodrigo. But I’m going to Nashville for CMA Fest with them. I love country. They’re picking up on what we’re organically talking about and they’re leaning into us versus trying to fit us into their boxes. We all want third spaces, we all want community, we all want to hang out with like-minded individuals, so if they create those opportunities to bring us together, it’s an easy yes” - Lex Niko “At this stage in my life it’s an immediate yes if a brand wants to partner in a unique way that’s less so about fitting into a mold and more something bespoke that elevates my work. If it’s a location that I love being at or haven’t been to, that’s a possibility. If I get to be a part of a curated group of creators that help bring something to market, I find that pretty special. I’ve done all of these with brands like TED, Zapier, F1, even Canva” - Brandon Smithwrick “For me, an automatic yes comes down to long term stability. I want to move away from transactional, one-off videos and sign 6-month or year long retainers. Locking in a predictable partnership gives me the runway to focus entirely on creating high-quality content and building deep, authentic brand integrations that actually convert” - Jesse Nowlin “Experiential!! Bringing people together IRL and making content around the event as part of the partnership” - JT Barnett ‘For me, it would a long-term partnership, not just a one-off campaign. And a way to build a show or story, not just a commercial. Like what Tecovas did with their short film or Bilt and Roomies” - Devin McGovern 👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
🗓️ COMING UPPaid subscribers, there’s a bonus newsletter coming for you on Monday recapping May’s biggest trends and platform updates. Plus, a final chance to RSVP to the ICYMI round-table conversation about Agentic AI for Social Teams — hosted by me and Libby Gluck, featuring Google’s Sakura Irie, content strategist Brandon Smithwrick and Monark & Co.’s Rachel Smith.
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