Good morning. Ryan Trahan and Haley Pham are just 13 days into their 50-day journey to every US state—and they already exceeded their goal of raising $1 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Their new goal? $2 million.
We’re definitely along for the ride, and not just to see what crazy Airbnb they stay in next.
On the Ground at VidCon 2025
Extra, extra! Syd (left) and Hannah (right) talk VidCon takeaways in this Publish Press exclusive / Photography by Syd Cohen
After a whirlwind weekend, we’re back in LA after VidCon 2025—and we’ve got some big takeaways to share.
Set the scene: This VidCon felt a little different.
The brand presence wasn’t as strong (no big Instagram or TikTok activations at the creator hotel like last year).
Fewer creators attended, in part due to overlapping schedules with Cannes Lions—though some creators managed to attend both.
FYI: In 2024, Paramount sold VidCon to Informa, the same company that owns Cannes Lions.
Here are some of our top takeaways from this year’s VidCon →
Creators are succeeding with vertical livestreams, a feature YouTube launched last year. Family-friendly comedy creator and educator Jenny Hoyos told us she grew from 4 to 9 million YouTube subscribers in the last year in large part thanks to live videos on the Shorts feed—with one livestream reaching 10,000 concurrent viewers.
“Shorts is what brings all the eyeballs in, and in long-form they get deeper, but I really like vertical livestreams because that’s where you build a relationship with the viewers,” Hoyos said.
Spotify could be a new hub for fitness content. Spotify Head of Podcast Product Maya Prohovnik told us one of the top 10 shows on the platform in recent weeks was a yoga podcast. With more than 300 million users watching video podcasts on the platform—could fitness videos be Spotify's next big thing?
Independent distribution is here to stay. Larger studios like Mythical, Smosh, and Dropout paved the way with creator-owned direct distribution built on platforms like Kiswe and Vimeo—and owning that audience relationship has deepened the connection.
“We love to, on the tech side, ideate around new things that will help connect our partners more directly to their community to help them speak more authentically to their audience,” Kiswe Marketing Director Jake Nishimura said during a panel.
Traditional media came to play. Despite fewer activations from the big platforms, traditional production and media companies like Blumhouse, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. Television all showed up. Blumhouse, with a scream box activation, and NBC and Warner speaking on panels about streaming and brand partnerships on the Industry floor.
Industry learnings aside, VidCon continues to stand out from other major creator events for one big reason: fan connections. We saw tweens beelining to Jesser’s Basketball Showdown, swarming the Expo Hall floor to catch a glimpse of AJ and Big Justice, and queuing up in a mile-long line for Aphmau’s gaming activation.
How This Challenge Creator Is Building a Cinematic Universe
Jake Carlini (left) has raised 85% of his goal to launch a comic book series, Socksus Origins (right) / Photography via Jake Carlini
Over the weekend, challenge creator Jake Carlini launched a Kickstarter for his upcoming comic book, Socksus Origins Vol.1. The goal: Raise $20K to fund the comic book and get it to fans by Christmas. In less than 48 hours, Carlini has raised over 85% of his goal.
Rewind: On the surface, Carlini’s YouTube looks like a typical build channel—with videos making a jet-powered car, dodgeball bazooka, and turbo scooter. But over the last three years, Carlini has been introducing fictional characters (Socksus, Purple Dude, Red Dude, etc.) and lore into videos for his 1.3 million subscribers.
The results of this character-driven storytelling on his channel? More engagement and more views on TVs, Carlini told us.
Views are less explosive after a video launch, and average view duration has increased.
“My floor every month is so much higher and the roof is lower, so it’s a way more consistent climb—which I like,” Carlini said.
Carlini’s TV audience has grown nearly 20% in the last year, and 57% of his audience is watching on TVs.
“I approach my content as more of a cartoon than a YouTube channel, and you don’t want to watch cartoons on your phone—you want to watch them on TV,” Carlini said.
Looking ahead: Carlini is releasing a three-episode weekly YouTube series to drive excitement around the Kickstarter campaign. Already, the first episode has received nearly half a million views and landed on YouTube’s trending page.
“Socksus is going to be a three-part series and the comic is just the seed,” Carlini said. “My real dream is to create an anime-style adaptation of my characters and this whole show that I’m building.”
Mark Rober Hires a Chief Content Officer
Scott Lewers (left) joins Mark Rober (right) and CrunchLabs as its first chief content officer / Photography via Deadline/CrunchLabs
STEM creator Mark Rober recently tapped Scott Lewers, formerly Lionsgate Alternative’s EVP of content and digital strategy, to be the first chief content officer (CCO) for his media company, CrunchLabs.
Lewers will lead CrunchLabs studio division, helping the brand expand its original content, collaborate with more STEM creators, and lead development of educational content for schools.
How he got here: Lewers spent nine years at NBCUniversal, 12 years at Warner Bros. Discovery, and a year at Lionsgate. He met Rober in 2023 while working on the Discovery series Mark Rober’s Revengineers.
“Our shared vision and deep passion for accelerating the impact we can have on the future of STEM is what makes this an especially exciting opportunity for me,” Lewers told Deadline.
Big picture: More creators are hiring execs with Hollywood backgrounds—like Mythical’s Head of Audience Development Melinda Petrow (from Amazon) or Unwell’s Head of Talent Relations Olivia Owens (from Creative Artists Agency).
👀 Creator Moves
Domino creator Hevesh5 is hiring a part-time editor to edit both long- and short-form videos.
Bucketsquad is looking for a full-time thumbnail designer.
Zack D. Films is hiring a contract 3D animator to make 20–45-second 3D clips.
🔥 Press Worthy
Nas Daily is making 100 videos in 100 days using AI.
Baseball creator Dan Sarmiento signs an exclusive deal with Rawlings baseball equipment company.
OMGAdrian shares three tips for short-form storytelling.
Walmart is opening creator podcast studios.
PrestonPlayz is releasing toys with Bonkers Toys, the company that makes Skibidi Toilet action figures.
Auto creators BigTime share their learnings from one year of running a business on YouTube.
