Good morning. Kim Farrell, TikTok’s global head of creators, has left the company as the platform restructures its content division. Who might take her place?

We’re hoping the global search includes a five-step interview process, three recommendations, and a perfect recreation of the “Renegade” dance.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Last week, MrBeast released season two of Beast Games on Prime Video, quickly topping the US Prime Video charts.

Context: Beast Games Season 1 was Prime Video’s most-watched unscripted show ever, amassing 50 million viewers in 25 days. The show’s $5 million prize was the largest for any competition series in history, and the show marked one of the biggest partnerships between a streaming platform and a creator to date.

So how do you follow a debut like that? With a strategic focus on storytelling and marketing. MrBeast’s head of marketing, Sinan Deriş, told us how →

Geo-targeted episodes featured international creators. Viewers in India and Spanish- and French-speaking countries see different versions of episode one and nine. 

“The majority of MrBeast’s viewers are outside the US, so why don’t we show them someone in their region that they love to make them more likely to watch?” Deriş said.

43 creators filmed their own content on set. Beast Games shot across five locations—Nevada, Fiji, North Carolina, Panama, and Saudi Arabia—and invited creators including Airrack, Ryan Serhant, and FaZe Rug to document the on-set experience for their own channels (excluding Fiji, which was a closed set for a Survivor collaboration episode).

Zoom out: While season one proved the scale, season two is testing how far emotional investment can go. Early signs suggest it’s working: The show’s Rotten Tomatoes audience and critic scores are up to 40% higher than last season’s.

“The main goal was to make it so people tuning in felt connected to the storytelling of the contestants as soon as possible,” Deriş said.

Fresh off expanding its partnership with NBC Sports, creator media company Enjoy Basketball is kicking off 2026 with its first executive hires. 

Catch up quick: Longtime basketball creator Kenny Beecham and brothers Cole and Cody Hock founded Enjoy Basketball as a newsletter in 2022. 

“We’ve built the foundation of what Enjoy stands for, how we’re resonating with our community, and new audiences we’re trying to bring into the fold,” Cody told us. “The NBC partnership really pushed us over the top.”

Enter: the new hires. Enjoy Basketball brought on Devin Dismang, former head of content at X Games, as VP of Content and Drew Amer, formerly of Front Office Sports, as VP of Brand partnerships.

Dismang and Amer will focus on building out Enjoy’s franchises. “We’re looking to take the pressure off Kenny as well, so he doesn’t have to be in every single program or piece of content that we put out,” Cody added. 

Looking ahead: Despite the new reach with NBC, YouTube will still be a focus. “We’re looking to create new formats and double down on Enjoy Basketball YouTube. We see athletes coming up who grew up watching Kenny—could we be a platform for them to work with? That’s what excites us,” Cole said.

Sponsored by CTB

JOLLY is a YouTube channel where two friends, Josh and Ollie, explore food from around the world—often with a surprise guest along for the ride.

In a recent episode, they set out to find the best burger in the world and invited Jack Black to be the judge. The episode traveled fast, passing 1.5 million views in just two weeks.

CTB is proud to support JOLLY behind the scenes as they create moments like this with incredible guests. After 26+ years in the industry, partnering with creators at this level is what we love most.

Looking to explore a high-profile collaboration for your channel?

CTB would love to work with you.

Yesterday, Apple announced the Apple Creator Studio, a monthly subscription service that gives users access to Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, and seven other editing and design programs. 

Prices start at $12.99 per month. For reference, that’s nearly 5x cheaper than Adobe’s Creative Cloud, which gives users access to its suite of 20+ creative tools for $69.99 per month.

Big picture: With the rise of simple editing tools like CapCut, Affinity, and Canva, Apple is meeting creator (and student) demand with the new bundle. Meanwhile, Adobe has been looking to make inroads with beginner creative tools, releasing free versions of its Photoshop and Premiere apps.

Hi y’all, it’s Syd. Last Saturday, I was invited by the lovely Shaina Zafar, an executive at UTA, to a concert hosted by Artists for Aid benefitting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and the Sudanese American Physicians Association. 

The scene: I found myself in LA’s Shrine Auditorium among a sea of keffiyehs in possibly the best-dressed crowd I have ever seen. 

The crew: Shaina invited about 30 creators across niches and backgrounds. I sat next to lifestyle creator Prayag Mishra, who indulged all my fun facts about the lineup for the night.

The show: My favorite acts were Jasmine Sullivan’s rendition of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” by Nina Simone, Cameron Winters’ Hannah Montana moment when he performed solo and with his band Geese, and Lucy Dacus bringing Chappell Roan (!!) out for a duet.

The impact: The livestreamed event raised over $5.5 million between donations, ticket sales, and merch. I felt extremely grateful for the creator community, and being part of something larger than myself.

*This is sponsored content