Good morning. Markiplier released the trailer for Iron Lung, his first feature film based on the video game of the same name. It’ll have a theatrical release and Markiplier will write, direct, and star in the film—something his past YouTube Originals features have no doubt prepared him for.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

The Effect of Tax Day on Creators

As the creator industry grows, creators of all sizes are facing more robust tax bills—and in the week following Tax Day, creators shared the ins and outs of operating their channels as thriving businesses that have to navigate an often complicated tax season.

• Ro Ramdin doubled down on Patreon. The video essay creator announced in a patron-exclusive post that she got “DESTROYED” on her taxes and would be paying them off in the following months. She asked her audience what additional benefits or content they’d like in new Patreon levels that’ll come with a higher price tag.

• Connor “CDawgVA” Colquhoun enlisted his parents’ help. The voice actor and creator, who lives and works in Tokyo, flew his parents out on business class to visit him. In order to classify the purchase as a business expense, he asked his parents to film their travels—they did, and Colquhoun reviewed their vlogs on his clips channel.

• Part-time creators navigated a “minefield” of side income. “People shouldn’t give legal advice or financial advice, but social media is about sharing experience,” Laura Collazo Perez, a freelance social media strategist and TikTok creator, told The New York Times. To educate peers in similar situations, Collazo Perez has posted on TikTok about how she tracked and reported her side income of roughly $25,000.

FYI: The IRS maintains a gig economy tax center, and companies like TurboTax have begun offering TikTok-style video tutorials aimed at creators.

Mad Realities Launches a Creator Collective

Mad Realities, the social-driven network behind TikTok shows like Buying Time and Proof of Love, recently announced it’s launching a Creator Collective to build a new slate of interactive TikTok shows.

The details: Mad Realities will select eight creators to collaborate on creative, production, and distribution of their own original TikTok shows. Creators will own the IP and manage the community, while Mad Realities will provide production resources and hands-on support.

• The show these creators produce will be interactive, meaning fans can vote to influence what happens.

• Fans who influence the content will earn rewards that they can use towards merch and events.

“Our goal is to prove out that you can actually increase revenue by getting deeper engagement,” Mad Realities co-founder Devin Lewtan told us. “I think it’s an interesting bet on discovery because there’s overlapping networks between [creators and fans]...Creators can think of their shows as basically these unscripted formats where real people can get voted in and added on.”

Big picture: Mad Realities is betting on the network effect, much like other social-first networks including Fallen Media, which has six original creator shows. FYI, Mad Realities collaborator Adam Faze tweeted that after the company launched TikTok shows with creators including Vookum and Kareem Rahma last year, the shows gained a collective 30 million views, 4 million likes, and over 350K followers within about a month.

Dude Perfect Become Pro Pickleball Owners

Veteran trick shot creators Dude Perfect announced earlier this month that they invested in a professional pickleball team in the way they know best—by dropping a pickleball trick shot video.

The dudes (who are based out of Frisco, Texas) are investing into the Frisco Clean Cause of Major League Pickleball, joining a list of notable MLP owners that includes LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, and Mark Cuban. Sportico reports that the Frisco franchise was valued at about $5 million in the deal, though Dude Perfect’s stake wasn’t disclosed.

FYI: Pickleball participation has increased 158.6% since 2019, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.

👀 Creator Moves

• Paddy Galloway is looking for an executive assistant to help with scheduling and task management.

• Creator Now is hiring for a handful of roles, including software engineer and head of product.

• Ali Abdaal is looking for freelance Shorts editors.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Ludwig calls out creator plagiarism.

• Taylor Lorenz explains Gen Z’s online pivot from sarcasm to sincerity.

• Danny Gevirtz makes a cinematic golf short.

• How two creators made the viral “If I Were a Fish” TikTok song.

• Hank Green shares his perspective on Montana’s TikTok ban as a state resident.

• Home creators The Sorry Girls interview First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

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