Good morning. A few weeks ago Bryce Hall signed onto a scary movie, now Charli D’Amelio is starring in one. What’s got these creators going dark?

–Hannah Doyle

Designers Build an Offline Community Through YouTube

Earlier this month, the channel Project Kamp started filming the second season of their show that tracks the progress of their environment-friendly off-grid community.

The channel was started last year by One Army, a design studio run by Dutch artist Dave Hakkens. They bought nearly 25 acres of abandoned land in North Portugal and started from the ground up—building pathways, getting clean water, and setting up a base camp with two shipping containers.

Their recent video recapping the first year of building the base camp has received over 2 million views. They also have nearly 700 Patreon subscribers contributing to their efforts to develop land, generate off-grid electricity, and build with biodegradable materials. Project Kamp posts all their findings online, encouraging others to replicate them.

This year they plan to renovate the ruins on property, expand their workspace area, and upgrade landscaping. The most notable recent addition to the channel has been a team videographer, who they were able to hire for 10,000 euros thanks to money they earned from YouTube AdSense. Videos of the progress are released weekly, and supporters can help research project solutions, donate, or even help onsite.

Our Take

YouTube is one of the best platforms to build in public. Companies and creators that showcase their process can foster a stronger audience that develops a more intimate, genuine relationship with them. For the audience watching, they get to learn in real-time by following along, and potentially be inspired to start their own entrepreneurial journey.

Patreon Releases Its First Creator Census

Yesterday the subscription platform released a survey sampling over 13,000 creators across 113 countries. It covers a range of topics including creators’ primary sources of income and platform pain points.

Here’s what we found most interesting:

• One of the highest aspirations for creators was to hire support staff to run their business.

• 56% of Patreon creators consider themselves seasoned professionals.

• 17% of writers and podcasters found their audience on Facebook.

• Creators with custom names for their patrons see on average 4–8% higher monthly retention.

• Patreon creators receive 40% of their income from that platform.

Our Take

The engine of any creator’s business is their community. Since Patreon launched nearly a decade ago, the subscription model has clearly proven the test of time and we expect to see an uptick in community-funded creators.

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Ownership Matters

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Food Creator Nominated for James Beard Award

KJ Kearney of Black Food Fridays was recently nominated for Best Social Account by the James Beard Foundation.

His posts highlight black-owned restaurants throughout the country as well as black food history. He was encouraged by Anela Malik to start a TikTok in 2020, where he shared educational videos, like how the government subsidized fast food chains in inner cities and why Hennessy is connected to black culture. As his account took off, he gained media exposure and was able to grow his website and newsletter.

Our Take

Spurred on by the pandemic, Kearney has been able to take his knowledge and amplification of black-owned restaurants and make it into a business. Now he’s got over 200,000+ followers learning and supporting black businesses who might not have otherwise.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Mythical is hiring a director of ecommerce.

• Ali Abdaal starts a daily vlog.

• TikTok removes its Discover tab.

• Logan Paul releases the first NFT from his 99 Originals lineup.

• Annemarie leaves Ur Mom’s House.

• Build your army of superfans with Backstage.Army.*

• Mark Rober works to shut down a scam call center.

• MrBeast is inheriting Twitter from Elon Musk.

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