Can Creators Crash Hollywood’s Party?

Setting the table: Creators (Joe Rogan, etc.) had a major impact on the presidential election. Around 2020, their reach surpassed traditional media (news, etc.). Soon, their business could rival Hollywood's.

Previous creator rankings: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2018

Six big questions re: the creator economy:
1) Who are the highest-paid creators?
2) How do we define “creators”?
3) How large is the global creator market?
4) How many creators are there?
5) How do creators make money?
6) Will creators disrupt Hollywood or be co-opted by it?

Big question #1: Who are the highest-paid creators?

Highest-paid creators according to Forbes:
1) MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) - $85M
2) Dhar Mann - $45M
3) Matt Rife - $50M
4) Felix “xQc” Lengyel - $36M
5) Rhett & Link - $36M
6) Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach - $32M
7) Ryan Kaji - $32M
8) Mark Rober - $25M
9) Charli D’Amelio - $24M
10) Alex Cooper - $22M

Note: I sorted this list by earnings.  Forbes used some random method (feelings perhaps).

Mr. Screens’ Crystal Ball: We are not far away from the top-10 creators out-earning the top-10 movie stars.

Highest-paid movie stars, according to Forbes:
1) Adam Sandler - $73M
2) Margot Robbie - $59M
3) Tom Cruise - $45M
4) Ryan Gosling - $43M
5) Matt Damon - $43M
6) Jennifer Aniston - $42M
7) Leonardo Di Caprio - $41M
8) Jason Statham - $41M
9) Ben Affleck - $38M
10) Denzel Washington - $24M

Big question #2: How do we define “creators”?

Quick answer: Unsure.  In 2022, we separated creators (MrBeast, etc.) from influencers (Charli D’Amelio, etc).  Since then, the lines have blurred, but it is even more unclear who should be on this list.  For example, should Joe Rogan be on this list if we include Alex Cooper (podcaster)?  What about mega-influencers such as Kim Kardashian?

Big question #3: How large is the global creator market?

Size of the global creator market according to Goldman Sachs:
1) 2023 - $250B
2) 2027P - $480B 

The compound annual growth rate between 2023-27:
1) Creator market - ↑ 18%
2) Hollywood video market - ↑ 1%

Big question #4: How many creators are there?

Number of global creators according to Goldman Sachs:
1) 2023 - 50M
2) 2028P - 80M - 125M

Bottom line: Roughly 4% (2M) are considered professional ($100K+ per year).  The average creator makes $5K per year.

Big question #5: How do creators make money?

Source of revenue for creators:
1) Brand deals - 69%
2) Ad share - 7%
3) Started own brand - 5%
4) Affiliate links - 5%
5) Courses - 4%
6) Tips - 4%
7) Other - 6%

Big question #6: Will creators disrupt Hollywood or be co-opted by it?

Quick answer: Creators are making real money and stealing eyeballs from the Hollywood system.  For example, YouTube paid out $23B to creators last year, 53% more than Netflix paid for content ($15B).

Quote from Andrew Rosen @ PARQOR:
“The more YouTube pressures Netflix into producing more content at a lower cost, the more Netflix will have “to break [the business]” and undermine the studio side of its model.”

Why this matters: MrBeast commands more attention than Netflix's most popular shows.

Key details for MrBeast:
1) 25 years old
2) Began posting videos at 13
3) 300M followers across accounts
4) 250 employees
5) Business valued @ $1.5B
6) HQ in Greenville, NC (hometown)

Quick math on YouTube creator model according to Andrew Rosen @ PARQOR:
1) 2M+ creators
2) Mr. Beast creates 25 videos per year
3) 0.1% of creators create at the same pace
4) 0.1% * 2M = 2K creators
5) 2K * 25 = 50K videos per year

Bottom line #1: The creator economy only needs a tiny fraction (0.1%) of its content to be quality to disrupt the current system.

Bottom line #2: Top creators are not hoping to land a job in the Hollywood system.  They want to create a completely new system.