‘Walt Disney is not Mickey Mouse’: The modern creator career path, from full-time to founder

The business of being a creator isn’t a solo show. They have become full-on productions.

In the two decades since YouTube’s debut, creators such as Smosh’s Ian Hecox as well as Mythical Entertainment’s Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal have helped to map out the path to becoming full-time creators. They have built out teams and eventually entire companies around themselves.

Now other creators like Dhar Mann and Savanah Moss are following suit by erecting what are effectively the new generation of Hollywood studios and production companies. Meanwhile, the likes of McLaughlin, Neal and Hecox are charting the next phases of the creator career trajectory, as covered in the video below.

https://digiday.com/?p=583056

More in Future of TV

TV with dollar sign representing balancing multichannel tv advertising to create revenue.

Future of TV Briefing: A preview of Digiday’s CTV Advertising Strategies event

This week’s Future of TV Briefing previews next week’s CTV Advertising Strategies event that I’ll be hosting with top brand and agency executives in New York City.

Future of TV Briefing: TV is YouTube’s top screen — except when counting views and among Gen Z viewers

This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how mobile still accounts for an overwhelming majority of YouTube video views and why some Gen Z viewers aren’t tuning into YouTube on TV screens.

YouTube vs. TikTok vs. Instagram: What Gen Z really watches in 2025

At VidCon 2025, more than a dozen Gen Z attendees weighed in on the video apps they are most and least likely to watch.