The Garden Harvest: 7/18/25
Your weekly digest on the intersection of the Creator Economy and Legacy Media.
Welcome back to the Garden Harvest.
Each week, we gather and curate the freshest insights from the worlds of Creators and Legacy Media, so you can stay rooted in what matters and spot new opportunities where others can’t.
Let’s get into it…
FRESH CLIPPINGS
A deeper look at Vertical Video
In this week’s long-form, we explored the rise of vertical video and its repercussions on the industry at large. Now, we want to take you a level deeper with a Dear Producer post from DGA assistant director Meta Valentic, who reflects on her first experience working on a vertical project.
It’s a raw and thoughtful piece that perfectly captures the disorientation that many legacy media filmmakers feel stepping into this space. Meta describes the chaos, i.e. why it often looks and feels like a student film. Spoiler: there’s barely enough time for blocking and coverage, and everyone is doing at least 2-3 jobs.
But, as she goes on, this doesn’t take away the fact that the format is working with audiences. And rather than dismissing it, Meta offers a mindset shift that’s worth highlighting. She writes: “The microdrama business is still in its infancy, which provides opportunities for producers to grow it responsibly.”
That’s the takeaway. Asking ourselves how we can shape it, not scoff at it.
Taste is the new intelligence
Stepfanie Tyler of Wild Bare Thoughts puts it plainly in her recent post: “We’re drowning in content.” Every single platform is fighting for your attention, trying to keep you watching just a little longer.
And now, we’re stepping into a world where AI can create pretty much anything. In this new era, volume won’t win, discernment will.
That’s the new intelligence.
Because, as an audience, when the content available to you is infinite, what you pay attention to and who you trust to give you that content, matters more than ever.
This brings to mind Doug Shapiro’s post about the new moats and opportunities for legacy media. He’s right: algorithmic content is attacking us at every front, and with AI, it’s only going to get worse.
The opportunity? Tase and judgement. The ability to cut through the infinite content and offer something that feels chosen.
How will you offer that clarity to your audience?
Creators won’t dominate the next phase of the creator economy
We’ve talked about how the future of the creator economy will be built on digital media studios rather than individual personalities, and this week we have Charles Kerr, the Gaming, Sports, and Podcasts Lead at YouTube, reminding us of that idea.
As a solo creator, there’s a ceiling. It’s hard to scale, and even harder to sustain relevance long-term.
But a digital studio is different. It’s built on systems, with specialists, repeatable formats, IP development, and diversified revenue streams. In other words, it’s a whole different game.
We’ve lived through the era of building businesses around individuals, but as Charles writes, the next chapter is about operating creativity at scale. That requires infrastructure and capital.
How would you build a digital media studio today? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
GARDEN VIEW
Speaking of creators building digital media studios, few people are doing it better than Dhar Mann.
YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie sat down with Dhar and his CEO Sean Atkins to unpack how their Burbank-based studio has built a scripted content machine that runs at 1/100th the cost of traditional media.
It’s a fascinating look into what happens when you treat a creator channel like a studio from day one.
If you want to understand what it actually takes to operate creativity at scale, this one’s worth your time.
HARVEST QUOTE
“Now is the time to not care about getting 100 million views”
- French creator Romain Bernus to Publish Press while discussing his recent success growing his mother’s bakery operations from $200k in revenue to $2 million with no paid marketing or online sales.
He did this by “building in public,” posting behind the scenes videos of his mom’s bakery.
And the interesting part from this whole thing is that his views range from 1,500 to 4,000 views on the bakery’s social accounts, and around 10,000 views on Bernus’ socials.
If you’re thinking: “That’s nothing,” you’re not wrong. But the thing is, does the number of views matter more than the quality of those views?
It’s not millions, but it’s a few thousand people who care and will engage. That’s much more valuable than 100 million people who saw your videos and did nothing.
See you next week…
Loving these, Fernando. Would love to hear more about how these creators are monetizing, as I think that's going to be increasingly important as creatives have to think about revenue from Day 0.
Thank you for the great shout out! Meta