The Garden Harvest: Should YouTube Originals Come Back?
Your weekly digest on the intersection of the Creator Economy and Legacy Media.
FRESH CLIPPINGS
The Case for YouTube Originals 2.0
Kaya Yurieff & Jasmine Enberg wrote a great piece on why YouTube should reconsider its Originals efforts, which were scrapped back in 2022. As they argue, it’s all about timing and execution.
We have covered for a while the Netflix vs. YouTube fight, which is in its infancy as the platforms fight for audience dominance, and while YouTube is currently sitting comfortably at the top, there are a few things that Netflix (and legacy media) have that YouTube covets.
Kaya and Jasmine explain:
First, advertisers. Much of YouTube’s revenue comes from small and mid-sized businesses, which makes its ad model look closer to Meta or TikTok than broadcast TV. If YouTube wants true TV budgets, it needs premium, predictable inventory, the kind brands can anchor major campaigns around. That explains the push into tentpole cultural moments, premium ad packages, and positioning itself as a legitimate “TV” destination.
Second, prestige. Netflix forced its way into Hollywood legitimacy through awards and original films. YouTube hasn’t fully crossed that line. Even when creators break through, institutional validation often comes only after they partner with traditional platforms (see: Ms. Rachel getting nominated for an Emmy only after she went to Netflix). Prestige still lives elsewhere.
The goal isn’t to mimic a traditional studio, but to create premium environments for advertisers and cultural legitimacy in Hollywood.
And there’s some urgency.
Because today, it’s no longer unrealistic to imagine major creators migrating off YouTube. Case in point: Netflix’s agreement with Spotify restricts podcasters from uploading full episodes to YouTube, signaling real competitive pressure and forcing the platform to work harder to keep its top talent.
Amelia Dimoldenberg Makes a Movie
Another clear signal of convergence with Amelia Dimoldenberg, the creator and host of Chicken Shop Date, developing and starring in a romantic comedy for Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures, produced by Gloria Sanchez Productions.
This isn’t just a creator “getting a shot” in Hollywood. It’s IP migration. Dimoldenberg didn’t rise through the traditional studio system. She built a global audience on YouTube with a format-native interview show that turned awkward charm into a recognizable brand. Now that brand is being translated directly into a studio-backed film, with a premise that mirrors her on-screen persona.
For studios, this is de-risked development. You’re not betting on a spec script alone; you’re partnering with a creator who already owns tone, audience trust, and cultural relevance, giving that spec script legs. For creators, it’s a pathway beyond platform algorithms and into long-form, premium storytelling.
The wall between internet personality and movie star keeps getting thinner. Hollywood used to manufacture stars. Increasingly, it licenses them from the internet.
Legacy Talent as Creators
With the Super Bowl and Olympics in the zeitgeist, Jim Louderback highlighted in his weekly newsletter an interesting story about athletes becoming creators. These athletes, he says, are building “portable” communities that follow them across teams, leagues, and sports.
Examples include:
Faatimah Amen-Ra, both a pro basketball player and CEO of the Women’s Premier Basketball Association, building competitive teams while teaching athletes how to become creators so their careers extend beyond the court.
Hayden Tyler Ancheta, a wrestler at SF State and Team Philippines, who has turned a 100K+ following into brand deals and millions of views, proving that today’s sports metric isn’t just the box score, it’s whether fans are following your journey.
Diana Flores, a flag football champion and advocate for women’s sports, who has a combined 200K followers, a book, and major partnerships into a blueprint for the modern creator-athlete, where performance and storytelling carry equal weight.
The parallel makes itself. Could actors, writers, directors in legacy media do the same?
Imagine a showrunner walking into a pitch not only with a script and a vision, but with a portable audience that has followed their process for years. In a world where buyers obsess over built-in IP and de-risked bets, a creator-backed community becomes leverage.
Because if athletes can carry their audience from team to team, there’s no reason legacy Hollywood talent couldn’t carry theirs from project to project.
It applies even stronger to actors, who inherently carry a more public presence. Fans can’t follow your journey if you appear once every few years for a press tour.
Perhaps becoming a creator is not a steep price to pay?
GARDEN VIEW
Mike Shields from Next in Media sits down with with David Freeman, who recently launched Kynetic Media Partners after 15 years at CAA, where he helped build the agency’s digital department back when creator talent was largely dismissed in Hollywood.
David is focused on building the infrastructure that turns fandom into enterprise value.
Topics include how tech companies have effectively become Hollywood, the rise of mega-creators like MrBeast building billion-dollar businesses, and how AI could transform content creation. David also breaks down the importance of real operators around talent, the emergence of creator-led media empires like Dude Perfect and Rhett & Link, and why consolidation and major exits in the space feel inevitable.
HARVEST QUOTE
“We started this podcast during the actors’ strike over Zoom, and made the show independently, with no real plan beyond making something we liked and staying creative. Licensing to a streamer was never even a thought.”
— Actor Jake Johnson, discussing his new deal with Hulu for his podcast We’re Here to Help.
He almost sounds like a creator, doesn’t he?
That mindset is the lesson. The show wasn’t reverse-engineered for a platform or built with a distribution strategy in mind. It started with taste, momentum, and genuine creative impulse. The audience came because it felt real.
That’s the creator playbook, and he’s proof that legacy players can follow it. Build something that resonates first. Monetization follows.
Have a great weekend…