Who Is Actually Making Money in the Creator Economy?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Colin and Samir Show

Episode: Who Is Actually Making Money in the Creator Economy?

Date: March 11, 2026
Hosts: Colin and Samir
Guest: Sid Cohen (Show writer)

---

Episode Overview

This episode investigates the financial realities of the creator economy amidst widely publicized growth and enticing headlines. Colin and Samir, joined by their writer Sid Cohen, dissect recent research showing stark income disparities among creators, discuss why advertiser money flows disproportionately to the largest players, and share strategies small creators can use to increase their earning potential. The team also introduces a new recurring segment called "Age Gap," where Sid bridges the generational gap with Gen Z slang.

---

Key Discussion Points

1. How Much Are Creators Really Making?

[00:00–06:33]

• Despite a projected $43 billion ad spend in the creator economy this year, about 50% of surveyed creators make less than $10k annually (Influencer Marketing Factory report).
• Quote (Samir): “Nearly half of those creators make less than $10,000 a year. So where is this money going in the creator economy?” [00:20]
• The "New Yorkers' salary piece" was discussed, highlighting a dog walker making $92k, a Substack ghostwriter at $164k, and an influencer at $320k. This contrasts with the low average incomes of most creators.

2. The NBA Metaphor for Success in the Creator Economy

[06:33–09:08]

• Colin draws on Marques Brownlee’s metaphor: Succeeding as a creator is as rare as making it to the NBA—passion and persistence are prerequisites, but only a tiny fraction make a living.
• Quote (Colin): “If you are going to make it as a creator, you have to be someone who genuinely likes making video the same as...playing basketball...a very small percentage...will be able to do it professionally.” [06:38]

3. Why Does Money Concentrate at the Top?

[09:08–15:15]

• The top creators capture most of the wealth due to:
  • Brands’ preference for scale, simplicity, and professionalism.
  • Few creators have the organizational infrastructure needed to handle major, multi-faceted brand partnerships.
• The “winner-take-all” aspect: Major companies like Unilever are shifting up to 50% of their $10B marketing budget to creator partnerships—yet, this often benefits the biggest, most organized creators.
• Quote (Samir): “When you become one of the big ones, you consume a lot of the available dollars... Fortune 500 brands...have a high appetite to work with creators and a low tolerance for complexity.” [09:08]
• Example: Mark Rober x Rivian — A model “mega-deal” requiring a full-service operation (Crunch Labs) [15:15].

4. Surface Area and Organizational Infrastructure

[17:14–21:57]

• Creators who can offer multiple touchpoints (events, newsletters, multiple channels) are more attractive to big brands.
• Examples:
  • The success of “niche casting” daily livestreams (e.g., TBBN estimated at $20M/year in ad revenue).
  • Colin and Samir’s own expansion: YouTube shows, newsletters, live events.
• Quote (Samir): “You will live in the $10,000–$50,000 range if you are just waiting for the brand to reach out to you... That is a dying breed of advertising.” [20:59]

5. Rise of Creator Agencies

[21:57–23:16]

• The professionalization of the industry is driving the creation of agencies run by and for creators (e.g., Pufferfish by Anthpo & Talia).
• Agencies can aggregate creator offerings and simplify advertiser-client relationships.
• Sid: “Do you think the rise in like creator ad agencies that we're seeing is directly linked to this like increase in ad spend?”
  Samir: “100%... There’s people knocking on the door of creators trying to spend money.” [21:57–22:08]

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Samir: “We are part of the advertising industry. Solving how to service these clients better will result in more money getting distributed. But we kind of mirror other industries where the money does concentrate to the top.” [22:51]
• Sid (joking): “The 1%, my Bernie Sanders impression.” [23:16]

---

Hollywood Creator Summit Announcement

[23:24–29:41]

• Hollywood Creator Summit: New LA event bringing together creators and traditional media, positioned as the “convergence point” for entertainment.
• Last year’s anxiety and success with their New York event are recapped—surprise guests included Casey Neistat, Stephen Bartlett, Richard Branson.
• This year promises single-track programming (no FOMO), breakout groups, and strong networking.
• New trend: Hollywood “moving out,” but creator-led productions fill soundstages in LA.
• Oscars are being hosted on YouTube—a symbolic moment for creator-industry convergence.

---

New Segment: “Age Gap” (With Sid)

[30:30–39:35]

• Sid, representing Gen Z, introduces the term "Kaya Asylum" (Khia Asylum) to test Colin and Samir’s generational fluency.
  • Defined as “Azkaban for mid-tier pop stars,” it's cultural limbo for pop artists with short-lived fame struggling to regain relevance (referencing the artist Khia, a one-hit wonder with “My Neck, My Back”).
  • Sid: “The Kaya Asylum is Azkaban for mid-tier pop stars.” [33:31]
  • The game: “In or Out” of the Kaya Asylum—examples include Charli XCX (out), Tinashe (in), Addison Rae (debated).
  • Samir and Colin mostly pass, with Sid relenting: “Colin got his age down to like 33... Samir, you get 27.” [38:50]

---

Actionable Takeaways for Creators

• If you want to earn more, get organized. Develop clear, multi-platform offerings to attract large advertisers.
• Don’t rely on one-off deals. Package multi-month, exclusive partnerships for higher spend and deeper relationships.
• Consider joining or starting an agency. The collective bargaining and operational support can make you more appealing to brands.
• Expand your “surface area.” Think in terms of total possible ad inventory across all you do.
• Understand the market: Know that high-income creator slots are limited—be realistic, but strategic about how you differentiate.

---

Key Timestamps

• [00:00] — Introduction: Creator economy’s income gap
• [02:13] — Surprising real-life salary examples (dog walker, ghostwriter, influencer)
• [06:33] — NBA metaphor for creator success
• [09:08] — Why money flows to the top
• [12:55] — Unilever’s $10B ad budget and creator spend
• [15:53] — Mark Rober & Rivian case study
• [18:18] — Expanding creator “surface area” (TBBN, Creator Support)
• [21:57] — Rise of creator agencies
• [23:24] — Hollywood Creator Summit announcement
• [30:30] — Age Gap: Gen Z “Kaya Asylum” explained

---

Closing Tone

Engaging, self-deprecating, and collaborative, the hosts consistently balance humor with hard analysis. Sid’s youthful perspective is playful, especially in the Age Gap segment, providing a lively closer while reinforcing the constant evolution of creator culture.

---

Summary in a Nutshell

The biggest dollars in the booming creator economy are going to the most organized and scalable creators, not simply the most creative.

• If you’re not earning as much as the headlines suggest, you’re not alone: infrastructure, product offerings, and professionalization—more than talent alone—are the major differentiators.
• The future belongs to those who can deliver real results at scale and navigate an industry that increasingly mirrors the professionalization of media, music, and advertising.

---

Learn more about the Hollywood Creator Summit at [presspublishla.com] (pending URL). Connect with Colin, Samir, and Sid next Monday for more insights into the creator economy.

Transcript

[A]

We've all heard about how fast the creator economy is growing. There's more creators than ever. There's more ad dollars than ever. And to put some specifics to that, the creator economy is projected to reach $43 billion in ad spend this year. So it's a good time to be a creator. But a recent report came out that surveyed a thousand creators and showed that nearly half of those creators make less than $10,000 a year. So where is this money going in the creator economy? That's something we're going to dive into on today's episode of the Colin and Samir Show. We're also going to talk about our next big press publish event, the Hollywood Creator Summit, coming to Los Angeles May 28th. And lastly, we're joined by our writer, Sid Cohen. Hi, Sid.

[B]

Hi. Hi. He has a gun. Sid, what are you doing?

[A]

Don't say that. It's crazy.

[C]

No, it's true. He does.

[A]

Sid is our writer and Gen Z chorus. How old are you, Sid?

[B]

I'm 25. I turned 26 in three weeks.

[A]

Ooh.

[B]

Yeah. I'm off the insurance soon.

[A]

So Sid is here on the show because we are bringing a new segment to this episode. If you guys like this, we'll bring it back. It's called Age Gap. Sid is going to throw out a Gen Z term to us. We have to get to the point where we understand it and can explain it back to her. That is coming up on the show. All right, Sid, bring us into this episode.

[B]

What am I supposed to say?

[A]

Okay, no, that's good.

[B]

That's good. Is that going in?

[C]

You nailed it.

[B]

Yeah, but that's what it sounds like, right?

[A]

Yeah. All right. If you spend any time on Twitter this week, you saw big red numbers with salaries and job descriptions next to them. This was the New Yorkers piece where they interviewed 60 New Yorkers about their salaries and how much they're making. And there were some pretty astonishing numbers. Did you see any of this?

[C]

I did see some of them, yes. From. From what I saw, it seemed like gig workers and more blue collar jobs seemed to be making more than what people would assume for sure.

[A]

The one that stuck out to me the most was the Manhattan dog walker. $92,000 a year salary. Walking dogs. Yeah.

[C]

Hustling a lot of dogs.

[A]

Ghostwriter writing substack pieces. $164,000. Wow.

[B]

Pay up.

[A]

And then one that stuck out and is really relevant to this conversation. Influencer. $320,000, which was broken down to $250,000 in brand partnerships, $60,000 in consulting and $10,000 in selling clothes.

[C]

We have to know this person. This feels like.

[A]

You think so?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Hold on. Do you know how many influencers and creators are in New York City? You think we know 100% of them?

[C]

No, I'm assuming we know this person. I think if you're a creator in New York City and you do $60,000 worth of consulting, my assumption is that it's creator centric consulting that we probably know.

[A]

No, I don't think that's necessary.

[C]

I think Samir, you know, like, 98% of the podcast.

[A]

I do know a lot.

[C]

I don't know why you're pushing back on this.

[A]

Yeah, that's fair. Okay. That's fair. So th. This.

[C]

This week, can we acknowledge that Sid's here? I feel like she's trying to talk.

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

I'm not trying to talk. I just.

[A]

You have to say something.

[B]

I thought you told me not to speak. I'm not allowed to speak. I just had to sit here, wear this jacket. I had to dress like you. You're not even filming. You said dress like you. I have to wear the shacket.

[A]

Okay, Sid, explain yourself. So you said you've been writing with the published press for how long?

[B]

I have been writing? Almost exactly. No, it's been over a year now. Last year was last. Last week was my year. So I've been here a year, been writing our newsletter, not making $160,000, so. Making note of that.

[A]

Well, you're not a ghostwriter.

[B]

No, but the way that you have

[A]

to write a bunch of people's substacks for that.

[B]

Okay, so I'm gonna go to.

[C]

Is this episode turning into a live.

[A]

It's a live negotiation right now. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. We're gonna have to rethink some things if you want me to stay on the episode.

[C]

Wow. And she's serious. And everyone, CID just walked down.

[A]

Yes, Sid is gone. Okay, well, Syd, I am sitting here with some notes that I took around a story that we covered. I don't think this was your story. I think this was Hannah's story, maybe last week around how much money creators are making. And I want to bring this up because Hannah and I were having this conversation around it. There's this report that was done that surveyed a thousand creators from a company, I think, called Influencer Factory.

[B]

Influencer Marketing.

[A]

Influencer Marketing Factory. Yeah. And they surveyed a thousand creators and basically found that 50% of the creators reported earning under $10,000 annually, and 16% of the creators said they made more than 50,000 and only 5% said they made over 100,000. Now, this is only a subset of a thousand creators, but when Hannah and I were talking about this, what I said is, this does not surprise me at all. Like this data feels accurate. And I think the reason I want to bring this up is because everything that we see in the headlines is around the growth of the creator economy. You know, right now the creator economy is projected to hit $43.9 billion in in AD spend across creators this year. But creators making $10,000 or under feels kind of confusing. It feels like a contradiction point to that headline. And we're also seeing. So we, we run a show on YouTube called Creator Support. And I'm looking at, we've hundreds of inbound requests to come on the show. And as I'm going through those requests, I'm noticing this is also a common theme that's like people aren't able to pay their bills by being a creator. And I wanted to just talk about this because I have a lot of thoughts on what is happening and just explaining what are we seeing in the current creator economy from where the money's going?

[C]

I know you have more current thoughts about this, but when I hear these numbers, I think about what Marques Brownlee told us, just about creators in general, is that it's kind of like playing in the NBA. Like, if you are going to make it as a creator, you have to be someone who just genuinely likes making video the same as if you're someone who's going to make it to the NBA. You have to really love playing basketball. You have to do it no matter what. And a very small percentage of people at the end, we'll be able to make it into the NBA or do it professionally. And I think creating is the same way. We've been creators for 15 years, really only doing it sustainably and professionally for what, six.

[A]

Yeah, probably six years.

[C]

I mean, think about how many years you could have polled us and we would have added to this.

[A]

Yeah, that's a good point. It takes a really long time, I think the argument against the NBA metaphor, because I said this exact thing at dinner with someone. This is like what I've been talking about, because someone brought up to me, oh, you know, like every young kid wants to be a creator or influencer. And I was like, yeah, but that's like, it's really hard to make it. And they're like, but why? There's infinite spots. So, like the comparison to the NBA. The question is like, there's capped amounts of roster spots in the NBA. The assumption in our world is that there's uncapped amount of spots.

[C]

Okay. But there's not infinite spots. It's not like it's always growing, that there's always new spots. Right. Like, it's not, I guess it's not the same as an NBA roster where there's exactly a set.

[A]

It's not the same.

[C]

But it's not like. I hear you, I hear you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You'd have to look at like the broader scope of professional basketball and different ways that people make money in basketball, like running basketball clinics or playing overseas and like, understand all the variety of ways. But I think the first thing that

[C]

I, I guess I'll this look like to be in that category at the end that's making what, over a hundred thousand? Yeah, that to me is akin to the NBA. There's a stat that like three out of every 10,000 high school basketball players get to play in the NBA at some point for a number of years. And I think like if you 3

[A]

out of 10, 10,000.

[C]

Oh, so point 33%.

[A]

Oh, I see, I see. Yeah.

[C]

End up playing in the NBA.

[A]

It got it.

[C]

So I think like to get in that side of the equation, the over $100,000 for a number of years, that to me is similar to the NBA. I don't think there's that many spots. It's not capped.

[B]

But no cap.

[A]

Thanks, Sid.

[B]

Adding value to the podcast.

[C]

Didn't hear that Sid said no cap.

[A]

The creator economy is positioned as a very democratic system, and I actually think it is. But it's kind of a winner take all system. Meaning like when you become one of the big ones, you consume a lot of the available dollars. And a lot of that is because what we're seeing is this influx of major Fortune 500 brands, blue chip brands, who want to participate in the greater economy. Their core belief is that they can reduce their ad spend a little bit, but increase their cultural relevance by working with creators. Now major Fortune 500 companies who are moving their ad spend, they have a high appetite to work with creators and a low tolerance for complexity. And when I look at that, that is then suggesting that you need to, as a creator, be ready to receive a million dollars from me. Now, the amount of creators who can receive a million dollars, who have the surface area to execute on a million dollar campaign. Now we're starting to get to a very small sliver of the pie of how many creators can not Only A, have the reach to do that, B, have, have the brand to do that, and then have the organizational infrastructure to work with a client to do that.

[B]

I think it's interesting that everything is getting more niche and yet it's getting more stratified in the playing field is leveling. Like you're seeing all these media companies, creators pop up that are speaking to very small audiences or more niche audiences.

[A]

What's that, 47%? You want that right now?

[B]

No, no, that's actually not relevant. Okay, okay. But everyone's getting way more niche and yet company dollars feel like, like ad spend dollars feel like they're getting bigger. So there is a really, really, really small portion of people that can speak to that large of an audience. And the majority of the creator economy is like playing to this niche.

[A]

Totally. And to justify the spend, I kind of need some amount of scale and

[B]

reach

[A]

some amount or extreme relevance. But to then take that spend that I need to spend and spread it across 50 accounts. I also, as the marketer, need a lot of staff to do that. And I may or may not have that staff. So I think the most notable headline in this space around where money is coming from is holding companies like Unilever. So I think everybody saw this at the end of last year. If you work in the creator economy, Unilever in 2026 has shifted 50% of their budget to creators. Let's play a game, Colin.

[C]

I hate this.

[A]

I know. By the way, guys, off Mike. This is something I do with Colin all the time. I say, what's X's marketing budget? So just guess. So. So let's guess what's Unilever's marketing budget? Guess. Total marketing budget. I wish you guys could see his face right now and how much he dislikes this.

[C]

20 billion.

[A]

Why would you. Why would you guess 20 billion? That's so not fun, this game. Okay?

[C]

It's so insulting. Someone knows the answer.

[B]

Well, now I'm scared I don't. Because that seems. Well, that seems way too high. Yeah, that's okay.

[A]

It's not even fun to watch. Okay. Yeah.

[B]

Okay, wait, no, you guess way too high.

[C]

One billion.

[B]

One billion.

[A]

One billion is also offensive. That's crazy.

[C]

What 500 million?

[A]

No. What?

[B]

3.7 billion.

[A]

That's okay. Sid gave a respectable guess.

[B]

Oh, I added in a point. You have to. You have to add in some decimals.

[A]

It's $10 billion.

[C]

See now sounds really smart because you had the answer the whole time.

[A]

No, but that's not the thing. Is not. Who sounds Most smart. It's just fun to conversationally go back and forth on what's the answer.

[B]

It's only fun if we guess way lower than what the actual answer is, that we can feign being surprised when it's way higher.

[A]

This could have been your subway take, by the way. Just so you know that you hate the guessing game.

[C]

Why? Yeah, you had a perfect subway take.

[A]

Why would I? Yeah, I'm the one who needed a.

[C]

This could have been your subway take.

[A]

Yeah. So 50% of a $10 billion budget, newly, freshly into the creator economy is no joke. Come on. Guessing game. How much is 50% of $10 million?

[C]

5.

[A]

So 5 billion new dollars coming into our industry.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Is extraordinarily significant. Like, that is a very sexy headline. It's very exciting. It makes a lot of sense to me. But to operationalize spending $5 billion is hard. It's not necessarily easy, especially when you're saying across.

[C]

If they were to do it across a ton of small media companies, basically, or independent creators.

[A]

I think the thing that I try and repeat often to people who want to get into our space, who think about it like the world of maybe startups, is like, we are a lot more like the music industry than like the San Francisco tech industry that we are all bespoke in how we operate. None of us really operate exactly the same way. So when you're going out to 50 different creators to do deals, you're going to deal with 50 different types of talent and 50 different types of email communication. And there's no standardization across how we do our deals. Sometimes you have the agencies in the middle who are brokering the deals to make it a little bit simpler. But I think just the insight here of why is money concentrating to the top and not into the entire economy is because of the complexity of it. Where you have a problem, which is, I need to spend a lot of money and the solution is not on thousands and thousands and thousands of creators. The solution is likely selecting a few creators. An example of this. I don't know if you saw this, Colin, Mark, Rober and Rivian. Did you see this partnership?

[C]

I shared it in Slack.

[A]

Did he win? Did he win that one? We have a big

[C]

check.

[A]

We have a big thing going right now.

[C]

I shared that there's a lot of

[A]

people double posting in Slack. Right.

[C]

My biggest fear is posting something in Slack that has already been posted.

[A]

It should be. Because now we're keeping count.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, you.

[A]

Now we're keeping score.

[B]

Yeah. You beat us to it. And actually we have someone who. I won't dox them. But someone did double post it after calling. After calling. Wow.

[C]

Docs them.

[B]

It was Gorby. Oh, put them on the. Should I put them on the scoreboard?

[C]

Okay, so Vivian partners with Mark Rober.

[A]

Yeah. So I bring this up because this is a. A great example of what I mean by like organizational infrastructure and surface area to partner. So the partnership with Mark and Rivian is not necessarily Mark Rober and Rivian. It's all. It's Crunch Labs and Rivian, which is really interesting because essentially this partnership includes everything from like Mark as talent to going on a tour of their retail facilities and offering programming for families to come learn engineering, as well as digital content that teaches about the future of cars and like EV technology. So it's a robust media partnership across content, physical activation, talent, ads. It is all things. And that unlocks the ability for Rivian to participate in the creator economy, but spend quite a bit and get a lot of access across different facets from live events to digital to family education, to Mark his talent on stage at south by Southwest with rj, which is where they're announcing or launching this.

[C]

So if you break this down, you're saying that Mark Rober makes sense for a major brand like Rivian to partner with because, number one, he has scale, he has reach.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Number two, he has a diverse surface area to integrate Rivian not only maybe on its main channel, but it looks like here in Crunch Labs. Three, he has an organization that can handle a partner like River.

[A]

A partner like River.

[C]

He has staff, he has precedent for it. He's.

[A]

Yeah. Spending a couple, maybe. Maybe they're spending $8 million or $10 million on this. Crunch Labs is a full company of probably at this point, 100 plus people who are able to service the brand.

[C]

So if I'm a smaller creator and I'm seeing that all of these major companies are getting into the space and they're going to the places that I would assume they would go anyway. Right. To like a Mark. Robert, what am I supposed to take from that?

[A]

I think the takeaway is like, you need to organize yourself. What I mean by that is, like, you have to have an organized offering of products now.

[C]

So if you don't necessarily have tons of scale and reach, you can at least be organized and you can have multiple surface area.

[A]

You need to be very organized in

[C]

terms of surface areas.

[A]

Yeah. Like when someone comes to you. I think a great example of the expansion of surface area is in the niche casting, daily livestreams that are happening. Course we had TBBN on the show. You know those guys, we can, we can estimate they're, they're doing around $20 million in advertising this year because they do a show every single day that has sponsors on screen at all times, that has clips that go out every day across all platforms with sponsors on them. They increased their sponsorship surface area. They do not have the biggest audience, but they have a lot of organizational infrastructure. Like one of their early moves was hiring a president. Right. And somebody who can actually organize them to receive the money to create the ad products to then service these advertisers.

[C]

I'm blanking on the exact number, but I think they said they have 2000 AD units a year.

[A]

Yeah, it was something like that.

[C]

Something like that, yeah.

[A]

Yeah. But that's one example. I know this niche casting thing is starting to grow quite a bit. People are launching daily livestreams, I think to create connection with the audience, but also to create more surface area for advertising. But even in its simplest form, I would say with us right now, what we have done, we have increased our surface area through launching new shows on YouTube. We have a show called Creator Support that is now a new surface area. That is now an offering, a product offering for brands to engage with. We obviously, early days we did, we launched the published press as a new surface area. We have also launched our live events and have announced our next big live event here in LA in May. Hollywood Creator Summit is coming, which we'll talk about more in a second. But we have increased our surface area. That's heavy. You need team to do that. But I think the simplest form is just organizing what you offer. You will live in the $10,000 to $50,000 range. If you are just waiting for the brand to reach out to you and say, this is what we need, we need a post like this. I think that is like a dying breed of advertising. I think you have to have a lot of conviction and perspective of what am I selling you, what am I offering you? That is not just a integration into my video. Because that is going to be very hard for big brands to justify right now. Like, yeah, I'll buy it. Integration into your video. Plus I'll do that across a thousand other creators.

[C]

So you're saying you should be set up to deliver something across multiple platforms over a longer period of time. If a brand comes to you, you should be prepared to say, hey, here's, here's actually a three month or a six month way that I can integrate your brand instead of just a one off.

[A]

Here's a category exclusive one year partnership so you can spend more with me, you know, because I think one of the problems is like you literally sometimes with a creator you can't even spend more because they're capped in their product. So I think like the big thing is like the creator economy is professionalizing right now as the new brands come into the space. Advertising is the number one way we all make money. And the types of advertisers that are coming in have a high appetite to spend with creators. And I think the challenge that is being, that is being illuminated as we talk to more and more creators is they don't have the product offerings to meet the demand yet.

[B]

I'm curious, do you think the rise in like creator ad agencies that we're seeing is directly linked to this like increase in ad spend 100%?

[A]

You're exactly right, Sid. Like, yeah, I think keep saying that. The creator camp agency that just launched the Pufferfish, which is Anthpo and Talia's agency, Unwell has one, Unwell has an agency. This is because there is basically people knocking on the door of creators trying to spend money. And sometimes you don't even have enough media properties to fulfill the demand. So you create custom solutions for the brand to say, you know what, we will solve this for you in a different way. We don't have the show for it, but let us make the videos for you, let us make the content for you so that it's a really unique moment in our industry and I think it's one to continue to explore. Because plain and simple, we are part of the advertising industry. And solving how to service these clients better will result in more money getting distributed. But we kind of mirror other industries where the money does concentrate to the top. So those have been some of my insights this week.

[B]

The 1%, my Bernie Sanders impression.

[A]

Okay, let's shift focus. Louisiana. May 28th.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

The Hollywood Creator Summit. It's happening.

[C]

It's happening.

[A]

It's happening.

[B]

It's happening.

[A]

It's happening.

[C]

It's happening, it's happening.

[A]

Is that the tagline?

[C]

It's happening?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so the last time we announced an event on this show or talked about our event on the show, we had terrible fears that we were going to throw Fyre Fest. Do you remember that?

[C]

Oh yeah.

[A]

We had never thrown a big event before, 500 people in New York City. It felt like the anxiety I felt all year last year leading up to that event was like this high grade constant anxiety.

[B]

Until September and how are you feeling now?

[A]

I feel great.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

I feel so excited.

[B]

I feel good too.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I felt that high grade anxiety during the event.

[A]

Yeah, that's probably true. Yeah, it was.

[C]

I think it got worse, actually. I think I was ready to snap. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. It went away for me once Richard Branson came out. What's like the big surprise moment?

[C]

Good for you. Cause that was the night before.

[A]

Yeah, that was night four.

[B]

That was the first thing that happened.

[A]

Yeah, that was the first thing that happened. So. Okay, let me explain. Why are we doing this again when we lived with terrible anxiety of throwing an event last year, the day after the event, I was like. I felt amazing and I was like, let's do it again. If you asked me two days prior to the event, I'd say this is the one and only time we're throwing a big event.

[C]

I'm pretty sure I said that.

[A]

Yeah. So we are doing it. We're doing it in la. We cannot announce the venue yet. No, we will be announcing the venue soon. It is May 28. The theme of this one is the Hollywood Creator Summit. It is meant to acknowledge this moment of the convergence between what's happening in traditional media, what's happening in digital media. The subject matter we covered two weeks ago and we talked about Markiplier and his breakout movie success, the conversations even around Mark Rober and him going on to Netflix, Jake Shane and his podcast getting licensed to Netflix. What is happening between our two worlds? How do we bring people from the two worlds together in one place on a stage to have conversations about what is the future of the entertainment industry? We've kind of arrived at the moment where it's not traditional and digital. It's just the entertainment industry. And we have to build a space to acknowledge that that is what this event is about.

[C]

It's really special to do it in Los Angeles because so much production is moving out of la. Yeah, Like Hollywood is really not Hollywood anymore. It doesn't feel like it. But at the same time, what Samir, you and I have been seeing are creators like TBPN who do fill sound stages in Hollywood.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's just not being talked about.

[A]

Yeah. Or like I acted in a micro drama. I haven't even said that yet, but I acted in a micro drama that was shot in la.

[C]

You're bringing back Hollywood.

[A]

I'm bringing back.

[C]

And people aren't talking about it. People are talking about it.

[B]

People aren't talking about it. Oscars on Sunday and we're going to see Samir Microdrama nominated for best cameo. Yeah, Best cameo. They're going to make a category for you.

[A]

I mean, look, another thing is like the Oscars are going to be hosted on YouTube. That's going to be a really interesting moment where like this signature Hollywood, you know, moment of the year is hosted on YouTube.

[C]

I mean Zach King, who just released his, his movie, the Jurassic park remake, we acted in one of the Star wars one. Yeah. One of the ones that's gonna be coming out. And that was a full on production in Burbank and these productions are happening again in Hollywood, but they're just now creator led.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So it's fun to have a moment where we really acknowledge that and talk about this intersection where the two worlds really are meeting.

[A]

So what happens at these events is probably the thought that's happening in your head. Unless you came to our last event. If you came to our last event, you kind of know. We have a bunch of onstage discussions focused on a topic. Again, this one is exactly what we just said. We have surprise guests. Last year we had Casey Neistat, Stephen Bartlett and Richard Branson, which was very exciting. We are working on our surprise guests this year. We will not tell you who they are because it's a surprise. We will also have breakout sessions on specific topics where you can meet with experts and in small groups. We find that to be extremely valuable. That was a huge thing coming out of the surveys of last year was people like meeting with small groups. So that will be coming back as well. And we will also create a lot of settings where you are going to meet other people. And that was another thing that came out of last year. A lot of people met each other, started projects together. Some creators got really cool brand deals last year from this. Like it's, it's a, it's an. It's so fun. Which is why we're doing it again. I see it as a very valuable thing. I can't wait to do it. I will probably have low grade anxiety leading up to it.

[B]

Colin looks like he's going to have some high grade anxiety leading up to it.

[C]

Yeah, I will.

[B]

Yeah. And I think something that you haven't mentioned yet that's really cool about our press publish events is that it's all single track. Everyone who comes to the event will have the similar, a similar, if not the same experience and something that I find to be distracting at some other events is having multiple things going on at the same time. You don't want to have the FOMO of choosing wrong. Totally there's no wrong choice. You come, you're going to have a good time. And the breakout groups will give you that more like one on one personal connection that you're looking for.

[A]

It's like Coachella this year.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Dijon and Disclosure playing at the exact same time. Where do you go?

[B]

I'd go to Dijon, probably.

[C]

Isn't Bieber headlining Coachella?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Are we going to.

[A]

I mean, we're invited.

[C]

We are what?

[A]

We're always invited.

[B]

Am I invited?

[A]

You know where else we're invited? The Vanity Fair Young Hollywood party tomorrow night.

[C]

The Vanities.

[A]

The van. Vanities. Vanities.

[C]

I think they call it the Van.

[A]

The Vanities. Okay, Sid, what do we wear?

[B]

My answer is gonna depend on if you guys have a plus one. I'm gonna dress you heinously.

[A]

If I'm not allowed to come, we do not have plus ones. We are going to just as Colin and Samir.

[B]

No, that's fine.

[C]

That's fine.

[B]

I just have to become someone, I guess.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I don't want to throw us under the bus, but, like, please do. At what point are we too old for young Hollywood?

[B]

How old?

[C]

Like, I'm 37.

[A]

So it just goes. How old are you?

[B]

No, you're like. Am I allowed to say? You're 36. Right? You're 36.

[A]

Oh, and so you wanted to do a salary negotiation here.

[B]

Not with you.

[A]

Yeah, not with you.

[B]

I'll do it with Jesse.

[A]

He'll do it with Jesse. Yes, I am 36 and I'm proud to be 36.

[B]

That's okay.

[A]

Alan's 37 and that's okay.

[C]

And 37. I'm not proud.

[A]

Yeah, he's three years away from 40.

[B]

Push.

[C]

Look, I just feel like I saw that we got invited to the Young Hollywood party, and I was like, okay, like role models performing there or something. Hosting at Kaia Gerber.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I was like, okay. Like, I'm 37.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's really young to an 80 year old.

[C]

You're so right, Sid.

[A]

You're so right, by the way. So we have no idea what we're gonna wear, but on the subject matter, this is a perfect segue. So to our new segment.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Age gap.

[B]

Age gap.

[A]

Okay. I have to credit my friend Rohan for the name, by the way.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's his pitch on the name, but this is largely from an idea of Sid bringing up Gen Z slang to us and us not knowing what it is. And I think if we get this right, then we are allowed to go to this vanity Fair young Hollywood party. So here's how it's going to go. Sid is going to suggest a term to us. I'm going to assume both of us don't know what it is, but we will answer to tell you if we know what it means or not. Maybe we'll do a guess. You cannot search on your phone call.

[C]

I'm just.

[B]

I think even a rudimentary search would not give you the answer you are looking for.

[A]

And then you will explain it to us and we have to explain it back to you.

[B]

Yes. There's also. I have a little game involved as well.

[A]

Let's do it.

[B]

The term is Kaya asylum. Has anyone heard of this?

[A]

I have not.

[C]

Absolutely not.

[A]

And can you clarify? It is spelled K Y A.

[B]

It is spelled K H I A.

[A]

K H, I A.

[B]

The Kaya Asylum.

[A]

The Kaya Asylum, yes. I think we're going to need a hint or you tell us how the game works.

[B]

Well, the game works after I explain the term to you. Like, I have a game associated. Now, once you have a grasp on what the concept is. I have an.

[A]

So see, can you give us it in a sentence? Yeah, use it in a sentence.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. Ava Max is stuck in the Ka Asylum.

[A]

Another sentence.

[B]

Zara Larson is fresh out. The Kaya Asylum.

[A]

Okay. So is the Kaya Asylum maybe where you go when you either lose your cultural relevance or become chugi.

[B]

Am I supposed to say. Okay, yeah, I would say, like, that's definitely on track to what the Kai Asylum is.

[A]

That's pretty good.

[C]

How the hell did you know that?

[A]

What do you mean? She just used it in a sentence that was like.

[B]

Do you know who Zara Larson is, Colin?

[C]

Like, yeah.

[A]

So Zara Larson is back right now.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Which is why I'm saying if she's out of the Kaya Asylum, the Kaya Asylum is where you go to kind of lose your cultural relevance. Clearly, this is where when you're out of it, you're back.

[B]

Yeah. Let's get into the etymology for a second because I think it's important to know who Kya is, and that will help us. Okay, I will sing the first. I will.

[A]

You're gonna sing. This is a really, by the way, sit on. The show is a very new experience for our podcast listener.

[B]

This is the first time.

[A]

Yeah, that's true.

[B]

Thank you for having me, by the way. I'm very honored. Okay. I am going to. It's not really sing. I will chant, I guess, two lines of a song by the artist Kaya. First of All. Do you know who Kya is?

[C]

No, I do not.

[B]

That's the whole point. Okay, but do you know the song that goes My neck, my back, I'm stopping there.

[A]

That's also not Kaya.

[B]

It is.

[A]

Are we sure?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, got it.

[B]

Let's. Let's go to Spotify because that's the whole base.

[A]

Okay, that's fine. That's fine. Yep, I got it. You can, we can move on from that.

[B]

Yeah, we're good.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So Kaya made a one hit wonder. Basically, the Kaya Asylum is Azkaban for mid tier pop stars. It is limbo for the girls who just quite haven't made it yet. The pop stars that are putting in the work, but they are not a household name yet. And this all emerged from a meme of Kya. The person who sings the song. My neck, my back. Meeting a fan and the fan is like bursting into tears. And someone said this bleep was crying over meeting Kya. And so Nicki Minaj stands on Twitter, also known as Barbs. They took the phrase Kaya to mean anyone who is kind of a flop.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

A chop.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so now if you're stuck in the Kaya Asylum, you are. You haven't really made it out yet.

[A]

But does that mean that you had a thing or does it mean you never had a thing?

[B]

It means maybe people know who you are but you're not relevant.

[A]

Know your thing, but you are not relevant.

[B]

Yeah, here's a really good example. Charlie XCX was in the Kaya Asylum, deep in the Kai Asylum until Brat. That's a really brought her out into the mainstream.

[A]

People don't know how long Charli XCX has been at it because when we were young, Charlie XX was a thing. Yeah. Not you, me and Colin. When we were young, Charli XX name would just show up on all these like dance songs.

[B]

I love it. I love it.

[A]

Yeah, Exactly.

[B]

I was 12 listening to. I love it.

[A]

Right. And so she was in the Kai Asylum.

[B]

Yeah, she had her hit and then she had a lot of albums that didn't chart or didn't have mainstream success. And now with Brat, she's the biggest thing ever out of the Kai Asylum. I don't see her going back anytime soon. Sabrina Carpenter, you may have thought that Short and Sweet was like her first album. It was like her fifth.

[A]

We know we met her very early on in her career.

[B]

Well, I didn't know that. I thought, I literally thought she came out of nowhere. Yeah, yeah, I, yeah, I saw Her.

[A]

Then would you say Olivia Dean was. Was there because she had some hits prior to Man I need. But, like, she's been. She's been at it for a long time.

[B]

Yeah. I feel like anyone who had.

[A]

But that's a very different thing. The Kaya Asylum, to me, feels.

[B]

It's not just someone who's, like, worked. It's like someone who had a moment.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And then they. They were not able to sustain and.

[A]

But then they can get out.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You can get out. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I have some people, and you're gonna tell me if they're in the Kaya Asylum. In or out? Yeah. In or out?

[A]

In or out?

[B]

There we go. Beyonce.

[A]

Out.

[C]

Oh, my gosh. Out.

[B]

Okay, good. I'm just. We're getting a baseline. I'm trying to see how with it. You guys are.

[A]

We're going to the other.

[B]

I think you guys are 36 and 37.

[A]

Okay. Yeah.

[B]

Dua Lipa.

[A]

Out.

[B]

Good. Okay. I kind of. Oh, I already said Zara Larson. She's out to me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Tinashe in. Do you know who Tinashe is?

[C]

Yeah, I do.

[A]

But you don't know who I have.

[C]

I know I do, but I have no opinion on the man.

[B]

I would say she's in. I would say she's in. I. I like her music. A lot of the.

[A]

It's. It's subjective, but I totally get what you're saying. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Kim Petras in. Yeah.

[C]

I don't know. That is so. Yeah. And.

[B]

Yeah. All right. This one might divide me and Samir. Addison Rae.

[A]

Well, okay. How dare you. Addison Rae is clearly out. It's just. She's not for me.

[B]

Yeah. And she is for me.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Understood. But that's fine. That's a whole different conversation.

[B]

That's okay. And you know what? We did have a unifying moment because I really love Addison Rae. You really love Olivia Dean. We did come together because I wanted Olivia Dean to win Best New Artist.

[A]

That's true.

[B]

We really connected.

[A]

You're right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. To close this game, Colin has to explain back to both of us what the Kaya Asylum is. Okay.

[B]

If he doesn't, he's locked in.

[A]

If he doesn't, he can't come to the Young Hollywood party tomorrow.

[C]

Yo, the thing about the Kaya Asylum is. So if you look at the word Kaya. Kaya.

[A]

Okay, so wait, did you actually not listen to Greg?

[C]

I'm doing a bit of. I'm doing a bit of.

[B]

I gave you a Softball.

[C]

Do I have to explain the origin

[B]

of it or just say what? Kaya Asylum.

[C]

If someone asks you what asylum sort of means like irrelevance, like you are in a. A part of. You're not culturally really relevant anymore. Or like this, like people aren't people.

[A]

This doesn't pass into you.

[C]

But if you're out of the Kaya Asylum, it means like you're, you're back. Like you've, you've established yourself in culture.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's like I feel like. But we have to be specific here. This is talking only about pop stars.

[A]

Mid tier.

[B]

I don't think yes, female is important because they would never say anything bad about a male pop star.

[A]

I don't think that, I don't think that passed. I think, yeah, I don't think that passed.

[B]

Yeah, I give half credit. Okay, so you can go to Young Hollywood for half of the time and then we're going to switch outfits in the alley and I'm going to come

[A]

back in, which is what Colin?

[C]

Be honest. I was going to do it anyway.

[A]

He's going to go from 8 to 8:30. Yeah, yeah. Okay, Sid. Thank you. First episode of Age Gap. I think we closed the age gap.

[B]

We did. We closed the age gap.

[C]

Well, barely.

[B]

Colin got his age down to like 33.

[A]

Okay, great.

[B]

Samir, you get 27.

[C]

Yeah, that sounds totally right.

[A]

I'm like in 21 Jump Street. I'm going to go to Young Hollywood party tomorrow night and go, hello fellow kids.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Dressed all cool and talking about the Kai asylum and you can't wear a

[B]

shacket to the party tomorrow.

[A]

I'm not gonna wear a shacket. I was gonna.

[B]

We're both wearing shackets right now and so am I.

[C]

So if we can't wear a shacket, what do we wear?

[B]

A suit.

[C]

A suit. That's what I said. I'm gonna wear a suit.

[A]

All right, well, expect some pictures from Getty Images by the time you listen to this hopefully or the next day. And a couple things. Thank you Sid for joining us on the show. First appearance on the Colin and Samir Show. You did great.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

We should do Age gap again. I can't wait. It's very exciting.

[B]

Apply to Press publish la.

[A]

Yes, press publish link in bio la. There will be a link in the description. I also just asked the team to buy a simple URL because I love URLs. Press Publish LA. It may or may not be working right now, but why don't you test it? It's definitely not working right now. Sid. It just happened. I just asked the team to do this so that I could say this on the show. Press publish la. We'd love to see you at the Hollywood Creator Summit. It is application based, which means we are actually going through and approving applicants for you to get through that. Our ideal scenario is that we fill the room with professional creators. There's a few different ticket tiers, but check it out. Look into it. We'd love to see you there. And we will see you next week. Okay.

[C]

Interesting addition to the show.