The Hollywood Reporter presents the Content Creator Class of 2024 in honor of THR's Creators A-List Issue. These influencers reveal how long it takes to create a video, their most famous Hollywood run-in, misconceptions about influencing and more.
Featuring:
Aimee Song @aimeesong
Alan Chikin Chow @alanchikinchow
Anna Sitar @annaxsitar
Asia Jackson @aasian
Britney Vest @fittybritttty
Brittany Broski @brittany_broski
Charly Jodan @charlyjordan
Desi Perkins @desiperkins
Drew Afualo @drewafualo
Josh Richards @joshrichards
Julian Burzynski @juliancookies
Kristy Sarah Scott @kristy.sarah
Marco Zamora @want.zamora
Matt Friend @themattfriend
Megan Roup @meganroup
Nailea Devora @naileadevora
Owen Han @owen.han
Rhett & Link @mythical
Shayla Mitchell @makeupshayla
Toni Bravo @bonitravo
Yasmine Sahid @yasmine_sahid
Featuring:
Aimee Song @aimeesong
Alan Chikin Chow @alanchikinchow
Anna Sitar @annaxsitar
Asia Jackson @aasian
Britney Vest @fittybritttty
Brittany Broski @brittany_broski
Charly Jodan @charlyjordan
Desi Perkins @desiperkins
Drew Afualo @drewafualo
Josh Richards @joshrichards
Julian Burzynski @juliancookies
Kristy Sarah Scott @kristy.sarah
Marco Zamora @want.zamora
Matt Friend @themattfriend
Megan Roup @meganroup
Nailea Devora @naileadevora
Owen Han @owen.han
Rhett & Link @mythical
Shayla Mitchell @makeupshayla
Toni Bravo @bonitravo
Yasmine Sahid @yasmine_sahid
Category
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PeopleTranscript
00:00My dream job as a child was to be a weatherman
00:03because he was on TV every single day
00:06and people hung on his every word.
00:09That's power.
00:10And look at me now.
00:12I'm really good with green screens.
00:13Yeah, you ought to see him in front of a map.
00:15My dream job as a kid was to be a singer.
00:18Full-on pop star.
00:19I wanted to be an astronaut,
00:21but then I saw the 1995 classic Apollo 13
00:25and I was like, maybe not.
00:26A veterinarian.
00:27A vet.
00:28A veterinarian.
00:29I wanted to be an NHL player,
00:30but very quickly found out I wasn't good enough at hockey.
00:33A bull rider.
00:34Architect.
00:35An architect.
00:35A teacher.
00:36A marine biologist.
00:37A pediatrician.
00:38An obstetrician.
00:39To own a Chick-fil-A.
00:41To be on the big screen and provide joy and entertainment.
00:45Kids like me who happen to be a little different
00:48and we are pushing towards that.
00:56If I had to describe what I did
00:58to my grandparents, I'd say I'm on the internet
01:00and then I'd have to show them the app
01:02because they would not understand.
01:04I make fun of awful men on the internet.
01:06And then old people typically go,
01:08they pay you to do that?
01:09And then I go, yep.
01:10And that's where it ends.
01:12My first post on social media,
01:14if you would believe it, was on twitter.gov
01:17and my username was JBlova4eva.
01:20Justin Bieber, by the way.
01:21It had to be MySpace.
01:23And I don't think we were thinking of it
01:25as social media at the time.
01:27It must've been, I was doing Photo Booth
01:29when I was like nine or 10.
01:32And I would upload early videos
01:33of me doing impressions of celebrities onto YouTube.
01:36I would do like family guy characters,
01:39American Dad, Roger the Alien, it's crazy.
01:42An early attempt at a Barack Obama,
01:44maybe a little Trump.
01:46An average video for me probably takes
01:49about 30 minutes to an hour.
01:51Filming typically takes about five to six hours
01:55and editing, about four hours.
01:57About 16 hours from start to finish.
02:00Like two to three hours.
02:01Four hours to film, two hours to edit.
02:04Three hours, four hours to like many days.
02:11Coolest Hollywood run-in would have to be
02:14collaborating with Martha Stewart.
02:15Issa Rae, I had the privilege to interview her
02:18on the Oscars red carpet.
02:20Rihanna.
02:21Jane Fonda, I got to interview her,
02:23which is so iconic.
02:25I've been able to train and work out
02:27with amazing women like Dakota Johnson
02:29and Sabrina Carpenter.
02:30Jon Stewart, he actually, before we began speaking,
02:35was like, you guys.
02:39Ooh, if I could meet anyone in Hollywood,
02:41it would probably be Angela Bassett.
02:43I love her.
02:44Meryl Streep, probably Taylor Swift.
02:46BTS.
02:47Actually Oprah.
02:48I think Tom Holland.
02:49Adam Sandler.
02:51And I would want to be dressed like Adam Sandler
02:53running into him, because I most of the time am.
02:56I think one of the biggest misconceptions
02:57people have about content creators
02:59is that we make it look so easy
03:02and we don't really do anything,
03:04but it actually takes a lot of work.
03:06We're like wearing so many different hats.
03:08There's a lot of work that goes behind the scenes
03:10in terms of like the creative process,
03:11the editing and planning and brainstorming.
03:14And it takes a lot more creative juice.
03:16A misconception that most people have
03:18about content creators is that they're dumb.
03:20Like they're vapid and they just post
03:22naked photos or photos in their underwear for a living.
03:25But actually, most creators that are successful
03:27are really smart business people.
03:29One piece of advice I'd give to my younger self
03:31is to be patient, okay?
03:33When I was younger, I was not patient
03:35and I was in a rush to get to where I'm at now.
03:37And now that I'm here, I'm like,
03:38I should have been taking my time.
03:40I would tell her to keep on pushing,
03:42do what makes you happy.
03:43Follow what you love.
03:44Soak it all up.
03:45Be in the moment.
03:46Appreciate what you have in the moment.
03:49We knew each other since first grade.
03:50So we were constantly giving each other advice.
03:53Like, we're great.
03:55We can do stuff.
03:57Let's cut our hands and sign a blood oath
04:00that says we're gonna do something big together one day.
04:03Do I read my comments?
04:05No.
04:06Just kidding, yes, I do.
04:07Don't hurt my feelings.
04:09I do not read all my online comments.
04:11Nope, girl, definitely not.
04:13I'd say I give it a good like five minute scroll
04:16when I first post it
04:17and then I don't look at it after that.
04:18I don't read all of my comments,
04:20but I try to read as much as possible.
04:24The good and the bad.
04:24It's good to keep perspective.
04:26I just kind of like to get my feelings hurt a little bit,
04:28but also transparently, I kind of see it as a gauge.
04:31Like I can, that's my one way
04:32that I get to really communicate with my communities.
04:34I do read my comments
04:36and I love everybody who's very supportive.
04:39And to the haters, thanks for the comments
04:42because you keep the algorithm going.
04:44Love ya, and I know you wanna be me.
04:47What I think my content means to viewers
04:50is something that's totally different
04:51than what you get from mainstream Hollywood productions.
04:54In Hollywood, there's a lot of gatekeepers
04:56who get to decide what people can and can't see.
04:59And as a content creator,
05:00I kind of have full creative control over everything
05:03and I get to tell my audience exactly what I want to say.
05:07I feel like my content has an ability
05:09to reach a younger audience
05:11that maybe is going to the movies
05:12or hits Gen Z a lot more
05:14than people that typically go to the movies.
05:16But I think the goal of my content
05:18is really to bridge the gap
05:19between social and traditional media
05:21and be able to create high production value content
05:23that you would typically see on a streaming service
05:25or in the movies and have that live on TikTok.
05:27Hollywood is slowly becoming more comfortable
05:31with content creators.
05:33I feel like for a while,
05:34a lot of Hollywood was kind of scared
05:36to interact with content creators
05:38and to put them on the platform,
05:39especially in the film and TV world.
05:43To be honest, I do think we have a chip on our shoulder.
05:45We've been on YouTube since the very beginning
05:47and because so much of it
05:50is outside of the traditional system,
05:52I just think there's a communication gap that's closing
05:58but we keep waiting for it to completely close
06:01and we're encouraged but we're not quite there yet.
06:07We're being patient with Hollywood right now.
06:09Honestly, I don't really feel like
06:11we need Hollywood's credit.
06:13I feel like we're trailblazers
06:15in a totally new way,
06:18like a totally new form of media
06:19and I think that's incredible
06:20and that's enough credit for me.
06:22I think that Hollywood is starting to warm up
06:26to including influencers in a lot of,
06:29whether it's movements, events, things of that nature.
06:32I think we're moving in the right direction.
06:35I think there is still a little bit of a divide
06:37but that's okay.
06:38I think if we just continue going,
06:40there's just no way to stop it at this point.
06:42Unfortunately, we're all here
06:43so you might as well start including us.
06:45What?