| If you're finding value in our Creator Economy newsletter, I encourage you to consider subscribing to The Information. It contains exclusive reporting on the most important stories in tech. Save up to $250 on your first year of access. Hello! A big theme I've been tracking this year is the growing convergence between Hollywood and the creator economy. In the latest example of that trend, Skybound Entertainment, the Los Angeles studio behind franchises including "The Walking Dead" and comic book and TV series "Invincible," has acquired Nine Four Entertainment. The talent management firm represents creators such as Jack Douglass, a YouTuber better known as Jacksfilms who has nearly 5 million subscribers, and the movie reviewer known as I'm Dontai, who has 3 million YouTube subscribers. "We went from scarcity to plenty," in the entertainment industry, said Skybound CEO David Alpert in an interview. "More content [is] being created now than there ever has been pretty much at any point in the past. How do you get people to pay attention to it?" Alpert said his company is buying Nine Four because it expects social media creators will help people discover the content and products it creates. In February, Skybound also acquired mobile app publishing firm Maple Media. The Nine Four acquisition is the latest of an influencer-focused agency by a Hollywood management and production company trying to expand its work with creators. On Monday, Propagate Content, a production and talent firm co-founded by "The Office" executive producer Ben Silverman, acquired digital talent agency Parker Management, which represents 85 creators. Propagate has produced shows including Food Network's "Chopped," Netflix's series of sports documentaries "Untold," as well as some shows with digital creators. Nine Four President Parker Oks will continue to lead the agency. Besides representing creators and offering business development services, Skybound and Nine Four will launch a new incubator program focused on creating and financing creator-led brands, ranging from consumer products to TV shows, comic books and podcasts. The company plans to take an equity stake in these businesses. As more creators launch brands and the space gets saturated, the new incubator is looking to explore less crowded categories, such as camping equipment or allergen-friendly foods, as well as popular niches that make sense with a creator's content. "I came to Hollywood with the idea that comic book creators and video game creators, who are actually telling stories that should be told in film and TV," said Alpert. "Twenty-five years ago, people looked at me like I had three heads when I would say that. Today it seems obvious and evident. I think the same thing has been happening in the internet-based creator economy." Here's what else is going on… See The Information's Creator Economy Database for an exclusive list of private companies and their investors. Google is working on a visual inspiration product that could compete with Pinterest, The Information reported. The feature in development shows users images, such as ideas for fashion or interior design, and lets them save the images in different folders. Substack added more than 1 million paid subscribers since Donald Trump's win in November, which the company said helped it generate positive cash flow during the first three months of the year. The newsletter publisher now has 5 million paid subscriptions as of March, up from 3 million in February 2024. TikTok said it's giving away $1 million in ad credits to U.S. small businesses. Starting Thursday, it will also host a weekly webinar series with tips and strategies to launch effective campaigns on TikTok and put on in-person "Small Biz Fest Roadshows" in Los Angeles, New York and Austin to teach small businesses "how to maximize" their presence on the app. Spotify is facing backlash from some smaller creators about its new feature that shows play counts on an episode. Creators with niche followings are concerned the feature could turn listeners away. In a statement posted to Threads, Spotify's account wrote: "We hear your feedback on play counts … we're eager to address your top questions and share more about our ongoing plans." Studio71, a creator-focused media company, launched a new service called Parcel that uses AI to help creators reformat videos to post across social media apps including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Endlss, an influencer marketing company, launched a new feature called Endlss Copilot, an AI workflow and management feature for advertisers. The aim is for the AI assistant to handle administrative tasks such as identifying creators to work with, reaching out to them, and gifting them products, while human teams can focus on "higher-level strategies." Captiv8, an influencer marketing firm, announced a strategic partnership with AI company Perplexity to add AI features into its service for planning and executing marketing campaigns and measuring their effectiveness. MrBeast announced his reality competition show "Beast Games" has been renewed for two more seasons on Amazon Prime. "Y'all are not ready for the big stuff we have planned,," he wrote on X in all caps. Michelle Khare successfully petitioned the Television Academy to include her YouTube series "Challenge Accepted" on the ballot for the Primetime Emmy Awards in the "hosted nonfiction series" category. "What makes this moment truly special, is that this is a show that may have never been picked up by a studio," Khare wrote in a LinkedIn post. Livvy Dunne, a college gymnast turned influencer, is one of four women on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue's 2025 digital edition. Anastasia Karanikolaou, better known as Stassiebaby on social media, and her manager Alexis Fisher will launch their new podcast "Better Half" on Friday with Dear Media, a female-focused media and podcasting company. On the show, the two will discuss work, friendships and dating. Blake Chandlee, former president of global business solutions at TikTok, is among the six tech executives who have recently left their roles. See the latest installment of our Free Agents series here. Scoop: Tim Moore is the new vice president of ecommerce at Mythical, the entertainment studio founded by YouTubers Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. Previously, Moore was director of consumer products at Donut Media, an automotive-focused YouTube channel and media company, where he launched and developed consumer products including Stocky, a collectible toy car. Paul Bakaus said he left Spotter, where he was executive vice president of product and creator tools. Spotter, best known for offering upfront financing to YouTubers, also expanded into software and AI features for creators. Bakaus said he's taking a break from full-time roles and will independently consult teams about product, design and AI. Thank you for reading the Creator Economy Newsletter! I'd love your feedback, ideas and tips: kaya@theinformation.com. If you think someone else might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it forward or they can sign up here: https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/creator-economy | 
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