Hollywood & The Creator Economy Need “Unity” & “Affinity” To Thrive, Say Experts – Web Summit Lisbon

As deals between content creators and established media companies continue to ramp up, the creator economy is steadily impacting the way Hollywood and legacy businesses are engaging with younger audiences. 

“Content creators are just this force to be reckoned with and it’s funny because people think that creators have been overnight sensations but a lot of them…have been publishing for literally years and have built these massive audiences online and on social,” said Emma Harman, co-CEO of creator agency Whalar. “These creators now have CEOs and their own businesses and have tons and tons of people working for them. So, I think the creator economy is booming. YouTube is obviously central to that – it’s such a massive creative canvas and, of course, creators love seeing their work on the TV screen which is now increasingly happening.”

Harman was speaking at a panel entitled “Rewriting Hollywood” at annual tech conference Web Summit in Lisbon where she and CrossCheck Studios co-founder and CEO Chris Sawtelle opined on how big tech and content creators will change and impact the entertainment industry. 

When pressed about AI and the impact it will have on creators, Sawtelle said: “I think ultimately, what it means is that as individuals have the ability to be more creative on their own terms and distribute content themselves, they’ll be empowered. If you don’t have the Brad Pitt face, maybe you have the ability to create something in your like image the way you would use yourself as an avatar that other people throughout the world identify with and relate to.” 

Sawtelle noted that while there was a “significant amount of consolidation in Hollywood” happening right now, the democratization of creating content on social media has been offering a more level playing field for creators. “What’s happening now is that you don’t have to wait for someone else to give you money to finance your idea,” he said. “You have the power to create your own story, as long as you can galvanize enough eyeballs to watch it and charge a price point for it.” 

He cited Tyler Perry as an early example of a content creator prior to YouTube, as the writer-director tapped into an audience and built a “community” around it. “He’s someone who utilized the Bible Belt as a way to create real community and feed stories to a community and create a one-to-one relationship.” 

Harman said that the Gen Z audience was “almost the most watched,” and stressed the way they engage with the world via social media has had a direct impact on how they engage with storytelling. 

“Algorithms have really shaped their lives and it’s funny because they gravitate towards the absurd,” she said. “They gravitate towards real irony. They have a different type of humor, and I think that’s a lot to do with media and social media and the smartphones they’ve been used to having. They have almost created this appetite and taste towards a very different type of media than us.”

When it came to millennials, she said that that generation tends to be attracted to things that “they are really into and that they can see in themselves.” As a result, it’s creating a much more fragmented media space. 

“I think that’s really changing things,” said Harman. “Regardless of the consolidation that’s actually happening in Hollywood with the main studios, we are seeing decentralization and so much independent media. Now, it’s the studios that are going to have to work with the creator economy and figure out what’s working within it. And there has to be unity and affinity between the studios and the creator economy for both to thrive.” 

She added: “Entertainment is being rewired, and content creators are really driving that.”

Web Summit takes place November 10-13, 2025.