Sneak Preview: The Creator Economy and the Future of Video Monetization
On Tuesday, October 7, Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, will moderate the Streaming Media 2025 panel “The Creator Economy and the Future of Video Monetization.” Creators are shaping the next wave of content, and that wave is rolling in fast. Join this panel to gain insight into the emerging creator economy and how to make it profitable.
Confirmed panelists include:
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Chris Pfaff is a leading new media and technology producer and strategist. He was the first to use IRC for an interactive corporate webcast; he produced one of the first DVDs; he produced the first HD animated logo; he led numerous multipoint broadband events in the late 1990s; he produced some of the first mobile short films (2002–2003); and he produced the first Twitter Wall in 2011. His company, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, has provided strategy and marketing services for leading technology service providers, technology firms, and new media companies worldwide since 2002. Pfaff was also one of the founders of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) New Media Council East and a founder of the New York chapter of the VR/AR Association.
“We are now at the intersection of niche streaming and branded content in today’s creator economy, where networks can leverage finely tuned curation models for creators who can reach desired audiences at scale more cheaply, and with more stickiness than ever before,” Pfaff says. “The landscape of super-fans for content that reaches kids, sports enthusiasts, fashion, and celebrity news is ever-expanding, and the streaming universe has evolved beyond the MCN model of ‘if built’ content for what are now micro-targeted, brand-friendly stables of talent. The integration of AI tools will also help deliver just-in-time content from creators to hungry streaming audiences across multiple devices and networks.”
David B. Williams leads streaming video businesses at pocket.watch as its SVP and GM of channels. He leads initiatives across FAST, SVOD, AVOD, and YouTube operations and guides successful strategies for influential kids and family creators. For example, pocket.watch is responsible for the largest independent kids SVOD service, Ryan and Friends Plus. In 1996, Williams founded a digital-first entertainment studio called Visionary Media; it developed the world’s first major animated web series, WhirlGirl, which was licensed to distributors such as Showtime Networks.
“We face an apocalypse of atomization. Waves of media democratization, and now a tsunami driven by AI tools, are atomizing content, audience attention and loyalties, and of course, monetization,” Williams notes. This is good news for creators, and pocket.watch is well-positioned to “nurture and harness creator talent” because it has “a team and culture uniquely rooted in the creator economy.”
Williams explains, “While legacy media strives to adapt to this landscape, creators were born to it. They hold the keys to thriving in the most ruthless and cluttered Darwinian media environment the world has ever known, teaching us to evolve quickly, and constantly, and to read and respond to audience feedback like a master performer reads the pulse of a live crowd.”
Jonathan Shrank is the VP of streaming and content partnerships at TheSoul Publishing, whose content receives 25 billion monthly views, with more than 2 billion subscribers across the world’s most popular digital platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snap, Pinterest, and TikTok. Shrank leads TheSoul Publishing’s global streaming strategy and manages a diverse portfolio of FAST channels and VOD content. He also manages partnerships with leading content and brand owners, bringing them to new audiences across multiple platforms.
Shrank offers the following insight into his plans for this panel: “I’m really looking forward to unpacking how the creator economy is completely rewriting the rules of video monetization. Creators aren’t just participating in the media landscape, they’re disrupting it, building direct-to-audience models that rival traditional broadcasting. We’ll talk about how platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are shaping (and sometimes constraining) those opportunities, and explore whether new revenue streams like fan subscriptions, tipping, and digital merch can truly compete with ads and sponsorships. We’ll also tackle the big-picture question of ownership and control in a decentralized future where millennials consume content in a very different way from previous generations.”
He concludes, “If you want to understand where the money, power, and opportunities are shifting in online video, you’ll want to be in the room for this session.”
Charlie Ibarra is the co-founder and head of content at Creator Television, the first creator-led streaming network and content studio that brings elements of social media storytelling to TV. Ibarra oversees content strategy and licensing and leads creator recruitment, format development, and series production. He’s a former advertising executive who became a TV screenwriter and show developer who joined Creator Television’s parent company, Sabio Holdings, in 2022.
“Compared to traditional media, creator content offers several key advantages: cost-efficiency and streamlined production, ease of distribution, and culturally relevant storytelling,” Ibarra asserts. “The deep resonance that creators bring across wider audiences is now driving their popularity beyond social media platforms.” He notes that Creator Television “blends the authenticity and energy of creator storytelling with the lean-back experience of traditional TV to deliver a fresh and unique viewing experience.”
Parker Jones founded Towerhouse in 2021 and serves as its CEO. It was recently acquired by V10 Entertainment, where it will continue to develop and monetize premium YouTube channel rights holders, especially around elite sports, motorsports, and anime. Jones was formerly VP of International Business Development at WarnerMedia and manager of strategic partnerships at YouTube, among other leadership roles.
Jones said in the announcement of the V10 Entertainment acquisition, “Towerhouse knows how to turn content libraries into growing, monetizable audiences—especially in sports and entertainment, where rights management and sustainable audience growth matter more than ever.” He’ll bring his Towerhouse expertise to this panel.
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