No matter how many shots you take, miss, and hit, I hope you have a Jaylen Hands in your court reminding you to keep your head up and #keepitmoving.
These aren’t resolutions. Just six thoughts and a wish. Let’s get to it:
1. All signs are converging into a big ‘ol arrow that is pointing towards the next era of entertainment. We need new mindsets to infiltrate every crevice of this industry from creators to business models to go-to-market strategies to monetization. This does not mean that the traditional legacy studios/publishers/etc are going away. It does mean that these systems are rickety and in need of augmentation if all types of creators, creative and audience are to be served. So unless you are firmly ensconced in the legacy systems (whether through family, trustfund, current paycheck or residuals), the window for rethinking who you want to be and how you want to build your career and creative in the next era of entertainment is now.
2. The next era audience tends not to think in categories – it is all content, it is all entertainment, and it is all there for their enjoyment. For them entertainment and storytelling is fluid. The current legacy systems are not set up this way. Each media category is separate and away from each other. But as that system does not quite work for today’s audience of players, watchers, listeners, participants, etc, we as creators, investors, technologists, operators and legal professionals are in this shift. Blaming the audience doesn’t work. But finding ways in which you can be a part of the foundation for the next era of entertainment does.
3. The shift is showing what is not working. And what’s not working needs to be either augmented with relevancy or for the wide breadth of entertainment today, there are gates that need to come down completely. 2024 Observadictions poked into potential new thinking around models of creative businesses.
4. We are in the thick of chaos. And to many, chaos can feel like a brick in the short path towards failure. The problem with this is that failure is too often thought of as being synonymous with the end of progression which then thwarts curiosity, ambition, and innovation. Failure should just be a way to rethink and seek a smarter, better and/or more effective way to tackle an opportunity. Tech lives and breathes on failing fast. All that means is get the learning, re-strategize and keep it moving. Failure should sharpen you, not make you stick your head in the sand. To quote the often quoted book The Art of War “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” So breathe (yup. right now. In for 4 seconds, out for 4 seconds…repeat as necessary). Take a beat, and when you can seek out where the opportunity may be for you.
5. Be and stay curious when you can. Transform that curiosity into strategy when it makes sense.
6. Innovate. It’s impossible to maintain any edge or competitive advantage or even cultural relevancy without continuous innovation. And innovation is not just about technology. We innovate when we ask ourselves “is there another way to do this?” This question runs from the creative being created to the legal that protects it and the creator to the business model that allows it to be discovered by and monetized via an audience to yes, the technology that is underneath and supportive of each of those.
A wish: An executive was asking me what podcasts I listen to that are related to the industry. I showed him my “The Industry” folder (shout out to Pocket Casts for the folder structure). He couldn’t understand why I have podcasts like The Colin & Samir Show, Creator Upload, Created with Jon Youshaei next to Variety’s Strictly Business, The Town with Matthew Belloni and KCRW’s The Business. Here’s the thing: YouTube is 20 years old as of Dec. 2025. It is time for ye olde industry gatekeepers to stop thinking of YouTube (and quite frankly, saying out loud on panels, in print, in emails, etc.) as unprofessional and referring to the creators as “just influencers”. The definition of amateur is a person who engages in a pursuit, especially a sport, on an unpaid rather than a professional basis. The top creators on YouTube run their creative businesses and most are pulling in revenue – if not profit. Therefore by that definition they are professionals. They are creating content (and in some cases CPG, live events, etc) for their audience who in turn supports them with time and money. That’s business transactions wrapped up in entertainment (and vice-versa). What these creators produce and publish may not be your thing – and that’s okay. But to label it and them as unprofessional or state that “they don’t make real content” (direct quote from a manager) is…bizarre for lack of a much better word to describe poo-pooing a generation of creators who are running their creative businesses, producing for an audience they have grown and are adding to the overall economy.
Speaking of the economy, it’s also shortsighted to ignore/poopoo those who have built the creator economy given the number of reports and analysis regarding the growth of this sector (just search for creator economy market size – here’s one by Deloitte). Additionally, this post by Evan Shapiro is a must read look at how the creator economy overtook the studio system in relevance this year. Of course there is the possibility that these predictions as to the continued explosive growth of the creator economy could shift downward based on what the verdict is on how TikTok will (or will not) operate in the United States. But rest assured not only are the more business savvy creators prepping for this (as per NPR’s Morning Edition Jan 1, 2025), but keep an eye on every other platform especially YouTube.
