Welcome to Created, the newsletter that’s as addictive as free candy on Halloween. Here’s what we got today:
- The rise of creator-led cinema
- How Maya Higa raised $1M for wildlife conservation
- Best YouTube thumbnails of the week
How Creators Are Rewriting the Hollywood Playbook
Two creator-led movies just hit theaters last week, marking a new era for Hollywood.
- Film YouTuber Chris Stuckmann premiered his crowdfunded horror debut Shelby Oaks
- Creator Camp and TikToker Baron Ryan premiered Two Sleepy People
Both prove one thing: creators aren’t waiting for studio deals anymore. Instead, they’re building their own.
A $1.3M Crowdfunded Movie
When Stuckmann started Shelby Oaks three years ago, YouTubers weren’t selling films to A24 or NEON.
Stuckmann raised $1.3M from 14,000 backers to write, direct, and produce the film himself, all while still uploading weekly to his 2M-subscriber channel.
Now, NEON has picked up distribution, expanding it to theaters nationwide.
A 100-Day Indie Challenge
Meanwhile, Creator Camp has spent the past three years helping bring creator stories to life.
Their first theatrical project, Two Sleepy People, was shot in 100 days on a $100K budget, starring and written by Baron Ryan.
It premiered this month in Seattle, SF, LA and NYC and follows a surreal love story about two people who wake up as strangers every morning.
Our Take
For years, creators used YouTube to break into Hollywood.
Now, they’re building a new Hollywood themselves.
From Stuckmann’s fan-backed horror to Creator Camp’s micro-budget romance, a new blueprint is emerging:
- Develop projects outside the system
- Fund through fans, not financiers
- Build communities that buy tickets, not just scroll by
Creators aren’t waiting for a greenlight. They’re already rolling.
Maya Higa Raised $1M to Save Wolves in Just 3 Days
Streamer Maya Higa just pulled off one of the biggest creator-led fundraisers: $1M in 3 days to save an endangered wolf species.
To do this, Maya launched The Pixel Project: a Twitch fundraiser where every $100 donation unlocked one pixel in a digital mural.
After 10,000 pixels (and three days of streaming), the mural was complete…and so was the $1M goal.
The Road to $1M
Maya’s journey has been years in the making:
- 2021: Raised $500K in a 21-hour livestream to launch Alveus, her animal sanctuary in Texas
- 2024: Twitch donated $100,000 to Alveus during TwitchCon
- 2025: Raised $1M through The Pixel Project, including a $50K donation from MrBeast
Why The Fundraiser Worked
Maya turned the fundraiser itself into content instead of just asking for donations.
Every pixel was revealed live on her stream. Every donor’s name was displayed. And every milestone was celebrated by her community in real time.
That’s what made the project viral: it was participatory conservation.
Our Take
Maya’s success shows what happens when creators turn storytelling into real-world impact.
She didn’t need corporate sponsors or government grants.
Instead, she used Twitch and her audience to build a new wing in her sanctuary that will literally save an endangered species.
In a time when creators are criticized for selling out, Maya’s approach flips the script: proving that creators can do good and still entertain audiences.
🎯 Weekly Roundup: Thumbnails
Why we love these YT thumbnails:
- Simple “10 vs 5 sets” contrast makes you instantly wonder which works better (Jeff Nippard)
- Negative space + powerful text draws your attention to the few visual elements (Daniel Pink)
- Color-blocked calendar + “Stop Wasting Evenings” text nails productivity pain points (Behind The Diary)
- 1944 vs 2024 home prices comparison hits instantly with a simple visual punch (Second Thought)
🚀 Weekly Outlier
This video by Zoufry has 2.6M views, which is 13.4 times higher than the channel’s average. Here’s why it took off:
- True Crime Story: Plays like a movie trailer, but it's built from real events.
- Cultural Stakes: Frames the Louvre heist as a national wound, tying €800M jewels to French pride, history, and identity.
- Tight Reconstruction: Recreates the crime step by step with surgical clarity and rhythm.
🏆 The Created Referral Program
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Trust me, these books are packed with more tips than most paid courses.
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👋 See You Inside
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– Jon
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