Variety’s 10 Creators to Watch Spotlights the New Class of Online Talent

Instagram 350K; TikTok 875K

Brier epitomizes the 21st century creator who bypassed traditional paths of discovery to establish a successful career. Raised by a mother who dabbled in playwriting and sketch comedy, Brier spent years grinding as an assistant at ABC, hoping to one day write a show of her own for the network. Social media opened the door for her to showcase her quirky character skits, ones that often feature privileged and self-involved characters, to millions of fans.

“I could be in such a different position right now, and I was planning on being in a different position,” she says. “The fact that I can make my own schedule and really think big, creatively, is truly a gift.”

INSPIRATION: “I was finishing high school when ‘Girls’ came out. I was so inspired by Lena [Dunham]. I’ve always wanted to perform, but she showed me that I can be the creative backbone as well.”

FUN FACT: Brier was the president of an improv troupe at Smith College, where she says she “discovered myself creatively.”

PARTNERSHIPS: Brier is currently working on a partnership with Malibu spirits on Malibu Pink (the brand’s first-ever pink drink), a collaboration she says is “very much my vibe.”

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “Everything ebbs and flows. If I was working in sales, I would have good quarters and bad quarters. Being online is really just a stamina thing.”

— Antonio Ferme

Instagram 4.4M; TikTok 13.1M

Blackwell, known as Quen, first rose to internet fame on Vine in the mid-2010s with her sharp humor and chaotic vlog style. She later exploded on TikTok, turning her unfiltered personality into a massive following. Since then, she has starred in music videos for Sombr and Charli xcx, walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and now hosts her hit YouTube series “Feeding Starving Celebrities.”

“[Social media] was honestly just a hobby until two years ago,” she says. “Once I had a proper format talk show and started modeling for big brands, they started to understand me.”

INSPIRATION: “‘Hannah Montana’ was the first instance of fame and celebrity I saw as a child, and I wanted to entertain and be a public figure so bad because of that show — and, you know, the run-of-the-mill, the OG Oprah.”

FUN FACT: Blackwell says she’s “obsessed” with learning about history: “I always think there’s an answer in history. I don’t think anything is new.”

PARTNERSHIPS:Blackwell recently guest-starred on Rachel Sennott’s “I Love LA.”

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “Do it. Intentionally Do it methodically. Do it now. Do it fast.”

— Harper Mays

Instagram 400K; TikTok 180K

In just over a year, Campbell has carved out one of the most distinctive niches in fashion content — and he did it in seconds (literally). The New York-based creator built his following on TikTok through rapid-fire red-carpet recaps: quick cuts, quicker commentary and an eye trained by years in the fashion industry.
“When someone has an amazing look on the red carpet, it’s just like the best thing in the world to me,” he tells Variety. “That is my drug of choice.”

INSPIRATION: Campbell credits the fashion commentary accounts he grew up with — Style.com, Hold the Mode, I Deserve Couture — but was equally drawn to comedic voices outside the industry. He sees Ziwe and Chelsea Handler as tonal North Stars: deadpan, honest and disarming. “A lot of those fashion accounts over-intellectualize things,” he says. “I wanted something more approachable — more quick.”

FUN FACT: Despite being one of fashion’s most-watched critics, Campbell says he’s constantly told by strangers on the streets to not judge their outfits. “People come up to me and say, ‘Don’t look at what I’m wearing,’” he laughs. “I’m only critical when there’s a team of people involved who’ve had weeks to get it right.”

PARTNERSHIPS: Campbell, in his own words, is “booked and busy.” He’s hosting major red carpets for E!, partnering with brands like YSL Beauty and styling clients including Mark Ronson. His celebrity-jammed YouTube series, “Gloves Off,” has a packed spring production slate ahead.

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “The [videos] that do best are the ones where I just say whatever comes to my mind — one take, then I edit. That’s it.”

— Kennedy French

Instagram 450K; TikTok 365K

Korea’s plastic surgery industry. The death of personal style. The Pilates boom. Erewhon hauls and the psychology of overconsumption. Le has seen it all. And it’s all fodder for her incisive digital content, which focuses on the impact of fashion history and pop culture.

“If I were an expert in anything, I would say I’m an expert in curating things,” says Le, who calls herself a “pioneer of a new occupation,” an unofficial role she finds equal parts scary and exciting.

INSPIRATION: Le draws from everything orbiting her world: online narratives, conversations with friends, the books she’s reading and the racks of items at vintage clothing stores.

FUN FACT: Le’s college job operating EPCOT’s “Living With the Land” ride directly inspired a video about the historical accuracy of Disney princess dresses, a project she credits with “skyrocketing [her] career overnight” in 2020.

PARTNERSHIPS: A bona fide Hollywood enthusiast, Le hopes to write and direct a mainstream media project.

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “I try to be as optimistic as I possibly can, and to live a life with no boundaries and no limiting beliefs. I truly believe we all have one life to live, to make the most of it, and to go to the grave with no regrets.”

— Arushi Jacob

Instagram 550K; TikTok 610K

Morales’ “Are You Okay?,” the Gen Z comedy interview series born at NowThis, flips the traditional junket script, coaxing celebrities into showing their weird, genuine selves instead of sticking to rigid talking points.

“When it comes to celebrity interviews, I don’t care just about the show. I care about the actors in it,” she says. “Are they funny? Do they think like me? What are they actually like?”

She points to her Zoë Kravitz interview as proof: “She keeps her life pretty private, so seeing her be funny and silly was such a shift. It makes you root for the person, not just the project.”

INSPIRATION: “Are You Okay?” was conceived with NowThis editor-in-chief Michael Vito Valentino as a talk show built for how young people actually consume content: quick, funny and soundbite-driven.

FUN FACT: Morales was inspired as a teenager to pursue journalism after watching a documentary about the Branch Davidians cult in Waco, Texas. “I was radicalized,” she quips. “That’s probably not very funny.”

PARTNERSHIPS: “I feel like I’m not allowed to say some of them,” Morales laughs, instead drifting into a tangent about her interview with comedian and actor Ray Romano. “I could’ve talked to him for five hours straight: It was freezing, our noses were dripping, and I was crying laughing,” she recalls. “I wish this guy was my best friend, which feels very indicative of the show.”

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “Look stupid. Post the damn thing. I don’t look or sound like the typical content creator, and for a long time, I thought that meant I couldn’t do it. But if I have these thoughts and see myself as a confident person, there are probably a ton of people who feel the same way.”

— AF

Instagram 635K; TikTok 3.8M

Comedy clubs and open mics weren’t part of Reiter’s world when she was growing up in Wisconsin, so she turned to what was accessible: YouTube. In the early 2010s, as internet sketch comedy was finding its footing, she absorbed the era’s absurdist spoofs and later channeled that sensibility into her own character-driven rants and sketches.

“Any early internet spoofs that were big in 2010 formed my sense of humor,” Reiter says. “Maybe it’s just what I was exposed to at an impressionable age.”

INSPIRATION: “Will Ferrell in ‘Anchorman,’ Jack Black in ‘Nacho Libre,’ ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ — those sorts of vibes.”

FUN FACT: Reiter’s first job was working for American High, a production company in Syracuse, N.Y., which bought an entire high school to use as a set to film sketch-comedy spoofs. “People thought we were either a high school theater group or a group of friends,” she says. “Nope, it was a job.”

PARTNERSHIPS: Reiter teases that she’ll be going back to her roots and reuniting with the American High gang, which includes fellow social media stars Julia Dicesare and Hyde Healy.

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “When I was starting, it was throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Quantity over quality. Just make it and post it. If people saw it, great. If not, no one did.”

— AF

Instagram 650K; TikTok 1.3M

In 2020, fresh off a breakup, Sedeño accidentally became internet-famous after posting a video to “no followers.”

“It wasn’t strategic, it wasn’t planned,” Sedeño says. “I still am so grateful he broke up with me.”

Today, Sedeño has established himself as a quintessential Gen Z creator, cultivating an audience obsessed with his humorous bits, love of astrology (he’s a Virgo) and niche internet knowledge, which he’s parlayed into his “Wild Wild Web” podcast.

“Internet culture has shaped my humor and my identity,” says Sedeño. “And so [the podcast] is a chance to get to talk to people about how the internet has shaped them … I’m really proud of it.”

INSPIRATION: Sedeño points to Benito Skinner, Quinta Brunson, Amy Poehler and his fellow creator friends Drew Afualo, Tefi Pessoa and Boman Martinez-Reid as sources of inspiration.

FUN FACT: Sedeño loves to journal — he’s just completed his first, which is, fittingly, emblazoned with the TikTok logo.

PARTNERSHIPS: Sedeño has worked with Garnier, Universal Pictures and Calvin Klein. He’s also set his sights on another goal: acting. He made his debut in Peacock’s “Based on a True Story” and is currently working on a scripted web series with Disney. “The character is definitely inspired by my Type B friend and his positive outlook,” he teases.

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: Perhaps Sedeño’s success has something to do with the manifestation he recites daily: “I am lucky and good things happen to me all the time.”

— Payton Turkeltaub

Instagram 1.6M; TikTok 3.9M

Shane is everyone’s best friend. He shattered the internet in 2023 with his viral TikTok reenactments of historical events, delivered in his signature dry, deadpan style. He’s since launched his hit podcast “Therapuss,” made his Broadway debut in “All Out” and will make his film debut in “Wishful Thinking,” which is premiering at SXSW.

“You have to force yourself into spaces and believe you’re meant to be there,” he says. “I’m happy where I’m right now. I want to make sure everything I’m working on is as good as it can be.”

INSPIRATION: “The movie ‘Bridesmaids’ changed my life. I saw it with my dad. Also, Chelsea Handler, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer and Tina Fey.”

FUN FACT: Shane says, bluntly, that there is “literally nothing” his fans don’t know about him. He shares everything online and that openness is what makes him so beloved.

PARTNERSHIPS: Shane was recently named chief creative officer of the German candy company Katjes, a brand he once “obsessed over.”

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “When you slip on a banana peel, people laugh at you. But when you tell people you slipped on a banana peel, it’s your laugh.”

— HM

Instagram 3.2M; TikTok 2.8M

After finding massive online success with “Recess Therapy,” Shapiro-Barnum is scaling up — in both scope and the size of his guests — by prepping the launch of the internet’s first full-blown late-night show. It’s a natural evolution for Shapiro-Barnum, whose earlier projects included a web-based late-night sitcom and the hit “Recess,” in which he interviews kids on playgrounds in New York City.

“Everything I make is trying to answer a question that I personally have,” he says. “With my big shows, I don’t make them because they’ll perform well. I make them because if I don’t, I’ll explode.”

INSPIRATION: “I watched a lot of [Stephen] Colbert and Conan [O’Brien] with my parents. But John Wilson’s HBO show changed my life. I was already doing a lot of on-the-street stuff, but after I saw that, I was like, ‘Oh, I can do this as a career.’”

FUN FACT: Shapiro-Barnum initially aspired to become a puppeteer. “Growing up, I was very inspired by the Muppets and their whimsy, and variety show sensibility.”

PARTNERSHIPS: Shapiro-Barnum will soon unveil the creative team behind his upcoming late-night show, which will launch later this year,” he says. “I’m hiring some really cool showrunners and producers from ‘SNL,’ and Samantha B, but we’re doing it fully independently.”

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “Everything I make is trying to answer a question that I personally have. I don’t see myself as a content creator. I see myself as an artist. This is me trying to make that medium more like the traditional art world in some way.”

— AF

Instagram 190K; TikTok 157.2K

Thomas went viral after his skit of him impersonating a pigeon at a Pride parade went viral. He loved it when strangers would toss bread and yell “pigeon boy” at him in the streets. But instead of running the bit into the ground, he kept experimenting with different skits and characters. Thomas eventually caught the attention of comedian/actor/writer Billy Eichner, which opened the door to collaborations with filmmaker Nick Stoller and a career in Hollywood.

“I don’t see social media as a stepping stone you leave behind,” he says. “If anything, it’s a safety net. Traditional entertainment is fickle and your shelf life can be short, so it’s nice to have something you control to fall back on.”

INSPIRATION: “I’m different than a lot of people because my inspirations growing up were animals and nature shows. I think that contributed to my dry tone and deadpan humor.”

FUN FACT: Before posting videos online, Thomas worked at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and performed stand-up on the side.

PARTNERSHIPS: Thomas has kept himself busy in the writers’ room for the “Big Mouth” spinoff “Mating Season,” coming out later this year. He also worked on Stoller’s upcoming film, “Judgment Day,” and will return in “Platonic” Season 3.

CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: “I’ve always been careful, maybe to my detriment, not to repeat videos that blow up. You’ve gotta be careful. The algorithm wants to box you in.”

— AF