Disney used Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre, a venue built for traditional premieres, to make a case for creator video as a form of entertainment worthy of the same public stage. More than 350 digital storytellers gathered there this week for Created in LA, a two-day event that brought creators including Zach King and The Try Guys together with Disney executives.
The event was co-hosted by Jon Youshaei, who spent eight years working in corporate product and creator strategy roles at YouTube and Instagram before becoming an independent creator himself, according to Laughing Place. Youshaei, who has interviewed figures ranging from MrBeast to Kevin Hart, told the crowd that creators' videos deserve to be shown on a large screen and celebrated with a red carpet, per ABC13. Disney and Youshaei together brought the more than 350 creators to the event, the outlet reports.
During his opening address, Youshaei revealed that the invited creators represented a combined 1.6 billion social media followers, split between 800 million on YouTube, 350 million on TikTok, and 80 million on Instagram, according to WDW News Today. Attendees traveled from as far as Argentina, Australia, England, Canada, the Netherlands, Georgia, and Morocco to be there.
A Century-Old Theater Meets a New Kind of Premiere
Youshaei drew a comparison during his remarks between the moment and Orson Welles' 1941 premiere of Citizen Kane, noting that the film premiered at a former vaudeville hall on Broadway.
The El Capitan opened on May 3, 1926, as a 1,550-seat legitimate playhouse before Walt Disney Studios and Pacific Theatres undertook a two-year rehabilitation beginning in 1989. The Spanish Baroque landmark reopened in 1991, according to the LA Conservancy. This year marks the theater's 100th anniversary, adding symbolic weight to Disney's decision to open the flagship venue to digital creators for the first time.
The first video screened at Created in LA was The Technoblade Movie, created by filmmaking duo Sticks — brothers Lucas Nicotra and Curtis Nicotra — followed by Zach King's Cardboard Wars, a handmade satire of Star Wars, per ABC13. Curtis Nicotra said Disney believed in Sticks and allowed the duo to present its film, while Lucas Nicotra said the group would play its film in front of Disney executives. Sticks, which has 1.14 million YouTube subscribers, gained popularity by surprising fellow YouTubers with their own movies, the outlet notes.
Masterclasses and Studio Tours in Burbank
Day 2 shifted from Hollywood to the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank. The day featured masterclasses, panels and studio tours for attendees.
Zach King led a session on his creative process and 18 years on YouTube, walking through his approach from brainstorming and developing a basic title concept and visual through refinement, filming and analytics, per ABC13. Jenny Hoyos led a session titled Making Anything Go Viral: Lessons From 10 Billion Views, teaching that a video needs a good hook. The Try Guys, made up of Zach Kornfeld and Keith Habersberger, presented a session called How To Make Shows, Not Just Videos, describing a this-but-that approach to developing show ideas.
The event also included interviews and masterclasses with Kris Jenner, Khloé Kardashian, Dude Perfect, Adrian Per, Dhar Mann, Roy Choi, Jordan Matter, AdamW, Sam Eckhold, Youshaei, Jared Bush and Bobby Kim, according to the outlet. Bush is chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, while Kim is global creative director at The Walt Disney Company. Created in LA culminated in a tour of Walt Disney's office and a reception in Legends Plaza, ABC13 reports.
Executives Frame the Event as a Business Strategy
Speaking at the El Capitan Theatre, Disney's President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden contrasted the company's traditional production process, in which projects can take years to reach the screen, with the rapid audience feedback available to digital creators, according to WDW News Today. The comparison positioned creator platforms as not only distribution channels but also environments where audience response can shape the work in real time.
Josh D'Amaro, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said Disney is at its best when it embraces top storytellers and explores new frontiers, per ABC13. Asad Ayaz, chief brand officer at Disney, described creator partnerships as part of the company's workflow. Under the partnership announced at the event, participants will receive creative access to Disney and its brands, with content potentially appearing on TikTok and Disney+ as part of a new deal between Disney and the platform, the outlet reports.
Disney's newly announced 2027 slate includes the global rollout of Avengers: Doomsday, Star Wars Celebration in April, D23 Asia in June, and coverage tied to the Super Bowl, the Grammys and the Oscars, according to ABC13. Featured speaker team Dude Perfect previously set a world record by visiting all 12 Disney theme parks across six global resorts — spanning Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, Florida and California — in under 75 hours, per Coffee With Kenobi.
Part of a Broader Creator Acquisition Push
The event's partnership discussion underscored Disney's interest in giving creators access to its brands and in developing content for platforms including TikTok and Disney+, according to ABC13.
Why the Creator Audience Matters
The strategy reflects a broader shift in how younger audiences relate to entertainment. According to Deloitte Insights' 2025 Digital Media Trends survey, roughly 50% of Gen Z and millennial respondents said they feel a stronger personal connection to social media creators than to television personalities or actors. Viewing habits are also moving across screens rather than staying confined to traditional television. According to Comscore's 2025 State of Streaming report, connected-TV streaming in internet-enabled homes reached 96.4 million households, up 849,000 year over year. Those figures help explain why Disney is presenting creator relationships as part of its distribution and audience strategy, not simply as a promotional add-on.
For Disney, opening its historic theater and Burbank studio lot to hundreds of YouTubers and TikTokers signals an effort to connect its established entertainment infrastructure with a creator economy that increasingly shapes how audiences find and relate to video.
