Another year of CreatorFest is over, and what a couple of days it was. We spent our time catching up with talent managers, agencies, creators and founders, filming interviews and hearing plenty of honest conversations about where the creator economy is heading. Here are our biggest takeaways.
1. Long-form content is making a real comeback
For a while it felt like everything revolved around short-form. Quick edits, viral moments and endless scrolling dominated every conversation.
This year, though, we heard something different. More people were talking about the value of long-form content, whether that’s YouTube, podcasts or Substack. Audiences are looking for more depth, and creators are investing more time in building stronger connections rather than chasing the next viral clip.
2. Collaboration across the industry is growing
One thing that really stood out was just how connected the industry feels.
There were countless conversations happening between agencies, talent managers and other businesses, with people openly sharing ideas, making introductions and exploring ways to work together. Competition will always exist, but it’s encouraging to see collaboration becoming a much bigger part of the conversation.
3. Creators still want a bigger seat at the table
Despite all the progress the industry has made, one topic kept coming up.
Creators still feel they aren’t being involved enough in the creative process when working with brands. They’re the ones who know their audiences best, yet many campaigns are still built around strict briefs rather than collaboration. Giving creators more freedom doesn’t just make for better content, it usually delivers better results too.
4. CreatorFest continues to grow year after year
Every year CreatorFest it feels bigger than the last, and 2026 was no exception.
There were more creators, more brands and more opportunities to network than ever before. What we didn’t see enough of was talent management agencies. With this many creators in one place, there’s a huge opportunity to build relationships, collaborate with other agencies and find new roster talent. If your agency skipped CreatorFest this year, put 2027 in the diary now. The opportunity cost of not being there is only going to grow.
A huge thank you to everyone who stopped for a chat, sat down for an interview or shared their thoughts with us over the two days.
We’ve got plenty more content from CreatorFest still to come, so keep an eye on across our social media channels to make sure you don’t miss it.
