Introducing Substack Creator Studio, a fellowship for the next wave of video stars

We’re embracing video’s urgent need for a new business model

Today, we’re excited to open applications for Substack Creator Studio, a fellowship for the next wave of video stars to turn their TikTok channels into Substack shows and communities. This is an opportunity for video-native creators who want a more direct, intimate relationship with their audience and to make money from subscriptions. 

We’ll select 10 fellows who cover a wide range of subjects and give them access to world-class strategic support and promotion. We’re thrilled to partner with Adam Faze and the team at Gymnasium, the short-form television studio behind the hit show Boy Room, as part of this program. Each creator will receive consulting and production support from the Gymnasium team, which has a track record of developing innovative, original series that have been watched more than 250 million times. On top of that, these 10 winners will get white-glove technical support during their launch process, a robust marketing commitment, and a program-culminating event to celebrate their work. 

The deadline to apply is May 17. Find out more with our FAQs here, or head straight to the application form: 

Substack is evolving into video and beyond, because the people who want to benefit from this model are pushing us forward. 

Substack will always remain the destination for the internet’s best writing. The Substack model—where writers have a direct relationship with subscribers, while maintaining ownership of their work and mailing list—has proved to be a boon for independent writers, who make up the backbone of this platform. But we’ve also seen this model work well for audio. While the ad-based podcast industry fell into disarray, the secret got out that Substack is a thriving alternative for audio shows and their communities.

Now the best video creators are exploring how they can build their home on Substack, too. As instability hits their medium, they’re looking for a reliable platform where they can grow a business and have complete ownership over their work. 

We’re not introducing this fellowship because of panic over a TikTok bill or ever-changing algorithms. This is about helping creators get ownership, money, and peace of mind. While they are extremely powerful for building audiences, ad-based platforms—controlled by a central authority that determines the viewer experience and how creators make a living—are unreliable partners. They can’t provide a true home for creators; they merely offer rentals with unfriendly leases. At the same time, their business models can’t deliver the stability and predictability that creators need to produce their best work. It is hard enough for creators to get by without having to worry about constant fluctuations in viewership and brand partnership revenue.

“I’ve been a content creator on TikTok and Instagram for four years now. It’s been amazing building an audience but at times difficult to monetize,” says

Violet Witchel

, who has more than 2 million followers across those channels and runs a food Substack with thousands of paid subscribers. “Revenue ebbs and flows with the economy and brands’ budgets, which makes it harder to reinvest in my content and scale long-term. But Substack has fixed the main problems that full-time creators face. It’s given me consistent income the way a W-2 job would, and allows me to connect directly with all of my followers via email. It’s become the first app I reach for in the morning.”

Substack is already proving to be a stable place to start a video- and community-based subscription site. Here,

Mehdi Hasan

can launch

Zeteo

and build a news organization where he isn’t censored or throttled.

Cody Alexander

of

MatchQuarters

can increase his revenue by 60% in five months through insightful football breakdowns behind video paywalls. Michelin-starred chef

Nick Curtola

can create stunning cooking demos with premium recipes.

“Even though I just launched my Substack a month ago, it’s already clear that the possibilities are endless in terms of income and growth with my community,” says

Dr. Harini Bhat

, who has more than 650,000 followers on TikTok and runs

Today I Learned Science

. “After being active nearly every day on TikTok and Instagram for two years, I am more excited and thoughtful about posting on Substack. And that’s because I feel like it’s my own slice of the internet where I can cultivate my community in a more meaningful way, while simultaneously paving a path for financial freedom—a goal for any creator and business.”

Over the past few months, we’ve rolled out new product features to accelerate this push at Substack: next-level recommendations, robust Chat, essential upgrades for shows, beautiful themes, DMs, and improved search. These tools help every kind of creator grow, while providing a better experience for the subscribers who pay them for their work. 

We’re developing all these features for creators with the same goal in mind: Build a bigger, better version of what you do, right here on Substack. Make money more reliably, and have a better time doing it.