On Saturday evening (Jan. 25) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, VIBE hosted a panel discussion exploring the power of YouTube and the future of content creation. At the third session of the VIBE and Variety Reimagining Creativity series presented by Google TV and YouTube, traditional and next-generation digital stars joined industry leadership for an hour of insight.
VIBE Editor-In-Chief Raina Kelley welcomed YouTube Creators Michelle Khare & Kinigra Deon, actor DeWanda Wise, and Tara Walpert Levy, Vice President, Americas at YouTube to engage in dialogue about Forging New Paths to Stardom: How Traditional and Next Gen Creatives are Owning the Narrative.
Guests were welcomed to The Riverhorse in Park City, Utah for the intimate event. Greeted with specialty cocktails and appetizers, the room was filled with the joy of mingling, dancing, and selfies. Attendees included DJ D-Nice, Olly Sholotan, Etienne Maurice, Jennifer Freeman, Johnny Ray Gill, and Tristan “Mack” Wilds, as well as speakers Roy Wood Jr., Marlee Matlin, Amy Berg, Harry Hamlin, and Tom Quinn.
Raina Kelley, Tara Walpert Levy, Michelle Khare, Kinigra Deon, DeWanda Wise at the VIBE/Variety Google TV Cocktails & Conversations held at the Riverhorse on Main on January 25, 2025 in Park City, Utah.
Laetitia Rumford/VIBE
“This is a new world,” exclaimed Kelley to kick off the discussion, with agreement from the panelists as she explained that billions of people worldwide watch YouTube content daily. “This changed the model for how to create and consume entertainment.”
“We saw ourselves enabling these creators as their own studios,” added Walpert Levy. “We saw our role as giving them platforms, the tools to be successful, and the ability to get their voice out there in a really effective way without anybody as gatekeeper in between.”
The panel all shared how they use YouTube as both an entertaining and informative platform with Wise sharing how she often researches background information for her on-screen roles through YouTube’s “niche” search results.
Kinigra Deon at the VIBE/Variety Google TV Cocktails & Conversations held at the Riverhorse on Main on January 25, 2025 in Park City, Utah.
Anna Pocaro/VIBE
Further in the engaging discussion, Khare shared how being a creator on YouTube has pushed her imagination beyond any boundaries. Her creative short films often feature members of her family.
“On YouTube, I feel like I can do everything,” detailed the Alabama native. “I enjoy creating stories that are often not seen in mainstream media and it’s usually little girls, little boys who look like me, who get to see themselves in a way…playing a vampire character [or] playing in a Barbie and Ken series… it’s now more of a big responsibility to make sure that I am constantly putting out content where everyone gets to see themselves playing that role.”
Khare added, “I started creating content on YouTube because it was content and experiences I wanted to have and things I wanted to do…I don’t know if Challenge Accepted would have ever gotten greenlit in a traditional studio system.”
On her channel, she dives into sometimes dangerous worlds, learning the ins and outs of risky careers.
“I just wanted to make stuff that spoke to me,” Khare continued “When you start getting messages from people and how they are impacted in ways you could never imagine. Receiving messages like ‘you’re the first Indian woman I ever seen portrayed as strong,’ and that shouldn’t be the case.”
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