Creator Economy Amplified: The New Studio Frontier

Watch “Creator Economy Amplified: The New Studio Frontier.”

The rapid evolution of production technologies is revolutionizing the creator economy, democratizing content creation by making advanced studio tools and techniques accessible to creators at all levels. This transformation is not only enhancing the quality and impact of content but also expanding the creative possibilities for storytellers, helping to shape the future of Media & Entertainment.

As part of NAB Amplify’s “Creator Economy Amplified” series, video production wizard Ryan Grams, CEO & Founder of Studio Upgrade, sat down with Jim Louderback, editor and publisher of Inside the Creator Economy, and veteran journalist Robin Raskin, founder and CEO of Virtual Events Group, to share their insights into building versatile, efficient, and technologically advanced studios that cater to a range of creative needs. From immersive environments to flexible, home-based setups, discover how the new studio frontier is expanding the horizons for creators everywhere. Watch the full discussion in the video at the top of the page.

The conversation offers a preview of the all-new Creator Lab at NAB Show, a dynamic space dedicated to exploring the newest trends and technologies driving the creator economy. Led by Louderback and Raskin, the Creator Lab will host an extensive lineup of discussions and interactive workshops, with industry experts including Grams offering valuable insights and practical skills to attendees.

The Transformation of Content Creation

With more than two decades of experience creating compelling content for powerhouse brands like Google, UPS and Walmart, the onset of the pandemic marked a pivotal moment for Grams.

“A big thing that I noticed, of course, was all the virtual meetings that we were having,” he says, describing his background up until then serving as a shooter, editor and producer.

“Quite frankly,” he shares, “the way that I was able to keep putting food on the table was to begin helping professionals and leaders and executives level up the way that they were showing up in their virtual content.”

Backed by his “start with what you have” ethos, Grams founded Studio Upgrade to address the burgeoning need for professional-grade virtual communication during the pandemic, providing a wealth of online production courses alongside everything from pre-built kits to bespoke high-end studios.

The traditional model of showing up to a location with heavy equipment gave way to a more democratized approach, where creators could build their own studios with guidance from experts like Grams. “Instead of what used to be me showing up to some place with a bunch of cameras and lights, I was teaching people how to start their own — sometimes small, sometimes large — personal studios, and that’s now become my livelihood,” he explained.

Cost-Effective Studio Technologies for Solo Creators

Grams’ transition to teaching others how to build virtual studio setups mirrors a wider shift in the creator economy, highlighting how accessible virtual production technologies are enabling creators to produce high-quality content from anywhere. This change is breaking down traditional barriers, making it easier for more creators to share their stories and connect with audiences globally.

Whether enhancing virtual meetings or creator-led productions, “there’s just such great technology out there,” says Louderback. “The ability to put up a green screen and do compositing and make it look really good, with a much better camera, and just a slightly faster computer, can really add so much to what you do.”

Expectations around video quality and audio clarity have raised, Raskin notes, a trend accelerated by the pandemic. “It was enough that the dog could dance… and we were just happy seeing postage-sized stamps of people on a video call,” she recounts. “We kind of all fell into this together, I think, and came out learning simple techniques about lighting.”

Raskin doesn’t come from a production background, she says, but her experience during the pandemic helped her build a toolkit — an external camera and mic combined with an OBS camera system — that she now carries wherever she goes. “The stakes have gone higher, so much faster,” she comments, “and video has become something of a lingua franca in how we communicate.”

Grams stresses the foundational importance of high-quality audio. “The most important thing to start with is, of course, a better microphone,” he advises, suggesting that even modest investments in audio equipment can drastically improve content quality.

“Buy a $30, $40, $50 microphone, whether it’s a little clip-on lavalier or a podcaster-style microphone,” he urges. But while having a good mic is a great first step, he notes, it still needs to be properly employed. “Having it three feet away is not going to sound good. You gotta have it closer to you. It’s going to make such a world of a difference.”

Quality lighting has also become a lot more accessible to creators, Grams points out. “The whole world has changed with what you can do now with LED lighting,” he says, “and you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars, you can do it for just one or two hundred.”

The Rise of Virtual Production Tools

Virtual production has moved well beyond the pie-in-the-sky realm of The Mandalorian, Grams, Louderback and Raskin agree, with an expanding toolkit now available to creators at all levels.

“If you use TikTok…that’s basically virtual production,” Louderback points out, explaining how the platform’s built-in filters allow users to employ a variety of backgrounds for their content, including news stories. “It’s amazing,” he says of how widespread this type of virtual production technology has become. “And the creators using it on TikTok are doing amazing things with it.”

Our phones, says Raskin, have a range of built-in effects such as focus pullers and color correction that should be explored. “It’s worth thinking of your phone as a camera, and really immersing yourself in that first, and then thinking about a path that you want to grow,” she counsels. “I’m using an external camera now, not a webcam, because I find that picture clearer and just more vivid. And so you will start to see when a tool gets limited and move on to the next one.”

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Grams shares his enthusiasm for multi-camera setups and AI-generated backgrounds, which have revolutionized the way content can be produced. “It’s changed the way that video can be produced, which I think it’s just so much fun,” he says, highlighting the creative possibilities these tools unlock.

“For me, having a wide shot and a tight shot is a really fun and interesting way to add a level of production to streams that I’m doing myself, and just being able to switch between them with some intention,” he details.

Using an overhead camera for product demos to enable picture-within-picture formats adds even more value, says Grams. Real-time workflows can also streamline collaboration and reduce the need for editing. “Treating it like a live production, even if you’re not streaming somewhere, to be able to edit in real time at the push of a button allows you to be more efficient.”

The Future of Studio Spaces

Studio spaces are evolving as the creator economy continues to expand. To keep up with trends, says Louderback, “follow some of the top creators who are out there, who are doing it, take a look at what they’re doing, and take their advice.”

Raskin highlights the rise of pop-up studios, which offer creators the flexibility to produce high-quality content without the need for significant upfront investment. “You are seeing studios pop up everywhere,” she observes, pointing to a trend that supports the growth of the creator economy by making professional-grade facilities more accessible.

As an example of the versatility of pop-up studios, Grams recounts a recent Willy Wonky parody created for an event using a pop-up facility in St. Paul, Minnesota. “it’s not quite a giant 360 at all, but it’s still a massive screen, and for a much, much more affordable price,” he says.

The technology has completely transformed traditional video production, he says, describing how his crew was able to complete shooting 10 scenes with different backdrops in just eight hours. “We were able to do that, very, very quickly… using AI-generated backgrounds and making changes in real time,” he says.

“That would have just been unheard of [before]. For the size project that it was, we were still able to accomplish a lot using that style of production. But even scaled way down it’s still is changing the way that video can be produced, which I think is just so much fun.”

Going beyond the gear, the most important thing to learn, says Grams, is how to show up and get comfortable, both behind and in front of the camera. “You can do that with your phone and no lighting,” he says. “You can start practicing with whatever you have. Don’t use not having the right gear as an excuse to stop you from starting.”