A more professional, more visible creator industry benefits everyone in it — more opportunities and revenue for creators, more revenue for the agencies representing them, and more room for support businesses to grow and solve real problems, the way they're already doing overseas.
Other countries have been building a collective voice and support infrastructure for creators for years. New Zealand hasn't — yet. Here's what that looks like elsewhere.
The Digital Creator Association supports creators and is professionalising the digital creator industry.
Digital First Canada, less active this year, has been a voice for government advocacy and creator support. It was a key driver in developing the Creators Pilot Program, a fund supporting the growth trajectory of mid-career Canadian digital content creators.
Still lagging other countries in terms of industry coordination, but Screen Australia (and state-specific bodies such as Screen Queensland) put far more support behind "direct to audience" creators than NZ On Air does. YouTube has responded with more effort and investment in that market as a result. The recent induction of ten creators into the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia is a good example of creators being elevated out of "unserious niche."
A much more mature market, with several organisations focused on different needs:
New Zealand needs an association or collective body representing UGC creators. It's not something one person or one business can build alone.
