‘With AI, some of the world's greatest storytellers will come from the most random places'

Time of India

11-05-2025

According to some estimates, YouTube's creator economy touched $250 billion last year, making it slightly smaller than the economy of New Zealand. The mini-media empires of its most popular creators, built out of bedrooms and backyards, now reach billions and earn as much in dollars. A huge slice of the viewers comes from India, YouTube's biggest market, with more than 460 million users, according to industry estimates.
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The Google-owned video-sharing platform recently flew down to India three of its most popular global creators—Mark Rober,
Mayo Japan
and
Brandon B
. The country is, unsurprisingly, the largest contributor of views to Rober and Mayo Japan.
While Rober engages in
STEM
storytelling, merging scientific concepts with data-driven experiments and savvy storytelling, Mayo Japan, 'the Hindi bolnewali Japani ladki', makes cross-cultural content on India and Japan, and Brandon, who calls himself a 'Hogwarts dropout', makes videos that intersect fantasy, physics and VFX. The three of them have a combined subscriber base of 85 million.
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In an interview with Anirban Chowdhury and Dia Rekhi, they discuss how this is the most exciting and scariest time to be in the content creation space, thanks to a fast-evolving audience, new revenue streams and AI bridging the gap between those who have technical knowledge and those who haven't. Edited excerpts:
Mark Rober
, how did a NASA engineer become a content creator?
Live Events
MR:
I started in 2012, when people couldn't make a career or money off YouTube. I had a jugaad idea for a Halloween costume with two iPads, which made it look like I had a hole in my body. It kind of went viral. Since then, I've been making one video every month. I quit my job at
Apple
when I reached 10 million subscribers. That was five years ago. And now my team has 100 people and we have 70 million subscribers.
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Mayo Japan, what sparked the idea of bringing together two completely different cultures—Indian and Japanese?
MJ:
My journey started when I chose to study Hindi as a major in university. This was suggested by my father, who used to climb the Himalayas and loves India. I was in a boring corporate job and started making
Hindi YouTube
videos on the side so that I wouldn't forget the language. The videos went viral. That was in 2017. I started by teaching Hindi to a Japanese audience. Then I flipped it and taught Japanese culture to an Indian audience.
Brandon B, you started learning about VFX by watching YouTube videos in school…
BB:
I think I was part of the first generation of kids that grew up watching YouTube when it didn't hold the same prestige it does today. I almost remember hiding my obsession from my friends. In 2011, I started uploading fun, cute, short videos and they'd hit a grand total of about two views. (Laughs)
I then spent four years in the television industry, learning how to use a camera and honing my editing skills. Then I jumped back into the wild west of YouTube and the rest is history. Two big catalysts for me were Covid and the birthing of YouTube Shorts.
How do you guys ensure that your content is accessible and cuts across cultures and countries?
MJ:
I started my YouTube channel because I was passionate about Hindi. And I make content about India because I love India. I am passionate towards the things I make content about and I guess that resonates with people.
MR:
Same. I like to make videos on things I like, which is STEM storytelling. But I sneak in the science before you realise what's even happening. I call it 'hiding the vegetables'. So I'll make a video about a 15-tonne Jell-O pool but, before you know it, you are also learning chemistry.
Do you guys talk to each other as content creators, exchange ideas, etc?
BB:
Yeah, Mark and I have known each other for two years. One of the really magical things about YouTube is the collaboration between creators. Because a bit of it is finding your way in the dark. There's no rule book for YouTube, and it's just a case of us getting together and being like: 'Hey, I've tried this. Is this also working for you?' And we all evolve together.
What do you feel about AI and its impact on the work that you do?
BB:
AI is both scary and exciting: scary because as VFX artists, we have, for the past decade, been teaching ourselves hardcore technical skills. Now those are becoming less relevant. But it also excites me because this means the high entry barriers are breaking. The next generation of filmmakers and creators can start storytelling without spending years trying to learn software.
They can just use all of these incredible apps on a phone. We live in a world where there are more phones than toothbrushes. And now these tools are everywhere and the largest distribution platform in the world (YouTube) is free. We are about to see some of the greatest storytellers in the world come up from the most random places, and I think that's beautiful.
Your videos are cost-intensive. Which revenue streams sustain them?
MJ:
I don't depend on YouTube revenue. My main source of income is promoting Japanese company brands to the Indian audience. But I am choosy about who and what I promote.
BB:
I make short-form content, which is a little bit harder to monetise. So I've set up a separate production company called Studio B and we work with big brands, helping them create content. A lot of my content is also brand-funded.
MR:
For me, it costs a million dollars a month just to keep the lights on. My YouTube channel just about breaks even, with $10-15 million of annual revenue. But the channel primarily is an advertising platform for my company CrunchLabs. It sells DIY toys for kids which also, in the process, teach them about the physics that goes into making these toys.
Is there a path from online to offline engagement?
MJ:
There are events, like Japanese festivals in India. I do a stage performance or a talk show. We also provide Japanese food during the festival. These aren't experiences you get online.
Mark, in the age of lo-fi, raw and random content, are effort, investment and planning still big differentiators?
MR:
30% of our videos are shot on a smartphone. Even though it might cost $500,000 for a video, we try to give it a backyard kinda feel so it looks more authentic than a TV show with 20 cameras. Having said that, it is really hard to go viral on YouTube without a month of planning and a decent amount of money these days. A cat playing the piano cannot be a viral video anymore. The audience has evolved. They have seen that cat.
YouTube is becoming part of the living-room experience with people watching it on TV. How does that work for you as an opportunity?
MR:
It's great for me because the Jell-O pool video looks amazing on a 65-inch TV. The watch time of my videos on television is doubling and tripling. I think 30% of my viewership comes from there.
BB:
A good chunk of our Shorts viewership is on TV now. The first time you try watching Shorts on a TV set, it will blow your mind. It is so engaging.
Where does India rank in your viewership?
MR:
My videos are watched the most in India.
MJ:
Same for me.
Finally, one word from you that describes the future of content creation.
BB:
Mainstream.
MR:
Optimistic.
MJ:
Passion.