Alan Chikin Chow began his career in Hollywood, with acting roles in shows including ABC's "Grey's Anatomy."
Photo by Reinhardt KennethAlan Chikin Chow says he started making videos at a very young age as a way to make his mother laugh. Fast forward to this year, and the 2024 Under 30 Social Media lister and Forbes Top Creator has some 60 million followers watching his comedy skits online–and nearly $2 million in earnings, according to Forbes estimates.
His first posts on TikTok date back to late 2019, but it was during the pandemic that he decided to take content creation seriously. The then 23-year-old quit his day job in 2020 to pursue TikTok full-time. Not too long after that, former president Donald Trump, who said he viewed the app as a national security threat because of its ties to the Chinese government, announced he was banning the app.
While Trump’s plans for a ban waned, Chow says he wasn’t going to take any chances. The moment he read about the potential ban, he says, he started working on expanding his reach onto other platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
“I've really prepared myself for the hypothetical situation in which this might happen,” he says. “I have multiple income streams that will allow me to keep running.”
On March 13, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could either ban the app or require it to be sold. It’s the closest the U.S. has come to officially getting rid of TikTok–a potential cause of concern for the many creators and businesses who have built their fortunes on it.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University say TikTok makes it easier for the average person to go viral. The randomness of its algorithm on the “For You Page” eliminates the need to have a large following, they say, and it’s less of a game of luck with platforms like YouTube.
For Chow, growing his reach was as simple as reposting his TikTok content on YouTube and Instagram. It took some time, but now his YouTube channel has the highest reach of all his platforms with 40 million followers.
Today, he says he’s not too worried about a TikTok ban, as his multi-platform approach has allowed him to reach an even larger audience and create more revenue streams.
“Whatever might happen—maybe you're just not performing as well on one platform—you need to put yourself in a situation where you can sustain in the long term,” he says.
He also encourages up-and-coming creators to try producing long-form videos. Despite the popular belief that the internet generation has shorter attention spans, longer YouTube videos helped popular creators like MrBeast and Emma Chamberlain get their start. Chow is currently working on his own YouTube drama series called “Alan’s Universe,” where his skits can sometimes run 15 minutes long and still get 7 million views.
Chow says he has no doubt that creators will continue to play a huge part in the economy. “Creators are the next studios, just like Warner Brothers,” he says. “When they first started, they were just four brothers running a Nickelodeon theater.”
Until next week,
Revenge Of The Bootstrapped Startup
Srinivas Njay, CEO and cofounder of interface.ai, has signed up more than 100 credit unions and community banks, with 16 million customers, to use his AI-powered virtual assistant. [-]
CODY PICKENS FOR FORBESRaising money is a keystone to success for many emerging businesses. But it’s not the right fit for all. This is the story of interface.ai, a startup bootstrapped with $1 million that now has investors coming to them less than five years after founding.
On Our Radar
-MrBeast is going to Hollywood! 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Media alum Jimmy Donaldson runs the second biggest channel on YouTube—made notable by clickbait titles like “I Survived A Plane Crash,” or videos comparing a “$1 vs $100,000,000 Car.” In 2022, Donaldson used his social media success to launch a chocolate company, Feastables. And this week, he announced his next venture: an Amazon reality competition show. (The Hollywood Reporter)
-Is Instagram poised for a TikTok takeover? After years of TikTok’s social media reign, Instagram outpaced the video app in growth percentages and number of downloads in 2023. Instagram had 767 million downloads to TikTok’s 733 million. But TikTok remains the leader when it comes to engagement. Let’s keep an eye out given the potential ban. (Business Insider)
-Los Angeles, a city known for bumper-to-bumper traffic, will soon see a new way to drive: Without a driver. This month, Waymo, an autonomous-car company owned by Google parent company Alphabet, announced their expansion to the city. They’d already been conducting rides in Phoenix and San Francisco. (New York Times)
One Minute With Emma Seligman
Emma Seligman went to film school at New York University.
Courtesy of SeligmanWe’re bringing you the scoop on a new Under 30 community member. Up this week: 2024 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment lister Emma Seligman, the director of Bottoms, a film that debuted at SXSW before making it to theaters around the country in August 2023 and starred fellow 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment lister Ayo Edibri. Seligman shares the mental and physical toll it takes to make it to the big screen.
The following has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
What was your first job? Babysitting.
Where do you find your inspiration? Other movies.
What is your favorite movie of all time? E.T.
How do you start your mornings? Oh! I journal.
What is something that you do every single day? Drink coffee.
What is something you can’t live without? Oh my God. Dairy.
What is a hot take? That no one knows what they're doing in this industry, actually.
What does a day in your life during production typically look like? I wake up, I meet with my cinematographer early to go over what we're doing for the day. I get to set, I eat a burrito really quickly. I meet with my AD, producer and DP. We do a blocking rehearsal with the cast. We shoot some stuff. We eat lunch. I also try to check in with the actors to see how they're feeling. And then I go home and I pass out.
How about a day when you're not in production? I sleep in—probably till 12. I journal, do a little yoga, shower, do my skincare routine. I go for a walk, I get coffee. I'll see a friend. I'll try to write a little bit and look at some emails. Then I either go see a movie or I go for dinner with a friend. And then that's kind of it.
How many movies do you watch a week? Oh my God. It depends. I try to watch at least two or three a week.
Do you have a favorite genre? It's always nice to revisit comedies.
What do you do after a long day to unwind? I watch a sitcom that I know I like and probably go on Instagram. And then I'll call someone, either my mom or my best friends.
Aside from film and TV, are there any other mediums or forms of entertainment that you really love? I love music, listening to music, especially from new queer artists. So that's my only way of keeping up with the times.
What is the best piece of advice you've ever received? To stay interested in other things outside of film to feed storytelling. I mean, the advice I got was to not go to film school to study other things, but I apply that advice to the rest of my life. I try to read more than the trades and stay interested in other fields and forms of art.
Do you wish that you had taken that advice to not go to film school? Or are you happy with that decision? I'm happy with my decision.
What is something that you've never been asked in an interview and want to talk about? I wish more directors would talk about, or were asked more about how physically and emotionally exhausting the experience is. When I was going through it on Bottoms and Shiva Baby, I would talk to mentors and they'd be like, “Yeah, I had a nervous breakdown on my last movie.” And I think it's not necessarily sexy or fun, but I just feel like for aspiring filmmakers, it's important to know that it really does take the life out of you.
