YouTube Shorts, the company’s mobile-first short-form video product, attracts over 50 billion viewers every day. Since the service began sharing advertising revenue with creators in January of 2023 Alan Chikin Chow, maker of highly produced and often-wordless comedy clips, has attracted over 25 million subscribers to his channel, earned millions and has become YouTube Shorts’ top creator. This success is based on more than timing and luck—for Chow, mastering YouTube is more of a science than art.
Chow began his entertainment career as a Hollywood actor–with roles on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Hulu’s Into the Dark and CBS’s The Emperor of Malibu, but he never cracked the A-list. That’s one of the reasons he started studying YouTube before developing his own comedic digital content for the platform. Fast forward to today and his mix of long- and short-form family friendly content has garnered over 20 billion views and 30 million followers across platforms.
At Vidcon Anaheim, the world’s largest gathering dedicated to social media stars (where a gigantic photo of Chow hung from the Anaheim Convention Center’s exterior) Chow and I met in his hotel suite to discuss his career, ambition and the secret of creating universally appealing short-form video. Here is an edited version of our conversation that reveals how Chow’s unflinching optimism and universality—coupled with avoidance of partisan viewpoints—has propelled him to the top of YouTube.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Alexandra Sternlicht: YouTube Shorts is relatively new, and you’re the number one creator. How did you master the art of short-form video on YouTube?
Alan Chikin Chow: It all really comes down to the mission that I’m trying to communicate. I’m a comedy creator. A lot of comedy out there might be political or subversive. My mission statement is ‘unity through laughter.’ What I really try to incorporate in my videos is a positive, inspiring, uplifting type of comedy. Audiences really resonate with that.
AS: Your content also has the quality of a Hollywood production. I’m sure you have a significant budget to put behind it. Tell me how you think creators who don’t have that type of budget and don’t have that acting background can break into Shorts, make meaningful money and grow their audiences.
ACC: I started making videos as a way to connect with my mom. When I went to college, my mom and dad moved to a little town in West Virginia where they had no friends or family so I started making videos just by myself as a way to make my mom laugh. The level of production that I’ve gotten to has been very incremental through the years, but I started just with my phone. Focusing on that core mission can benefit creators who are starting out.
AS: Something that I cover a lot is how creators make money. Can you give me an overview of the different ways that you generate income?
ACC: YouTube has a lot of different features you can monetize. You can monetize with long-form video, now you can monetize the short-form video, which is really groundbreaking for short-form creators. So that’s one aspect: YouTube AdSense and the YouTube monetization opportunities. Second is brand deals. I’ve worked with some amazing brands like [HBO] Max and McDonald’s and Old Spice. We’re working with Pizza Hut here at VidCon. The third way is—I come from a background of film and television—we still are active in the film and TV space. So doing acting roles, we have a development deal for a TV show.
AS: The other creator who’s also enormous on YouTube with family-friendly content is MrBeast. Why do you think that genre resonates so much with YouTube audiences?
ACC: I think that that genre resonates with not only YouTube audiences, but audiences all around the world. Mr. Beast is a great example. Also Disney–people can really look to content as a way to replenish their joy if their day-to-day lives are stressful or tiring. They want to look for positivity in what they consume. So that’s why I think wholesome, positive family-friendly content does really well and resonates with so many people around the world.
AS: I want to talk about affiliate shopping—Is that something you’ve ever done before?
ACC: Yeah. I was one of the first beta testers of YouTube product tagging, and it was very successful. I have a red flannel that I wear all the time and that we would tag via YouTube Shopping. Me and my assistant would be like, ‘Why is it out of stock?’ And then we realized that we were selling it which makes sense–I get billions of views per month.
AS: I’m curious: you obviously get a lot of brand deals, but actually being able to see what you just described—the flannels selling out—does that make you more inclined to do affiliate where you can see the actual metrics of how well your work is performing? Or is it more like, ‘Oh, this is interesting; back to doing big brand deals.’
ACC: I’m open to all forms of monetization.
AS: If TikTok was to go away, which it might, would that be concerning for you?
ACC: I want the success for all my friends and for the enjoyment of American society so I hope it doesn’t go away. But I’m so grateful for YouTube because it’s a really strong powerhouse in my business and the revenue from it is very strong. So we’ll do great either way, but I hope TikTok doesn’t go away.
AS: On YouTube, what advice would you give to people to start really making money from AdSense?
ACC: I think studying is the best answer. In this era, there’s so much YouTube content to study for years and years. So really learning from big creators–even reaching out to them–to see their keys to success.