Moss is a creator of surreal worlds. The filmmaker shoots videos in a style she calls "fever dreams," using jump cuts, strange props, and wild costumes to build eerie and entertaining scenes. "I studied forensic psychology in college. I loved all things scary but didn't know what to do with it. When I started TikTok, I eventually found my niche." For Moss, scary is a family affair: her two sisters help shoot and edit each short film.
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Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Be consistent and do what you love, and then keep doing it until you get great.
00:09Hey everybody, welcome to Forbes Top Creators.
00:14I'm Stephen Bertoni, Forbes Assistant Managing Editor, and today we have Forbes Top Creator
00:19Savannah Moss.
00:20Now, Savannah Moss has around 15 million followers who watch her wild, creative, surreal, and
00:30film she makes.
00:31They call them fever dreams.
00:33She's a short-form filmmaker, probably going much longer soon.
00:36Savannah, thanks for joining us.
00:38Thank you so much for having me.
00:39I'm super excited to be here.
00:40So tell me, for folks, I'm sure most people have seen your stuff, but if someone is living
00:44in a hole and they missed it, what is a Savannah Moss production like?
00:49Yes, so I actually film mostly all on my phone, surprisingly.
00:54It's a pretty family-oriented production, so my sisters help me film my videos, and
00:59we think of an idea, we do it all ourselves, I do my own editing, and we create chaotic
01:05but random, what I like to call fever dreams.
01:08And you said sisters, how many sisters work on it?
01:11So I have four sisters total, but two of them, which are identical twins, fun fact, work
01:16on the videos with me.
01:17So you're one of five?
01:18Yes.
01:19All women?
01:20All women.
01:21Okay, very cool.
01:22So you do the filming and you do the editing and the props and stuff?
01:25Yes, so they do the filming, some special effects stunt stuff as well, and I do all
01:31the editing, idea creation, and kind of the brains behind the operation.
01:36So I love it, you do super high production, super high creative.
01:39I can't believe it's shot by a phone, because it looks like it's shot by a movie set, but
01:42you said just an iPhone and lighting and stuff.
01:45What led you to this?
01:46Tell me, what did you do before you became a professional full-time creator?
01:51Yeah, so I had lots of things that I wanted to do with my life.
01:55I straight out of high school, wanted to do either go to college for forensic psychology,
02:00because I was super interested in how people think.
02:04And then I also wanted to...
02:05Real quick, what is it?
02:06It sounds like I hear forensic, I think of like, you know, like, cold case file.
02:09What does a forensic psychiatrist do?
02:12So it's kind of like finding out why criminals do what they do, and like how their brain
02:17works differently from like the average human brain.
02:20Okay, so you like the dark stuff a little bit?
02:23A little bit, yeah.
02:24I've always been interested in the dark stuff, and that kind of takes place in my videos
02:28as well.
02:29Okay.
02:30So you wanted to study...
02:31Did you study that?
02:32I did study that for about two semesters, and then I dropped out to pursue filmmaking
02:39and acting as well.
02:42Did you have any formal training in filmmaking, or did you kind of teach it all yourself?
02:47I taught it all myself.
02:48I had some friends that were in the same field, and we would like practice together, watch
02:52YouTube videos, learning how to do certain editing techniques, and it kind of stemmed
02:58from there.
02:59Did you drop out?
03:00Were you starting to get a kind of a foothold in this world when you dropped out?
03:03Or did you say like, you know what, I'm just going to drop out and build this from scratch?
03:06So while I was in college, I was making videos at the time, nothing super viral yet.
03:12I had a couple videos, and I think I was around maybe 100K on TikTok around that when I decided
03:20like, I kind of want to take this more seriously, and I also was interested in doing special
03:25effects makeup at the time versus forensic psychology, so that's another reason why I
03:30wanted to drop out.
03:31And what were these early videos like?
03:33Everything under the sun.
03:34I tried dancing, DIY, cooking, just kind of everything to see what I liked and what people
03:40liked watching.
03:42And it took me a while to find my niche.
03:44And how did you kind of think of this, these kind of surreal fever dream, you know, wild
03:51videos?
03:52How did this kind of come about?
03:55It was specifically one video that I remember.
03:59My sisters and I, it was after a cheerleading practice because we used to all be on the
04:03same team, and it was in a dark parking lot, probably around midnight, and we had an idea
04:08to make this creepy character.
04:11So I was this character, and I would act really awkward in front of the camera, and
04:16one of my sisters just recorded it, and I had a Starbucks barista apron because my older
04:23sister worked at Starbucks at the time.
04:24And you just had it in the car?
04:26I did, actually.
04:27I don't know why, actually.
04:28I can't remember why I had it, but it was there for a reason now.
04:33And we just one take wonder, filmed that video, I did a little spin at the end, posted it,
04:39and it got over, I think it's like 60 million.
04:41Really?
04:42Right now, yeah.
04:43And that was the start of everything.
04:44Do you ever think, why was that video?
04:48I think, I haven't really seen much like that video, just, it was so odd, and you wanted
04:54to watch it again to question why I was doing the things I was doing.
04:58I think it was just intriguing and kind of creepy, and yeah, I don't really know why.
05:04And that kind of kicked off this fever dream kind of style?
05:07Yes.
05:09How did you, how did you get inspired with this stuff?
05:10Do you have other certain like film, like filmmakers that you like, certain movies that
05:16kind of you drew inspiration from, or is it all up in your head, or your sister's?
05:20A lot of it's up in my head, I do.
05:22I'm a big fan of like the psychological thriller, horror category.
05:26I also like comedy as well, so that's what I try to put into my work.
05:31As for specific movies, I like Inception, that one's a good one.
05:36And a lot of classic horrors, off the top of my head, I can't name some, but yeah.
05:44How did you get, what would you, this style, are those called, are those jump cuts with
05:47all your, what is that called with you, the technical term?
05:51Or one thing leads to another, and then it's like this, and it turns into this, and how
05:54do you, you do that all with one camera?
05:56Yes.
05:57Okay.
05:58Well, yes, mainly one camera, phone.
06:01But jump cuts, we call them lots of transitions, and we create a lot of transitions.
06:06Like new ones that we've never seen before, we just kind of, trial and error, we make
06:11it up ourselves to see if it works, if it looks cool, and then we put it in.
06:16Tell me, take me through like one of your recent favorite videos from like, I want to
06:21hear it from start to finish, from like the idea, Inception of it, to like getting all
06:26the props, to putting it out, like I want to know what goes into a Savannah Moss film.
06:30Okay.
06:31Let's see.
06:32I'm trying to remember, I've done, I think probably over 400 videos now.
06:40400, okay.
06:41In how many years?
06:44So like the Fever Dream videos started about two and a half years ago.
06:49Okay.
06:50But I've been creating for probably like five years in total, short form.
06:55But, okay.
06:56Yeah, what's your last, your last video?
06:58Take me through the last kind of Fever Dream.
07:00Oh, okay.
07:01Actually, my last one was a little bit different.
07:03Okay.
07:04I was experimenting with a new kind of category, and my goal was to make people cry with the
07:10video, so it's definitely not my typical Fever Dream.
07:13That's quite a goal.
07:14Yeah, because I wanted to see if I could experiment with different genres and make people feel
07:19different emotions other than scared.
07:21And people really liked it.
07:23What was the, what was the theme?
07:24Like what was your, the hook to make people cry?
07:27Well, I did my, so I have like a signature move that I do in all my videos, and it's
07:32this spin where I like jump, spin, and fall like 99% of the time.
07:39And I did that in the very beginning of the video so people would think it's like a normal
07:42Fever Dream video.
07:44And then basically I find this old camcorder, and it's a very nostalgic, like me watching
07:50old videos of when I was super young and like how it's, how it was different then than
07:56it is now.
07:58So that was the goal behind this past video.
08:01What was the, what was the, how's the response been?
08:03It's been great.
08:04I think it, I think it's at like 1.9 million views, and people, people have been really
08:11liking it.
08:12There's been tons of comments of people relating to this, and I've seen some nice comments
08:17of, oh, she can do more than just being a surrealist.
08:21And I really liked that.
08:22I was like, yes, that's my goal.
08:23You're getting a lot of like crying emojis in the comments?
08:25Yes.
08:26Wow.
08:27So mission accomplished.
08:28Mission accomplished with that one.
08:29That's like a new Apple commercial, and I'm like very insensitive usually to these things,
08:33but they had like one with like, I think it's like the Apple hearing aids, and it shows
08:36like a teenage daughter, and then like flashes back with all these like old iPhone videos
08:40of her as a kid.
08:41Yes.
08:42I was chopping some onions there a little bit.
08:44You know, during football, it's, it's a very, but they, it's like the nostalgic camcorder
08:48thing.
08:49Like that's definitely a vibe right now.
08:50Mm-hmm.
08:51There was this, speaking, this is totally off topic, but this fries commercial where
08:55they're like.
08:56I'm sorry, what kind?
08:57For fries.
08:58It might be an Arizona thing.
08:59Okay.
09:00A grocery store.
09:01Gotcha.
09:02Where it's like this very nostalgic, but it's cartoon characters.
09:03That one makes me cry as well, so.
09:04See, I thought it was like eating French fries, but that's the.
09:07Oh, no, no.
09:08See, if the supermarket can get you to cry, that's, that's good, that's good, that's good
09:12content.
09:13Okay.
09:14So, and how, when you shoot, how long is like, what's the process?
09:17Yeah.
09:18Like is it, is it takes days to get this short film or like take me through all that?
09:22Yeah.
09:23So it'll start with an idea and the idea process will take me anywhere between probably an
09:31hour to like three days, depending how complex the video is or if I already have an idea
09:37in mind or if I'm inspired by like another creator's video or concept.
09:42So I'll create the idea, I'll write it down, I'll pen and paper.
09:45That's my, my thing I like to do.
09:49And then next is creating props, gathering props and renting a location.
09:55Or if it's like at a park or a parking lot somewhere that's free, then we'll just scope
09:59it out, make sure it's good to go.
10:02And then the filming process takes us anywhere between like six, five to six hours to two
10:09days depending on locations and the concept and everything.
10:14So we'll show up with our huge prop bag that's way too big to carry.
10:18So it's basically a suitcase and we will set up.
10:23We have some lights that we bring, colored lights, normal smaller lights and we'll start
10:29shooting and that's pretty much, that's pretty much it.
10:35What do people think when like you're at, you're like in a parking lot at midnight and
10:38there's all these props and seagulls and giant Q-tips and things and you have all the lights.
10:44Like do people like, they watch you guys now, they think you guys, like what, what, what
10:47is the reaction?
10:48So.
10:49They think you're planning on shooting a movie, they think you're doing a cult thing, like
10:52what's going on?
10:53Probably all of the above to be honest.
10:55But a lot of people recognize us now.
10:57So they'll either like take videos or they'll like kind of wait around in the distance and,
11:03and then come up to us and ask for like pictures or ask what we're doing.
11:08One specific story, we were in a dark parking lot, midnight, we had a giant chicken costume
11:14and the cops showed up.
11:16I love how stories start with I was in a parking lot with a giant chicken costume.
11:19That's a good, that's a good start.
11:20It's a good hook, right?
11:21But it's true.
11:23A cop showed up and we were like, oh great, okay, we're getting kicked out.
11:27And they were like, hey, are you Savannah Moss?
11:30My wife's a big fan of your videos.
11:32I'm like, oh yeah, oh my gosh, thanks.
11:35And then three more cops showed up.
11:37So there was, sorry, three, three cop trucks total that were there.
11:42They all had their lights on.
11:43They're like, can we be in a video?
11:45And I was like, yeah, let's do it.
11:47Why not?
11:48So we kind of changed our idea right then and there.
11:51And they were in a video and anyone passing by would probably be very confused.
11:55But yeah, I think this person in a chicken costume is, but he's getting arrested by three
12:00cops.
12:01Yes.
12:02I love that.
12:03How do you, talk about your business.
12:04So with Forbes Top Creators, not just popularity, but people who are earning money.
12:10What is the Savannah Moss brand?
12:12How do you make money?
12:13Yeah.
12:14So I am very fortunate to say I can work with all different types of brands because in my
12:21genre of fever dreams, I'm able to kind of create any character for any scenario.
12:27So that's been very helpful to work with all every brand.
12:33So I mainly make my money from brand deals, specifically, I'd say mostly Tik Tok and Instagram.
12:40But I've been starting long form YouTube.
12:43So hopefully to get that up and running very soon.
12:47So yeah.
12:48Give me an example of some of your favorite ways where you've worked with a brand, integrated
12:51them into one of your, your films.
12:53Yeah.
12:54We worked with Lionsgate a couple of times and one of this past ones, it was for their
12:58new movie called Never Let Go with Halle Berry.
13:03And we were flown out there to film a video with Halle Berry to promote their video.
13:09So we basically made a, our own fever dream version of the movie and she was in it and
13:15everyone had such a great time.
13:17We rented out a cabin to film the rest of that video and we edited it and that was like
13:24the brand deal.
13:25And we also got to go to the premiere as well.
13:28So it was like a, not only a brand deal, but like a great experience all around.
13:33So fast forward two years, you're filming with Halle Berry.
13:36Take me like what that, take me through that, what that's like.
13:39I was speechless.
13:41When we were on set and she walked in her team, it was like a team of probably 20 people.
13:47They all looked super intimidating at first and the room started getting really hot and
13:52I'm like, okay, this, this is happening.
13:54Like I know what I'm doing and then I just kind of got in the zone and we started and
13:59everything was great.
14:00She was super nice and easy to work with, which was fun.
14:03But yeah, it was so surreal and I was very grateful to be there.
14:09That is so cool.
14:10And how did the, how did the video do?
14:12It did really well.
14:14We posted it, I think on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
14:18I would have to double check the exact numbers, but it did really well.
14:22When you work out a deal with like Lionsgate, are you, are you trying to guarantee a certain
14:26amount of views?
14:27They say, no, I'll just do like my style of video on these different platforms and let
14:31the video do what it's going to do.
14:34Yeah.
14:35So I, we never typically do a view guarantee.
14:39It's mainly just, I like to get creative freedom because I know what works well on my platform.
14:45And so the brand kind of trusts me with that.
14:47They'll give me a direction that they want, a certain direction that they want me to steer
14:53towards and then I'll do that, but in my own style.
14:55And that's typically what does best.
14:58You're famous for your, your shorts.
15:01You're jumping, you're spinning, you land, fever dream.
15:03And now you're moving towards more long form YouTube.
15:07Tell me like what that process is like and what type of content you're going to post.
15:11Yeah.
15:12So I've been trying to experiment with what I should post.
15:16So I really love storytelling.
15:18So I want to do something with storytelling, long form, and I love everything horror and
15:23creepy.
15:24So I'm kind of trying to figure out a new, something new and fun with horror and storytelling.
15:30I want to make it a little bit different than my fever dreams as well.
15:34So kind of still trying to figure out what that looks like necessarily, but that's the
15:37direction I'm heading towards.
15:39So more of like more screenplay lines, plot, all that sort of stuff.
15:43Yeah.
15:44Yeah, I would say so.
15:46How do you kind of get your head into that?
15:49I kind of approach it like my, a typical short film or short form video and write down my
15:56ideas, kind of plan it out.
15:58I don't really storyboard any of my ideas, but with these long form videos, I think I'll
16:03start doing that.
16:04So it's more organized.
16:05Yeah.
16:06And what everyone's, what is pushing you to long form?
16:12I've just always wanted to.
16:14When I was 16, I started YouTube.
16:16That was even before I started on TikTok or anything.
16:21And I've always been, I always wanted to be a YouTuber when I was super young.
16:26And I tried it when I was 16 and I didn't go anywhere.
16:29I deleted all those videos off the face of the earth.
16:33So I don't know.
16:34I feel like I'm in the mindset where I could really make something magical on YouTube long
16:40form.
16:41What are you seeing now?
16:43There's been, I mean, obviously there's been a huge surge with creators.
16:47I think this last election, just the power of social media and how the different candidates
16:52played it out and where people are getting their entertainment, their news from, I think
16:56it even makes it more urgent.
16:59What are you seeing kind of in the ecosystem right now?
17:01What's like the trends?
17:02What are you, what's like the most exciting thing in creator world for you?
17:07Well, I don't specifically follow trends.
17:12I'll try to integrate them into my content, but I've been seeing lots of talking videos
17:17and kind of vlog style, taking me through their life type of videos.
17:22So that's been really popular.
17:23So like the old school, we had iJustina on before and she was an early life caster where
17:29she like, we just have a, she said she had a hat with a camera and would just like follow
17:33around her life and like film sort of stuff.
17:35Like are we getting back to that?
17:37I think so.
17:38I think there's a bit of a loop going on.
17:40Lots of dancing videos as well, which was the main thing on TikTok when the app first
17:45started as well.
17:46So, and I have a question for you.
17:49Oh, okay.
17:50What was the selection process like for the Forbes top 50 creators list and the Forbes
17:5630 under 30?
17:57Oh, well, those are, those are two different important questions.
18:00Okay.
18:01So this being Forbes, like we, the best lists are objective, meaning it's, we're using data
18:06points to create those lists.
18:09So for, let's just start with the top creator list.
18:11Like we kind of, we've created a special Forbes index, like a formula, and the 50% of that
18:17is your earnings because we think how much money you earn shows your power value and
18:22influence in the market spot marketplace.
18:24So that's like a great indicator on how much you're making either through views or for
18:29brand deals.
18:30That's very important.
18:31Then we kind of put 12 and a half percent, it goes into follower count.
18:36The other 12 and a half percent goes into engagement.
18:39And then a quarter of it is like our secret sauce.
18:41It's like the entrepreneur score, because this is Forbes.
18:44We love folks who are building, creating, doing.
18:48And so, you know, it works from four is the highest, one is lowest.
18:52And you know, if you're making money on, you know, endorsement deals and you're kind of
18:56talking in front of the camera and you're getting paid for that, that's amazing business.
18:59That's great.
19:00Good for you.
19:01But we want to reward people who like you have a higher score because you're doing production
19:05films, that sort of stuff.
19:06It's more, it's more complex.
19:08It's more creative.
19:10And it would go up to like a four would be someone like Emma Chamberlain, who not just
19:14is not like she's, you know, getting paid to hock coffee, which is fine.
19:20She has her own coffee company and own like that's in every single Walmart target.
19:25So like these are big companies or someone like Mr. Beast or Rhett and Link who have
19:29giant like almost Hollywood studios.
19:31So that's the final entrepreneur score.
19:34You mix it all together.
19:35We have an algorithm and then the highest ranking ends up on there.
19:39So that's the top creators.
19:40Wow.
19:41It's very interesting.
19:42I like the breakdown of the percentages.
19:43I had no idea.
19:44Yes.
19:45And finding how much all you earn is a real pain in the ass.
19:47Right.
19:48Yes.
19:49I would assume.
19:50But we only do, the more someone shows, the more we give them credit for in terms of that.
19:54Under 30 is a little different, but there's 20 categories, 30 creators, and it's kind
20:00of like a four tier system that when anyone can be, we want to have no gatekeeping.
20:06So anyone can be nominated.
20:07You can nominate yourself, you can nominate a friend, business partner.
20:10And then we have basically 20 captains who are editors and they're in charge of their
20:16individual list and they're experts.
20:18So if you like cover, you know, energy and green tech, you're in charge of the energy
20:22list.
20:23If you cover, if you cover the Hollywood business, you're in charge of Hollywood.
20:26If you're our tech reporter, you cover AI.
20:29They will take all those people and like basically take the 50 or 60 people that are like the
20:34highest they think, that most impressive.
20:37And again, they self-report like, you know, we have to do due diligence, but how much
20:42they're earning, their scale, that sort of stuff.
20:44We write little bios, send to the third party judges.
20:46We've had everyone from Taylor Swift to David Chang to Steve Ballmer, like really big independent
20:52judges.
20:53They rate them and then send it back to us and then we use their ratings.
20:57So it's not an end-all be-all, but then the editors choose their top 30 with the judges
21:01endorsements.
21:04And that's how that works.
21:05So not as many numbers involved, but again, we want to use like money, money, money matters.
21:10So if you're on the under 30 list, we want to see, you know, if you make a lot of revenue,
21:15that means people want your business, they're using your business.
21:18If you've raised a lot of capital, that means investors are betting big on your business.
21:22So that is by far the most important factor.
21:25Very interesting.
21:26So that's how it goes.
21:27Yeah.
21:28Very cool.
21:29Well, so congratulations on making the lists.
21:31Thank you so much.
21:32It's been amazing and it's been a great response.
21:35Yeah, it's fine.
21:36Like the creator thing is, I mean, under 30s really helped kind of revolutionize the brand.
21:42It's been 11, probably 13 years now, which is great and it acts like a farm system for
21:47all our other lists because, you know, getting the early take on these folks.
21:52And then creators, you guys bring all the communities to it.
21:56Like last year, 50 creators got 4 billion views, not views, 4 billion impressions.
22:01I don't know who makes those up, but that's what they said.
22:04So it's good power.
22:064 billion.
22:07Yeah.
22:08Wow.
22:09That's amazing.
22:10Her mentions.
22:11What is happening in the economy of creators?
22:14I feel like there's been a big surge of more up and coming creators, especially like micro
22:21creators, super small that I've been seeing on TikTok.
22:25And I feel like on TikTok, it's gotten harder to go viral and like gain followers from when
22:33I started back like five years ago.
22:37But I see a lot more people trying and being consistent, which is cool to see.
22:43But that's mainly on TikTok.
22:44I feel like YouTube, I haven't seen many new creators trying, but YouTube's not going anywhere.
22:51They have their like tried and true creators always.
22:55I've been seeing a big surge on TikTok for sure.
22:59There's so many creators, but like the top group kind of get all the views, get all the
23:03spoils.
23:04Like, is it much like how do you break in these days?
23:07I feel like the competition is so fierce.
23:09It's kind of like when the barrier entry is so low, it makes the competition so high.
23:15How can someone like, if you were doing this right, starting this again right now from
23:19scratch, how would you break in?
23:21How would you start your social media career?
23:23Well, number one thing is passion because that will show in your work no matter what
23:29it is.
23:30You don't need to do a specific category just because you think that people would like that
23:35category.
23:36Do what you like to do first so then you can do it well and then be consistent, which I
23:41feel like is getting harder nowadays just seeing the sheer size of the competition.
23:47It's intimidating to post nowadays, but be consistent and do what you love and then keep
23:56doing it until you get great.
23:59And that would be, that's what I would do if I was first starting.
24:02I feel like everyone thinks it's like, everyone's like a one hit wonder, like, oh, I posted
24:07my Starbucks video and I'm an overnight star.
24:11But like you said, you've been doing this since 2016 and you kind of, you got to, it's
24:15like you take as many at bats as you can and maybe you hit that home run.
24:19And then after you got that one hit, did it kind of get easier?
24:23It got easier for me to make videos, I would say, but I would, there would be times where
24:28I would have videos do horrible, but I wouldn't let that affect me because I knew that the
24:34next video could go viral.
24:36So if I would have stopped, I would have never been where I'm at today.
24:39So just got to keep at it.
24:42What was your first time you ever made money in this?
24:44Do you remember like the first deal?
24:46I do.
24:47It was for a very small energy drink company that I don't think they're around today.
24:54It was for $50 and I was over the moon.
24:57And I told my parents and they were like, oh, great, okay, cool.
25:02Put my all into that video.
25:04And I think it's still up to this day on TikTok, but that was my first one.
25:09The video survived the company.
25:10It survived beyond the company.
25:12It did.
25:13And I think it actually did really well.
25:15So they got a great bang for their buck.
25:18So $50 and what would you charge today?
25:25That depends, I would say, on the scope.
25:27But a lot more than $50?
25:28A lot more than $50, yeah.
25:29It was like six figures?
25:30Five, six figures, depending.
25:34What was it like when you...
25:35So you said you're going to college, doing the standard safe thing, and then you dropped
25:41out to make videos online.
25:43Yes.
25:45Was that super scary to kind of like, I'm...
25:49I assume you were living at home at the time?
25:51Mm-hmm.
25:52So you're living at home.
25:53You dropped out of school, that you thought this was your dream, and now you're in this
25:56very kind of volatile, vicarious role.
26:01What was your mental kind of process to get through that?
26:04Or were you just like, I'm going to do this, I'm young, like hell with the convention?
26:09I wasn't scared, to be honest, because I knew that I had some place in the entertainment
26:16industry, and I was super passionate about it.
26:18So if one thing didn't work, I'd move on to the next, but in the creative space.
26:23But my parents, on the other hand, thought it was a terrible idea, and they were supportive
26:29of me, but at a distance.
26:32They thought I should continue school and get a 9-to-5 typical job, but I didn't let
26:41that stop me, you know?
26:42And then I kind of proved to them over the years that this is sustainable, and now they're
26:50super supportive, way over the moon.
26:52They help me come up with video ideas and gather props and all of the above, so...
26:58It's become a family business.
26:59Yeah.
27:00Yeah, it has.
27:01So what's your typical week?
27:02Yes.
27:03Like, are you trying to do a video a week?
27:07Yours take a lot longer than just holding up the phone, so you're not posting three
27:10times a day sort of thing.
27:12Right.
27:13In the beginning, I was posting multiple times a day, but as it's gotten more complicated,
27:17I try to post twice a week, but typically it's like one every four to five days.
27:25But I'm trying to film at least twice a week, or three times, depending on how many videos
27:32I need to get done, or if there's a brand deal, I will film a lot more.
27:35But I feel like every day I'm doing something that involves either video creation, editing,
27:41prop making, or filming.
27:43So every single day there's something that I'm doing.
27:46What do you edit on?
27:48I edit on...
27:50A lot of times I edit on my phone, like 95% of the time.
27:54I use CapCut, Video Leap are my two stars.
27:57I started on iMovie, which was great.
28:03And sometimes I'll use Adobe as well.
28:04Okay.
28:05So that's amazing.
28:06Like, you do all those jump cuts and transitions with your phone and basically CapCut.
28:13Yeah.
28:14Pretty much.
28:15I'm learning CapCut.
28:16I'm not doing jump cuts yet, but I can add B-roll, which I'm very proud of.
28:21For me, that's a big deal.
28:22That is big.
28:24I mean, you start somewhere.
28:25When I started editing, I knew nothing.
28:27Nobody taught me.
28:28I kind of learned everything on my own and on YouTube helped, but practice makes perfect
28:34and you get better the more you do it.
28:36You mentioned you want to look longer, long form.
28:39You'd love to do horror movies.
28:41Would you...
28:42Do you see yourself one day as making a film?
28:45Absolutely.
28:46Yeah.
28:47I'm just coming out with my first short film that I wrote, co-directed, and acted in.
28:54So that's super exciting.
28:55It is a horror.
28:56What's it called?
28:58It's called Funny Bunny.
29:00Funny Bunny.
29:01Yes.
29:02Okay.
29:03It's not very...
29:04The bunny's not very funny.
29:05I can imagine.
29:06But it's...
29:07I self-funded that myself and we had like a 20 person crew.
29:11We shot it all in one day.
29:12You shoot on your phone?
29:13No.
29:14Okay.
29:15We had the...
29:16I'm not sure the exact camera.
29:18I don't know what we used, but it was some super big fancy looking camera.
29:21But the footage turned out great and we're in like the final editing stages of it right
29:26now.
29:27And you're going to enter it into like the film festivals and those sort of things?
29:29Yes.
29:30We're going to do festivals and seeing from there where it's going to live.
29:35What's the plot?
29:36Yes.
29:37I know there's a bunny involved.
29:39Yes.
29:40Okay.
29:41So I am a babysitter to this kid who begins losing way too many teeth in one night.
29:48I'm already scared.
29:49Yes.
29:50And basically we start finding teeth all around and this kid isn't a normal kid.
29:58And there's a monster in the house.
29:59And that's all I will say.
30:00All right.
30:01I'm hooked.
30:02I'm hooked.
30:03What was that like going...
30:04Again, I love how you made this jump from like short film on a phone to like full production.
30:09What did you kind of...
30:13What skills did you bring with your...
30:16What skills did your experience bring and also did you learn new things from that experience?
30:22Oh, absolutely.
30:24I surprised myself with the organization of things.
30:28It's kind of similar when doing one of my short fever dreams, but just kind of times
30:34100.
30:36We did...
30:37I think we did like a 12-hour shoot, but we took everything like one step at a time
30:43just like I do with my fever dreams.
30:45And we actually did a fever dream section in the short film, which I'm not going to
30:51spoil.
30:52But it's very unique and very new and I'm excited to see how people react to that.
30:56That's so cool.
30:57If you...
30:58What has been your biggest lesson in this?
31:00Like if you were going back to...
31:02Go back in time and you're about...
31:04You could tell yourself right before you filmed that, the Starbucks video that went viral,
31:09what advice would you now give to you back then?
31:15I would say don't let anyone's opinion sway what you create because in the beginning when
31:22I was creating, I would get some backlash of saying like, oh, that's weird.
31:27Like why are you creating these odd videos?
31:32And then I kind of started to sway what I was doing and tried to stick to more of a
31:36just strictly trends and what I think people would do.
31:40But then I kind of got rid of that voice and just did really what I wanted to do.
31:44And clearly that worked for me.
31:47Yeah, so you must get kind of interesting comments, especially with your topics tend
31:54to be kind of eerie and dark and surreal.
31:56I'm sure that elicits many different opinions from many different people.
32:01How do you kind of deal with your audience?
32:03How do you...
32:04If there's any hate, how do you kind of deal with that psychological burden?
32:07Yeah.
32:08I mean, lately it's been...
32:10This past year it's been pretty positive, which is nice.
32:14But I used to let the comments get to me and I would read most of them.
32:18Nowadays I read as many as I can, but I skip over any hate ones for sure.
32:26But I don't know.
32:29You just got to learn from it.
32:31Like I used to let it affect me and it would like hinder my videos and kind of sway the
32:38choices I would make in my videos.
32:40But now I just kind of do me and that's been working.
32:43Yeah.
32:44I was going to talk to creators that say, you have to read the comments.
32:46Other people say, I don't look at the comments ever.
32:48Other people say, I pay someone to look at the comments and just give me feedback, but
32:53filter out all the kind of crazy hate sort of stuff.
32:56Interesting.
32:57I've never heard of that.
32:59That's pretty cool.
33:00But you tend to read through them until it's like, ah, too much.
33:02I do.
33:03I read through them a lot and I'll respond back to a lot of them.
33:07And some of them will give me new ideas too and opinions.
33:10And you can learn from your audience that way to know what to do in the next video.
33:14Yeah.
33:15You ever do a video where it's all like, not crowdsourced, but like you take requests and
33:18like themes and stuff?
33:19Yeah.
33:20I've done some polls, especially like I did one one time where it was, tell me a fever
33:26dream that you've had.
33:28And I got some responses from that and then made a video from one of them.
33:32Cool.
33:33Well, a selfish question here at Forbes, obviously, you know, old media and new media are merging
33:38together for sure.
33:39You're a master storyteller.
33:42What lessons could you give a media brand like Forbes that's been around for a hundred
33:46years to kind of up their social game or up the way they connect with their audience?
33:54I would say just be open to all different types of promotion.
33:59Like you don't have to stick to the typical, the typical video or typical video style.
34:06Kind of be unique and be creative with marketing in that way.
34:10And I feel like people really appreciate that because it's different.
34:13Very cool.
34:14And last question, are you seeing a change from the way brands worked with creators a
34:18year ago to now?
34:20I feel like it's changing so fast.
34:22There's so much more money rushing through the space.
34:24Kind of like what are you seeing?
34:25Yeah, no, I've been seeing a lot more for sure and from my experience as well.
34:32But I feel like brands are pretty good nowadays at picking the right creator for their brand.
34:39And it's been a learning process for creators and brands.
34:42But just sticking to creative freedom and for the brand to pick the right creator, you
34:49need to know the audience that's going to be watching.
34:54So I'd say that's the most important.
34:56How would you summarize your audience?
34:57What's like the Savannah Moss community?
34:59What's the makeup?
35:00Mine's pretty 50-50 with female-male, which is cool.
35:06But I have a lot of movie fans, a lot of horror fans.
35:10And then just a lot of, sorry, I would say my age range is like 18 to 24 I think is the
35:18highest.
35:19And then it goes 25 to 35 is the second highest, like age range-wise.
35:24That's cool.
35:25And that's important.
35:26Like when you go to sell a brand, you say like, this is my audience, this is what you
35:30have.
35:31Mm-hmm.
35:32Yeah.
35:33Who is the, I know every brand wants different things, but what's like the most valuable
35:35audience right now?
35:36What is, what's everyone after?
35:38Like age range-wise?
35:39Or?
35:40Just in general.
35:41Just people.
35:42You always want younger because then you'll be a customer for longer, right?
35:46Exactly.
35:48People that are active as well and like wanting to be loyal to that creator to say like they
35:55dropped merch or they have a product line, looking for people with like super loyal followers
36:01and not just watchers of the videos.
36:03Cool.
36:04Well, Savannah Moss, thank you so much for joining us on Top Creators.
36:07Thank you so much for having me.