Creative 100 2023: TV and Streaming’s Leading Innovators

TV is at a crossroads, with the competition among streamers intensifying and the Writers Guild of America strike highlighting the need for equitable opportunities among creators. At the same time, the appetite from viewers for quality content remains fierce. These innovators—part of Adweek’s 2023 Creative 100—are the talent fueling the space, captivating audiences and showing what can happen when the conditions for creativity are ripe. Alec Berg Executive producer, co-creator, Barry Bye bye, Barry: In May, Berg said farewell to Barry, the HBO dark comedy he co-created with the show's star Bill Hader, which finished its fourth and final season. Critics praised the show’s finale, with The Guardian calling Barry—which has been nominated for 44 Emmys, with nine wins—“the true best show on television.” Comedic genius: Berg is no stranger to critical acclaim, having been nominated for 23 Emmys throughout the course of his career. A defining comedic voice of his generation, he has worked on seminal shows including Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He is an alum of the famed Harvard Lampoon and got his start on NBC’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Signature move: Last September, Berg inked a three-year deal with ABC Signature, under which he will develop new projects for the studio across all platforms. “I’m looking forward to working as hard as I can to produce the kind of quality entertainment that has made Disney the greatest brand in media history,” he said at the time. —Brittaney Kiefer Dave Burd ('Lil Dicky') Creator, star, Dave That's a rap: It started with a rap music video that hit more than 1 million views in less than 24 hours. Today, Burd is the co-creator and star of Dave, the critically acclaimed, hit FXX show loosely based on his life. Goodby times: Long before taking the entertainment world by storm, Burd was an assistant account manager and copywriter for Goodby Silverstein & Partners from 2010-2013, where he learned production and made his first videos. “If I didn’t work at Goodby, I don’t think I would have been the success that I am,” he told Adweek in 2020. "Revolutionary" projects only: As he focuses on Dave, which wrapped its third season in May, Burd has been turning down most other job offers. “I’m not going to play, like, the comedic side character in a shitty comedy. I want to be in things that are up for Best Picture discussion, or I want to make my own revolutionary comedy or drama,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. —Luz Corona Daisy May Cooper Actor, writer Family stories: The four-time BAFTA-award winner graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 2010. Seven years later, she caught the attention of U.K. viewers in the mockumentary-style BBC sitcom This Country, which she wrote and starred in with her brother Charlie, basing it on their experiences growing up in rural England. Since then, she has become a power player in the ranks of British TV, lighting up screens with her own genre of compelling dark comedy. Unreasonable accolades: Cooper’s latest mind-bending series, 2022's Am I Being Unreasonable? (which aired on BBC One and later on Hulu), drew praise from critics for its ability to blend absurd humor with vulnerability—showcasing not just Cooper’s writing ability but also the gravitas she brings to her performance. Co-written with her best friend, Selin Hizli, the show has already been picked up for Season 2. This year, she also stars in Rain Dogs, a gritty tragicomedy about a struggling single mom. On creative collaboration: “It’s difficult to work with friends if you don’t have a really truthful, honest friendship,” Cooper told the BBC. “You don’t have time to pussy foot around each other or to take offense, and that is what the perfect writing partnership should be.” —Rebecca Stewart Amelia Dimoldenberg Broadcaster, YouTuber, comedian From chicken shops to global fame: Dimoldenberg founded her production company, Dimz Inc., in 2021, but has spent nearly a decade building her YouTube channel and Chicken Shop Date web series, in which she goes on dates in local chicken restaurants with stars like Ed Sheeran, Keke Palmer, Burna Boy, Jack Harlow, Daniel Kaluuya and Phoebe Bridgers. The series won a Streamy Award in 2021 and has elevated her to an international spotlight. Dimoldenberg’s YouTube channel now has 1.9 million subscribers, 287 million views and 16 million hours of content watched. She has also worked with brands including Coach, Olay, Google and Candy Crush. Golden moment: After presenting at shows such as The BRITs, The NME Awards and The Mercurys, Dimoldenberg made her U.S. red carpet debut at the 2023 Golden Globes, where she interviewed celebrities including Anya Taylor-Joy, Letitia Wright and Guillermo del Toro—and went viral following a flirtatious moment with Andrew Garfield. Addressing media’s biggest challenge: “UK journalism has a significant diversity problem in terms of ethnicity, with nonwhite journalists vastly under-represented. This is a systemic problem," she said. "I mentor young people, fundraise for arts access and youth service charities and am passionate about supporting projects which empower and uplift young people. There is so much more that I and others could be doing.” —Brittaney Kiefer Neil Druckmann Co-president, Naughty Dog; co-creator, The Last of Us Last man standing: The co-president of video game development Naughty Dog, Druckmann began his career interning at the company before advancing in the business and working on titles such as Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and creating and writing the hit 2013 game The Last of Us. This year, he co-created the equally successful HBO adaptation of the series, alongside writer Craig Mazin. Gaming the adaptation system: Historically, video game adaptations have been rough for Hollywood; however, The Last of Us was a runaway hit for HBO, with each Season 1 episode averaging more than 30 million viewers. Part of the series’ success comes from Druckmann and Mazin deepening The Last of Us lore in the adaptation: “Sometimes it just kind of answers and helps broaden and enrich the world of the game by exploring all these other avenues,” Druckmann told Nerdist. Helping the next generation: In addition to working on The Last of Us' second season, the exec is looking to give back to new creators. “I get, I think, more so now a feeling of pride of seeing other people kind of rise through the ranks and leave their mark on the industry, and that’s the kind of cycle that I think about a lot,” he told The Washington Post. —Bill Bradley Jenny Han Executive producer, showrunner, writer The Summer I Turned … to production: Han got into producing after one of her books, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, was adapted into a movie by Netflix, which eventually turned it into a trilogy. She was an executive producer on all three films, while also selling a Prime Video adaptation of her other book series, The Summer I Turned Pretty. While developing Summer, she sold XO, Kitty (To All the Boys spinoff series) and started her production company, Jenny Kissed Me. XO, Jenny: When it comes to work, Han wants to focus on the things that only she can do, and she puts a lot of time into those projects. For instance, Han executive produced and was co-showrunner for XO, Kitty for Netflix while also working on another series for Amazon. To all the genres Han loved before: Han focuses on the YA genre, which has led to collaborations with brands such as American Eagle and Forever 21. She said her love of YA goes back to her own coming-of-age story: “I spent most of my childhood in the library. The bus dropped me off there every day after school, and I stayed until closing time when my mom got off work. I read the whole YA section, and then I ended up being a YA writer.” —Bill Bradley Angela Kang TV writer, producer, showrunner, The Walking Dead Walking tall: Kang first started building a name for herself as an intern on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, before she joined FX series Terriers as a staff writer. In 2011, she joined AMC’s The Walking Dead as a story editor for Season 2, before quickly rising through the ranks to eventually become a showrunner for the show's final three seasons, leading up to the show's series finale last November. Silk worming: Moving from zombies to superheroes, Kang signed an overall deal with Amazon, where she'll oversee the upcoming series Silk: Spider Society, the first of a new slate of live-action TV shows based on the Marvel characters controlled by Sony. That show will first air on MGM+ before heading globally to Prime Video, and Kang said she is “so excited” to dive into her first challenge with Amazon: bringing Korean-American superhero Silk to life. Life after Dead: While The Walking Dead may have ended, the franchise lives on. And Kang will be executive producing an upcoming Walking Dead spinoff series, Daryl Dixon. –Mollie Cahillane Janine Nabers TV writer, executive producer, showrunner, Naberhood Productions Genre jumping: “If you’re afraid to write something, that’s a good thing,” said Nabers, who co-created Prime Video's gender-bending series Swarm with Donald Glover, and served as showrunner. “Lean in.” After starting out as a playwright in New York, she transitioned to television nine years ago on comedies like Girlfriends Guide to Divorce and Unreal, and comedy-dramas like Roar and Atlanta, for which she also co-executive produced Seasons 3 and 4. “My entire TV catalog is a hybrid of genres,” she said. On the WGA strike: “The strike is a perfect example of a course gone sour that needs to be corrected,” said Nabers. “It's almost impossible for most writers to make a living today and it's just wrong. We're teaching staff writers to work hard, but for what gain? I want to help others the way some of my mentors helped me. TV has no real future without them.” Personal mantra: “Stand up for yourself and the people/projects you believe in. But do it with integrity. Don't be a jerk.” –Mollie Cahillane Brittani Nichols Television writer, producer, actor, Abbott Elementary All Abbott hard work: A writer on Abbott Elementary since Season 1 and with a Season 2 producer title, Nichols worked hard to make it in Hollywood. “I started out doing various odd jobs while I was performing stand-up and improv comedy. I’ve worked in reality, sketch, variety and narrative television. My last job before Abbott Elementary was A Black Lady Sketch Show," she said. Striking back: “I’m proud to be a lot coordinator at Warner Bros. for the WGA strike. It’s been an honor to march beside my fellow writers as we fight for the continued existence of our profession.” Past meets present: Nichols’ upbringing in South Holland, Ill., shaped the writer’s career, revealing inequities from an early age, which further enforces the current fight for a fair Writers Guild of America contract amid what Nichols calls capitalistic greed and corporate cannibalization: “I am trying to address them by fighting alongside my union members and joining other workers to stand up against short-sighted corporations pillaging sector after sector to appease the wealthy.” —Bill Bradley Keke Palmer Actor, musician, director; creator, Key TV As her acting career unfolded over the past two decades, Palmer recognized the limitations of staying in front of the camera in a space that can lack talent accessibility and creative autonomy. Embracing the power of crafting her own narrative, she began exploring the unscripted side of entertainment while taking hold of ideation and production.The self-proclaimed “millennial diva” now uses online spaces to confidently capitalize on fan access to both rehearsed creative and off-the-cuff commentary, which often goes viral in a typically engineered digital environment. Through KeyTV, her free digital platform that she launched last November as an industry entry point for diverse creators, Palmer wants to present new talent with access to the creative control that she has long worked to establish for herself. “I had to exercise patience and believe that one day I would have the independence, both financially and creatively, to say and do the things I wanted with full force,” she said. In our June cover story, Palmer sat down with Adweek to talk through the creative process, artistic ownership and purpose-driven ambition that has carried her from child stardom into her unlikely personal brand. —Emmy Liederman Check out Adweek’s Creative 100 for 2023 by category: Agency Leaders | Rising Agency Talent | Branded Content Innovators | Influencers and Celebrities | Media Innovators | Authors and Artists | Directors This story is part of Adweek’s Creativity x Culture digital features package, which spotlights the people, marketing strategies and creativity driving lasting cultural and societal change.

The Creative 100

Creative 100 2023: TV and Streaming’s Leading Innovators

With television at a crossroads, these talents are captivating audiences

Alec Berg

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