Adobe is investing more in creator eduction. Ahead of Adobe MAX, the creative software company launched Adobe’s Creator Playbook, a free, creator-led masterclass series featuring lessons crafted by top names like Dhar Mann and Kinigra Deon. The goal is to use real-world expertise to teach creators how to strengthen their craft.
The 10 courses that are part of the Creator Playbook will be offered at Adobe MAX from Nov. 10 to 12. Two digital versions of the courses will then launch on Nov. 10, starting with the courses taught by Madeline Salazar and Curious Refuge. The remaining eight will roll out in the coming months.
Here are the 10 courses part of the Creator Playbook as well as the creators teaching each:
- Enhance and Edit Your Images with Precision Using AI Assistance: Madeline Salazar
- AI-Generated Content: Take an AI-Native Idea Through the Full Creative Pipeline: Curious Refuge
- Scaling Your Creator Business: Dhar Mann
- Long-Form Storytelling & Scripted: Kinigra Deon
- Creator Fundamentals with Platform and Distribution Strategy: Jon Youshaei
- Format, Hooks, Thumbnails and Clipping: Airrack
- Brand Partnerships and Monetization: Michelle Phan
- Ideation: Build the Visual World of a New Story Before You Commit to Production: Shantell Martin
- From Footage to Storytelling: Emonee LaRussa
- Branded Content That Drives Action: Oren John
“There was already an amazing amount of resources out there on YouTube and group chats, et cetera, on becoming a creator, but there was not necessarily this holistic packaging of digital learning,” Meg Donovan, senior director of product marketing for creators at Adobe, told TheWrap about the development of the project.
The team spent about three to four months putting the Creator Playbook together, working closely with Adobe’s creator and product teams to best understand the pain and interest points creators may have. They first outlined its curriculum, making sure that they included the right collection of topics that focused on craft, building a business, distribution and AI tools. After the outline was settled, Adobe then brought in a mix of creators who were experts on each of the chosen topics.
Caleb Ward, the CEO of the AI storytelling hub Curious Refuge, is one of those creators. Ward is behind the course “AI-Generated Content: Take an AI-Native Idea Through the Full Creative Pipeline.”
“I would not have the creative career that I would have today without Adobe,” Ward told TheWrap. “So to the flip script and have them ask me to assist with the Creator Playbook was truly a dream come true.”
Ward and his team spent a couple of weeks developing their course. One of the areas they focused on was how creators can use AI to put themselves in any studio in the world, which the team has dubbed “Studio Anywhere.” It’s an offering that can be transformative for newer creators, who may not have the money to afford studio space. Ward was especially excited to craft a course for creators rather than more traditional filmmakers, a clientele he works with more often.
“Frankly, me and my team are creators. We create tons of YouTube and social content, so in many ways, [the course] is a more natural thing for me to talk about because, day-to-day, we live the creator lifestyle,” Ward said.
Though this is the first year Adobe is releasing its Creator Playbook, the team wants to continue offering creator-focused support like these classes.
“The intention is to continue and figure out different ways to support the community,” Donovan said. “I’m interested in learning what they get out of it and how we shape it in the future so it can continue to be built around their needs.”
A major topic of Adobe’s Creator Playbook is how creators can incorporate AI into their workflows. To that end, the company also released some statistics about AI incorporation among creators as part of its Creators’ Toolkit Report, which surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. creators.
For creators who are already using AI in their workflow, more than three-fourths (78%) said that the technology has accelerated the growth of their business or following. That stat went up to 89% when it came to participants who described themselves as full-time creators.
Adobe also found that AI proficiency is becoming an increasingly valuable skill among creators. More than half (60%) of creators said that they believe creators with advanced AI skills are getting opportunities that they aren’t, and 51% said that they believe the gap between creators who are skilled in AI and those who aren’t will widen. For creators who are using creative AI, 89% said they were confident they can learn the AI skills they need to keep growing.
“I taught myself how to use many of the tools I rely on to create content today, so learning new skills and experimenting with technology have always been a big part of my creative journey,” Katarina Mogus, a tech creator and podcaster, said of her AI usage. “What excites me most is that AI doesn’t replace my creativity; it expands what’s possible. I’m still the one driving the vision, making the creative decisions and shaping the final result, but now I have even more ways to turn my ideas into reality.”
As for other other interesting statistics from the study, more than half (60%) of creators said that using creative AI has made it at least somewhat easier to create content that stands out from other creators’ work. However, 68% of creators using creative AI said they have to sometimes settle for a result that doesn’t quite match their vision.
As for creators who use agentic AI for creative work, 36% said that they let agentic AI complete a project for them that was once too complicated. Over half (59%) said that agents have saved them time overall, even after they have given instructions, refined results and made creative decisions. But a majority of creators (77%) agreed that final creative decision should always remain with the human creator.
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