Lucy Smith, Creative Director and Founder of Fawkes Digital questions why there are so few female leaders in the digital-first entertainment industry.
Digital platforms are reshaping the global entertainment industry, with YouTube, TikTok, Instagram et al democratising who gets to punch through with new IP.
Huge creator collectives dominate conversations – mega clicks to The Sidemen, Mr Beast, Beta Squad, Bov Boys.
Game changing companies are leading the charge – After Party Studios, Strongwatch, Spirit Studios, Cowshed Collective, Fan Club, Objekt.
Exceptional new hires are being made across the board – brilliant digital pioneers like Adam Middleton and Jamie Crossan at Fremantle, Sacha Khari and Matt Ford at Sony, Alex Morris at 4Studio, George Cudmore at ITN.
Huge kudos.
But where are all the women?
Digital is meant to be an entertainment democratiser, but as content professionalises and investment floods into the creator economy, it’s fascinating to see so few women occupying a seat at the top digital table – that shapes the content that gets made and the voices that get heard.
46% of UK YouTube users are female, representing tens of millions of viewers, yet across Britain’s biggest creator ecosystems, women remain dramatically underrepresented in both leadership and talent. Based on top YouTube channel listings in the UK for early 2026, only around 10 of the top 100 independent creator-led channels feature women as the primary talent, and within that small number very few are building scalable entertainment formats or studio-style productions.
Two years into establishing Fawkes Digital, we find ourselves in the bizarre “niche” of being one of the only female-founded companies dominating in female-led digital entertainment.
Is it because the algorithm favours male creators? Is it because it’s easier to hire people you know or commission from those who share your lived experience? Is it because a cohort of senior producers who’ve grown up with YouTube are now juggling tiny children and feel less free to take career risks? Is it because YouTube still feels like something blokes watch on the bog? (Side gripe: We know in 2026 it’s not all men-on-the-loo browsing – 45% of all YouTube viewing takes place on a TV screen, ushering in a new era of co-viewing. But whose profile are you logged into? Why do I get served videos about padel and cold baths? While YouTube remains a profile-led platform on the telly, could it be that I’ll always be beholden to the viewing algorithm of my husband?)
The audience opportunity feels enormous.
Across social platforms, women consistently drive some of the most engaged communities online, yet the pipeline of female-led entertainment brands on YouTube remains thin. There’s a huge commercial opportunity for broadcasters and brands to serve this audience with content that feels empowering, hilarious, entertaining and tonally female.
Our lived experience shapes the content we make, so it’s no coincidence that nearly all of Fawkes Digital’s formats pivot around brilliant, empowered women – whether that’s our LinkedIn format CEOs Go Wild exclusively featuring female leaders and entrepreneurs, our 4.0 dating show Baddest in the World set in Korea, or our Hearst Networks true crime format My Child Killed. And as a white woman, I am absolutely laser focused on using business won to give a platform to women of colour and we’re committed to spotlighting creators of colour, casting contributors of colour and hiring crew of colour on all our shows.
We work with the hottest female creators in the UK – Nella Rose, Yinka Bokinni, Paige Lewin, Chloe Burrows, Tinuke Oyediran – and create formats that celebrate female perspectives, humour, friendships and ambition.
And audiences are responding.
Across digital platforms, female-fronted content is consistently outperforming expectations in engagement, watch time and community growth, particularly when formats centre around authentic conversation and female humour.
I’m feeling optimistic – there’s a sense that things are about to shift in the digital industry.
A handful of game changing women are galvanising into a community of champions and collaborators. Commissioners are expanding their circles of influence – Paramount’s Amie Parker-Williams and Channel 4 Digital’s Laura Marks and Evie Buckley, entrepreneurs are taking the plunge – Aphra Kennedy Fletcher of Modem, Hollie Abbott of Awkward – publicity champions are making noise – Michele Marsland – and women with world class talent relationships are plunging into original production – Milly Bell, Elspeth Rae and Bronagh Monahan. I’m excited to collaborate with you all and to see your endeavours bring huge commercial success, influence and power 🔥
Watch this niche.
