The Creator Economy Got Its First Physical Campus

In NYC & LA

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The Lighthouse is a physical campus built by Whalar Group for professional creators. 

The concept was inspired by Andy Warhol's Factory, a space that functioned simultaneously as production studio and social engine.

The Venice campus, a renovated 1937 post office, launched in February 2025 was a 24,000-square-foot facility housing production studios, collaborative workspaces, and event areas. 

The Brooklyn campus followed in November 2025 inside the historic 1872 Pencil Factory, with twice the footprintA third campus in EMEA is planned for 2026.

Colin and Samir serve as creators-in-residence and co-chairs of the Creator Council.

In short: it is the first serious attempt to give the creator economy the same physical infrastructure that film schools, law schools, and business schools have given their industries for decades.

USC Film School has studios and mentors in the same building. Harvard Law has moot courts and senior partners in the same hallway. Wharton has case studies and investors in the same room.

The creator economy has had none of that. Until now.

The learning tracks alone - creative direction, AI, e-commerce, finance, investment, HR, and legal - describe a creator who is running a company and needs the knowledge to match.

Whalar reported that 95 percent of creators it worked with last year were full-time. Nearly 20 percent had at least one full-time employee.
The Lighthouse is being built for that version of the creator.

The one running a business, not just a channel. The one who outgrew YouTube tutorials and Discord servers but had nowhere to go next.

Has the business you're building already outgrown the infrastructure available to you?