Exclusive: 20 years in, this OG YouTube channel is opening a new studio to support its growth

Twenty years ago, not too long after Youtube itself launched, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla started uploading videos to the platform. What started as two teenagers trying to make each other laugh turned into the biggest channel on YouTube. It was the first ever to reach 10 million subscribers. Eventually Smosh was acquired by a company called Defy Media. The company would expand rapidly–more videos, more cast members, even a movie–but then came turmoil and uncertainty for Smosh. 

Padilla left the company in 2017, largely due to creative differences with Smosh’s parent company. He returned to the business in 2023, when he and Hecox purchased Smosh from YouTuber-led media company Mythical (which acquired the brand in 2019 following Defy Media’s abrupt collapse). 

From left: Ian Hecox, Anthony Padilla, Ale Catanese [Photos: Brennan Iketani (Catanese)/courtesy Smosh]

Alongside the purchase, Hecox and Padilla hired Alessandra Catanese—an executive with over a decade&#821