In today’s attention economy, billions of views are a currency few creators will ever touch. Matthew Watts has done it, and not just by accident. The TikTok and Snapchat star, known online as Fleeting Films, has turned quirky experiments, fruit surgeries, and unlikely piano duets into a global audience. But behind the viral hits lies something bigger, a blueprint for how creators can thrive in a volatile digital world.
And Watts has lived it all firsthand. He built a business from the ground up, reached billions of viewers, and now teaches others how to do the same. His story is about transforming creativity into a sustainable enterprise, rather than just about entertaining clips.
The Rise of a Creator-Entrepreneur
Once upon a time, making it in entertainment meant getting a record deal, a film contract, or a TV slot. For Watts, the stage is social media, and the barriers to entry have collapsed. But he’ll be the first to tell you that virality isn’t enough. What keeps his business alive is not just metrics, but mindset.
“I’m an artist at heart,” Watts says. “That drive to create keeps me consistent, even when no one is watching.” Along with that drive comes what he calls his three essentials – a growth mindset, resilience through setbacks, and systems that allow him to post consistently without relying on a single viral moment.
Plenty of creators struggle to turn attention into income, but Watts has built multiple streams. Ad revenue is the backbone, but diversification, such as licensing, selective partnerships, and courses, is something that keeps him steady as platforms shift.
“My inbox is full of offers,” Watts admits. “I ignore most of them. Chasing every affiliate deal takes you away from creating.” Instead, he focuses on nurturing ideas that bring genuine value, while teaching others to choose wisely through his course, Viral Blueprint, launching in October 2025.
From Wall Street to Viral Stardom
Watts didn’t stumble into this. His background is in finance, where discipline, patience, and risk assessment were daily work. Passing his Series 7 and 63 licenses, earning his Certified Equity Professional designation from Santa Clara, and working at Wells Fargo, E*TRADE, and Fidelity gave him a toolkit few creators have.
“I learned how people’s choices shape their futures,” he says. “That’s why I’m not afraid to invest in content, even in crazy ideas.” Renting an ambulance for a fruit patient? That’s just smart risk-taking to him.
His SHAPE Method, developed through years of trial and error, is his framework for stacking the odds in a creator’s favor. “There are a lot of gimmicks out there — causing scenes in public, doing stunts just for attention,” Watts explains. “My approach is more practical. SHAPE takes proven elements and turns them into something creators can actually use, across any niche.”
He’s tested it himself, scaling to over 5 billion lifetime views across platforms, and now shares it for free at ViralBlueprint.com.
Balancing Instinct and Data
Even with a system, creativity remains central. Watts trusts his instincts first, launching series like Fruit Surgery, Discount Dentist, and Dancing Sharks because they felt risky but fun. Then he dives into retention graphs and watch-time analytics to refine. “If watch time drops, I adjust. If it soars, I double down,” he says. According to him, it’s a balance between art and math, instinct and evidence.
So, for a creator who has already reached milestones that most dream of, what comes next? For Watts, it’s not just financial growth or industry influence. It’s legacy.
“I have more ideas than I could ever make myself,” he admits. “At one point, I considered hiring a team to make videos for me. But I realized the joy in creating doesn’t come from hoarding all the glory, it comes from helping others scale their own.”
That realization shaped his next chapter: teaching. Through his Viral Blueprint course and free resources, he’s showing thousands of creators that success online isn’t reserved for the lucky few. He’s taken a finance brain, an artist’s heart, and a strategist’s eye, and fused them into a business that thrives beyond trends.
Billions of views may grab attention. But Watts’ real achievement is showing that creators can build careers with staying power. And in a landscape where platforms rise and fall overnight, that might just be the most valuable lesson of all.
