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- Sidemen chicken empire expands 🍗
TOGETHER WITH
It's Thursday and if you’re able to tune into an hour of Street Fighter 6 gameplay on Twitch, you might win some free guac from Chipotle.
PLAYING CHICKEN
The Sidemen are expanding their fried chicken empire
The U.K.-based creator supergroup is bringing Sides to ten new locations throughout North England and Scotland. The Sidemen’s seven members—KSI, Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL, Behzinga, Vikkstar123, and Wroetoshaw—originally teamed up with Virtual Hero in 2021 to launch their chicken brand as a virtual food concept. Since then, they’ve established three physical Sides locations in the wider London area.
The Sidemen’s restaurant brand isn’t just about delicious fried chicken.
According to Zerkaa (aka Josh Bradley), “fans have been crying out for more Sides locations.” That “fever pitch demand” (as Bradley describes it) comes in part from the chicken brand’s dual purpose: in addition to selling fried delicacies like Nashville-style hot chicken, the restaurants function as entertainment centers and meeting points for Sidemen fans across the U.K.
There’s also an economic upside to the opening of the next several Sides locations (and not just for the Sidemen themselves). Since all ten shops are slated to open before the end of the year, the brand will create more than 100 jobs by 2024.
Unfortunately for the group’s American fans, U.S.-based Sides locations aren’t currently on the menu. The upside: the Sidemen plan to open 200 new physical and virtual Sides locales over the next 10 years—meaning the brand could theoretically make a trip across the pond. If a cross-continental jump is in the cards, the YouTubers will certainly have the cash to fund it: alongside the expansion of Sides, the Sidemen recently inked a “multi-million pound” deal with Viewture.
🔆 SPONSORED 🔆
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰
True crime podcaster Kendall Rae has signed with Night alongside her husband and Mile Higher co-host Josh Thomas. (Tubefilter)
Instagram is reportedly testing out transparency controls that will alert creators if watermarks are affecting the visibility of their posts. (TechCrunch)
Thanks to a recent update, Snapchat+ subscribers can now expect image-based replies when sending Snaps to the app’s controversial MyAI chatbot. (TechCrunch)
Meta has released a statement warning California legislators that it will “remove news from Facebook and Instagram” if required to pay “journalism usage fees” under a proposed bill. (Gizmodo)
DATA • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈
This AR effects creator is generating some serious buzz on TikTok
Eddy Adams was “a little bit late getting into TikTok.” Once the platform’s Effects House came around, though, it became clear that Adams had a knack for creating viral effects—probably because he’d already devoted years of hard work to 3D design.
Adams says he’s been “playing around in 3D” since he was “barely just out of diapers.” He continued studying the field in college, and then worked at an ad agency for a solid ten years. Eventually, one of Adams’ freelancing jobs led him to try out augmented reality. “Very quickly,” the creator says, he “went from just a lowly 3D motion designer at an agency, basically, to working with really big clients.”
Then Adams received a life-changing invitation: TikTok wanted him to join the beta program for Effect House.
It was a perfect fit. Adams’ first two effects went “properly viral,” scoring 1 billion views each. Soon after, he created an effect that generated more buzz than ever before: Tiny Bee. Since its genesis, Adams says the chunky little insect has been used by “3 million users across TikTok, which got up to a billion views across those millions of videos.”
Enjoy our approximation of Adams’ viral masterpiece (or just click the GIF to see the creator’s actual effect in action).
That success has helped Adams carve out a prominent space in the AR community—but he’s still making time to share the wealth with rising artists:
“I’m both giving to the community as an AR creator but also as an educator, which is a really satisfying place to be in because I get paid but I also get to help other people out.”
THE KING’S GAMBIT
Night just signed the creator of YouTube’s most-subscribed-to chess channel
Levy Rozman—aka the International Master behind GothamChess—is joining forces with Night. The 27-year-old chess wiz has signed with the Austin- and L.A.-based management company for representation in all areas.
“Levy has amassed more than 1.4 billion views on his main channel alone, earning him a reputation as the internet’s chess teacher. Together with the Night team, we will continue to elevate his brand to new heights in one of the internet’s hottest categories.”
Rozman’s meteoric success has been a long time in the making. The NYC-based creator first began playing chess when he was just five years old, and became an International Master back in 2018. His rise to fame on YouTube coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic—and the 2020 release of Netflix‘s smash hit chess series, The Queen’s Gambit.
During that “crazy period,” the creator says, his channel went from around 100,000 lifetime views to 1 million in just 48 hours.
These days, Rozman says he’s focused on “building longevity.” The chess master’s primary channel has now grown to encompass over 1 billion views and nearly 4 million subscribers, and he’s looking forward to a book launch in October. A partnership with Night will allow Rozman to continue seizing opportunities both on and off YouTube:
“I think in general working with Night has opened, not just so many doors, but there’s just so many options to do different cool projects. You’re working with a group of people who you can completely trust.”
WATCH THIS 📺
The cast of Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Queer Love is going all out on TikTok
Unhinged drama is the bread and butter of reality dating shows, but the latest iteration of Netflix’s The Ultimatum takes ill-fated love to the next level. Luckily for the show’s fans (who were forced to wait an entire week for the release of Episodes 5-8), several cast members have taken the drama online.
The Ultimatum: Queer Love stars Lexi Goldberg and Raelyn “Rae” Cheung-Sutton have already attracted plenty of views thanks to their BTS takes on the series—but if you check out their videos, be aware that spoilers are everywhere.
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.