TOGETHER WITH

It's Friday and thanks to Mercedes, ChatGPT is hitting the road (literally).

TRENDING UPWARD

The host of Spotify’s #1 podcast for women is launching a brand-new media company

Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper has joined forces with her fiancé—ACE Entertainment CEO Matt Kaplan—to launch Trending, a media company dedicated to “crafting tomorrow’s stories for an independent, resourceful and inclusive generation.”

As the new parent company of both Call Her Daddy and Ace Entertainment, Trending is already starting out with some major connections in the entertainment industry. Cooper’s hit podcast alone has a $60+ million distribution deal with Spotify, while ACE produces film/TV/digital content like the recent To All The Boys I Loved Before spinoff Xo, Kitty.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Trending’s co-founders will continue to leverage their individual industry expertise by taking on distinct roles at the new company; Kaplan will lead financing, production, and distribution, while Cooper will lead audience engagement and franchising. Those positions should keep both execs plenty busy: as of now, Trending says it plans to produce everything from scripted and unscripted content to podcasts, digital media, live events, merch, and more.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

The creator economy’s first members-only community is finally here. Here are 3 reasons to join Juice Club:

Welcome to Juice Club: the first-ever creator community to offer everything from flexible funding to personalized support and expert-led monthly events. Juice Club is the brainchild of Creative Juice, a leading creator company dedicated to providing creators with crucial business resources and funding to help them grow—including the Black Creator Incubator, Juice Books, and Juice Funds.

Here are three reasons to get started with ​Juice Club​:

1. No more waiting on AdSense and brand deal payouts ⏳
With Juice Club, you can get advances on AdSense payouts every single month and get paid in full for brand deals that are still pending payment.

2. Flexible funding and bookkeeping tools equals less stress and more money 💸 
When you join Juice Club, you’ll gain access to short-term funding designed around your individual needs—plus creator-specific bookkeeping tools like unlimited invoice and 1099 generation, expense tracking, and more.

3. You’ll ​find your community​ and an expert support system all at once 🤝 
From exclusive monthly creator sessions and networking events to same business day support from creator economy professionals, you’ll never have to go it alone.

Ready to join Juice Club? Hit the button below to learn everything you need to know.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Creator company Jellysmack has acquired Network Media LLC, which describes itself as a “multi-platform, high-growth creator content company.” (Tubefilter)
  

• Refinery29 has debuted a shoppable Twitch stream themed around its “Most Wanted” feature. (Tubefilter)
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• Creator commerce platform Amaze is now the exclusive producer and distributor of all official PewDiePie merch. (Tubefilter)
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• Raye Boyce—aka the beauty YouTuber behind ItsMyRaeRae—has signed with Kensington Grey Agency. (Tubefilter)

DATA • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈

This Snapchat star posts from the second she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed

Gianna Christine is 100% committed to content creation. In addition to posting daily videos on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, Christine estimates that she posts an average of 200 times per day on Snapchat: “[f]rom the second I wake up, pretty much until I go to bed.”

Of course, that level of commitment is nothing new for Christine.

The multiplatform creator first started making YouTube videos when she was just 16 years old. Those initial clips didn’t take off, so Christine found another way to stay in the creator space: video editing. Then, in her junior year of college, the Snapchat star enrolled in a social media class that required students to make their own TikTok accounts. So, she posted a few quick videos—including one in which she jokingly sang a Madison Beer song off-key.

That assignment earned her 5 million views (and hopefully an A+).

These days, Christine has nearly 3 million followers on TikTok, almost half a million YouTube subscribers, and a wildly devoted Snapchat fanbase. That last group knows the creator best: on Snapchat, viewers follow her throughout her entire day—from mornings at the gym to adventures in the city—and frequently offer supportive messages when she’s in need of advice or having a rough time.

And for Christine, that sense of community and support is what creating content is all about:

TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN?

What happens if a national TikTok ban doesn’t pass the Senate? Don’t worry—there’s a backup plan.

TikTok might have some hope of escaping a federal ban after all. As the Senate’s overarching RESTRICT Act struggles to gather the votes it needs to pass, a new bipartisan bill is being held up as a possible alternative: the Protecting Americans’ Data From Foreign Surveillance Act. Unlike the RESTRICT ACT—which aims to prevent U.S. residents from accessing TikTok altogether—the PADFFSA would regulate the movement of U.S. data across international borders without banning apps like TikTok outright.

If that compromise passes, companies will need a license in order to move U.S. data into specific regions (as designated on a government list). Theoretically, that means TikTok would be able to maintain key operations in the U.S., even if it lacked the authority to send U.S. data to countries like China.

The PADFFSA’s authorship is just as intriguing.

The new bill is co-authored by Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR, pictured above), the latter of whom is one of the original writers of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 provides platforms like YouTube and TikTok with powerful protections, and Wyden himself often testifies as a defender of big tech’s “safe harbor” status.

Now, Wyden and Lummis’ proposed bill could offer TikTok a lifeline as it seeks to move forward with its plan to store American user data on stateside servers. If Project Texas does get cut short by legislation like the RESTRICT Bill, however, the Bytedance-owned app is keeping its options open. In South East Asia (where TikTok serves a massive audience of 325 million monthly users), the platform reportedly plans to double down on its ecommerce ventures with a multibillion-dollar investment.

WATCH THIS 📺

Is this the greatest room makeover ever?

If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan and an avid Dungeons & Dragons player, then the answer is most likely a resounding yes. The creators behind Nerdforge (aka Martina and Hansi) often wow their viewers with creations like dog armor, bespoke dwarven castles, and enormous grimoires.

Martina’s latest video takes that fantastical craftsmanship one step further by turning her entire room into a “proper magical wizard’s study.” The end result is pretty spellbinding—so if you’re in need of some witchy decor inspo, be sure to give the full video a watch.

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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.