It's Sunday and here’s a handpicked selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

But first, AMP’s summer subathon includes a fully-stocked, private Nando’s location—complete with all the peri-peri chicken six hungry creators could ever want.

CREATOR COMMOTION

Creators are quitting their jobs, haggling with mayors, and sparking in-flight chaos

The departure: Pirate Software is out at Ludwig’s Offbrand Games. The Blizzard alum turned Twitch streamer (whose real name is Jason “Thor” Hall) chose to leave Offbrand after his dissenting opinion on the “Stop Killing Games” movement caused critics to review-bomb Offbrand’s Rivals of Aether 2. Ludwig already shut down Offbrand’s events wing to focus on game publishing—so what happens next?

The negotiation: Kai Cenat recently consulted Eric Adams about another NYC giveaway. The Mayor of the Big Apple told Cenat that he could do a giveaway “the right way” after the streamer’s 2023 Union Square event ended in chaos and arrests. To set the record straight, can we get Zohran Mamdani’s stance on future Kai Cenat giveaways?

The flight risk: Nonstop Dan’s Kuwait Airways vlog turned into a fracas. Representatives for the airline demanded that Dan delete his footage after he was accosted by flight staff for recording mid-flight. Even if Kuwait Airways gets its hands on that footage, something tells me they won’t come out of this situation looking like the heroes.

THE BIZ

Getting down to business: Brand partnerships, culinary collabs, and more

The distribution deal: Lilly Singh is Doin’ It with a theatrical deal. In September, the creator-turned-director’s debut feature will get a nationwide theatrical run thanks to a distribution deal with Aura Entertainment. YouTube’s favorite Superwoman is showing the world that her powers are not limited to the internet.

The brand partner: MrBeast, meet Nick DiGiovanni. Nick, meet Jimmy. One of the most popular and active chefs on YouTube has joined Feastables as an official brand partner. Leveling up a notable creator snack brand seems easy enough, but teaching MrBeast how to cook? Now that’s a challenge of epic proportions.

The restaurant collab: The VTubers of hololive are heading to Kura Sushi USA. The chain known for its conveyor belt-based service has new menu items and merch designed in collaboration with some of the world’s biggest VTubers. Between this partnership and an upcoming return to Dodger Stadium, hololive is fully committed to its westward push.

The creator programs: Modern Retail recently published interviews with execs from Best Buy and Lowe’s, both of which have ramped up their creator partnerships. Best Buy CMO Jennie Weber said “the market was moving in this direction,” while Lowe’s CMO Jen Wilson noted that “creators are often more trusted than brands.”

TECH GIANTS

This week in platform headlines…

The YouTube update: YouTube wants to turn audience loyalty measurements into the hot new metrics. That’s why a “viewer segmentation” option is replacing the “returning viewers” figure on the platform’s analytics dashboard. This is yet another step in YouTube’s plan to focus on sustainable viewership rather than cheap hits.

The streaming push: Substack is doubling down on live video. Newsletter creators who go live will be able to better promote their streams to followers while also integrating their live content into YouTube Shorts. I don’t know if this will make Substack the next TikTok Live, but it certainly expands the platform’s capabilities as a source for breaking news.

The TikTok trend: TikTok is making younger consumers more interested in luxury brands. Here’s a tip for strapping young lads who want to live it up: as a start, stop buying stuff from Temu and Shein.

WATCH THIS 📺

Lostlings is getting developed for television

The TV deal: If you’re not yet familiar with the TalesVision channel on YouTube, it’s essentially a hub that puts a digital spin on the traditional pilot process. Clearly, there’s something to that idea, because Lion Forge Entertainment has agreed to develop a series based on a TalesVision-incubated young adult concept: Lostlings.

The spooky series has accumulated a strong following on YouTube, thanks in large part to its presence on Shorts. Check out Part 1 of Lostlings here (if you dare).

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.