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Today’s News

THE BIZ

Whalar’s Lighthouse just got a big investment from FOX

The investment: FOX is setting down roots in the creator economy. The media corporation’s FAST hub Tubi has given it a foothold in the digital ecosystem, and its right-leaning news brand ranked among YouTube’s most-watched channels following the reelection of Donald Trump.

Now, FOX is setting its sights on creator campuses.

At this week’s Cannes Lions festival, the media firm announced that it is making a “strategic investment” in The Lighthouse (aka Whalar’s network of IRL creator spaces) through its FOX Advertising wing. The size of that deal has not been revealed, but FOX is expected to double down on its investment by establishing an initiative that will focus on IP development by building franchises alongside select creator partners.

The context: Whalar established The Lighthouse in 2023 to equip creators with everything from studio spaces and career dev programs to networking opportunities. The first location opened in January 2025 in Venice, California. A second space is set to open in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood during the fourth quarter of 2025.

In many ways, The Lighthouse is a successor to YouTube Spaces—aka the Google-established facilities that popped up across the globe before closing their doors in 2021. In the years since that mass shuttering, the growth of the creator economy has led to rekindled interest in real-life influencer hangouts. Whalar already parlayed its role in that resurgence into a May 2025 fundraise that valued the company at $400 million. Now, it will forge ahead with the support of one of entertainment’s largest media firms.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• KIMPRO topped this week’s Global Top 50 ranking with more than 2.5 billion weekly YouTube views, while five other channels snagged at least one billion views. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Instagram is testing out a feature that would allow users to repost both their own content and content published by others. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• A new disclaimer warns users on Meta’s AI app that “prompts you post are public and visible to everyone.” (Engadget)
  
  

• Shortly after being named the top creator of 2025 by Forbes, MrBeast revealed on X that his next YouTube video cost a whopping $4 million to produce. (Men’s Journal)

FESTIVAL CIRCUIT

Can creators generate as much buzz as the Super Bowl?

The context: Publicis Groupe makes over $14 billion a year working with clients like Walmart, Cartier, Nestle, L’Oreal, P&G, and Heineken. Now—after spending $500 million to pick up influencer marketing biz Influential and acquiring Captiv8 (which uses a data-central approach to connect creators and brands)—the French-based marketing agency is out to prove the power of creators. 

The campaign: Publicis’ latest annual Cannes Lions ad campaign—which runs on displays at the airport in Nice and on billboards throughout the festival—centers around how brands can get Super Bowl-sized reach while spending a “fraction of the cost” by tapping content creators instead.

The main campaign video debuted June 16 and stars wildlife content creator @shandorlarenty and Gen Z media outlet Pubity. Its reach will be tracked in real-time, then displayed at Influential Beach, the company’s sponsored spot at Cannes Lions. Per Campaign, Publicis plans to tap resources from Influential and Captiv8 to bring in other influencers who will share the vid, remix it, and talk about it.

The end goal: Publicis’s goal in all this is to meet or beat the Super Bowl’s reach of 127 million viewers, with a 30-second spot costing $8 million. Influential CEO/Founder Ryan Detert told Campaign he thinks the video will accomplish this in 48 hours, and will show brands that they could spend between $450K and $2 million on content creator-led marketing to achieve what the Super Bowl wants $8 million to do.

Even so, Publicis isn’t throwing everything into creator marketing. It is, after all, a traditional ad company, and wouldn’t want to steer its clients away from spending on one of the most lucrative events of the year. To that effect, Detert told Campaign that Influential views creator marketing as an “and”—not an “or.”

THIS WEEK ON YOUTUBE

Calling all creators: YouTube’s Open Call lets brands request custom sponcon

The feature: Nearly a decade after acquiring BrandConnect, YouTube is making a serious effort to expand the brand/creator matchmaking marketplace’s offerings (and its team).

Some of those expansions were revealed in March, around the time YouTube appeared at South by Southwest. Now, the platform is using its presence at Cannes Lions to announce Open Call, a new feature that lets brands put out open calls for creators to make UGC for their campaigns. To do that, companies can go to BrandConnect's creator partnerships hub and publish a brief with their campaign details. Interested creators can then scroll through opportunities in their half of the hub and respond with potential video content, which—if approved by the brand—will be deployed across YouTube as official ads.

The system: For brands, Open Call grants access to a swath of ready-made content that could help shape future campaigns and connect them with engaged audiences. It’s also similar to how many traditional and non-creator brand campaigns work: companies often ask multiple agencies to pitch creative ideas or campaign concepts before deciding which one to move forward with.

But just like ad agencies whose concepts aren't chosen for TV campaigns, creators whose videos aren't selected through BrandConnect won't be paid for their work. That’s a big downside—but one that could be worth it for smaller creators hoping to work with prominent brands they wouldn't normally be able to contact.

Some brands and creators have already commented on their experience with the beta version of Open Call. L'Oréal Global Director of Social Media Karla Vélez, for instance, said partnering with creators through the feature "allows us to drive deeper brand engagement through authentic, entertaining content,” while creator Haley Kalil said the partnerships she established resulted in "authentic content that truly resonates with my audience."

WATCH THIS 👀

A new series is tapping into the YouTube golf boom

The context: Golf is having a major moment on YouTube. From official PGA creator tournaments to YouTuber collabs with pros like Tiger Woods, fans have no shortage of golf content to tune into.

The series: Now, a new workplace comedy is adding a little humor into the mix. According to the trailer for season one, Shanked is “set at the dysfunctional Cedar Oaks Country Club, where a ragtag crew of country club employees attempts to survive spoiled club members, PGA Tour inspections, influencer invasions, and their misguided ambitions.” The series stars James Lynch, Laura Clery, Mitsy Sanderson, Aristotle Georgeson, Dylan Adler, Patrick Farley, Mikey Smith, and Mitch McMahon—plus a few special guests like Malosi Togisala of Good Good Golf.

Check out the first episode on YouTube here.

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