TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and ChatGPT has gained the ability to “see, hear, and speak.” With any luck, those skills will be enough to pass the bar exam—because it looks like the chatbot’s going to need a law degree.

BLERD ALERT

Dream Con 2023 brought together the internet’s top Black creators and 20,000 of their biggest fans

From classic arcade battles to top-tier anime cosplays, Dream Con 2023 was the ultimate celebration of Black nerd (aka Blerd) culture—and a record-breaking occasion for its creator hosts.

RDCWorld has organized the annual convention since 2018. The creators’ vision has grown exponentially over the last few years, with Dream Con expanding from 800 attendees in 2018 to 6,000 in 2022. That growth was helped along by the convention’s move from Waco to Dallas in 2021.

This year, Dream Con relocated once again—and the Austin-based event blew the last four events out of the water. 20,000 fans flocked to the Austin Convention Center from July 28-30 to check out a Sprite-sponsored Mortal Kombat tournament, a House of Highlights dodgeball showdown, and drool-worthy merch from more than 150 vendors.

Dream Con 2023 also had its fair share of special guest stars.

Top Black creators like King Vader, Storymodebae, and the members of AMP led panels and met fans at the big event, while RDCWorld president Mark Phillips teased an upcoming partnership with director Jordan Peele. That isn’t the only major project on Phillips’ to-do list: the creator is still hard at work on Dark Lights, an original anime and manga series that has attracted big-name Black producers like Issa Rae and Michael B. Jordan.

There’s no denying that the last few years have brought major successes for RDCWorld leaders Phillips and Affiong Harris—but fans don’t need to worry about Dream Con taking a back seat to those other projects. Tickets are already on sale for next year’s big event, which will welcome fans back to Austin on July 26, 2024.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

How does Spotter’s creator funding process really work? Here’s what the world’s top YouTubers have to say:

From brand-building to content production, YouTubers can partner with Spotter to achieve just about anything. But how does the process actually work?

Here’s a quick FAQ from 3 top creators:

1. What can I do with ​capital from Spotter​? 🤔 
Spotter is all about empowering creators—meaning you can spend your new capital to invest in your channel. Here’s how Lizzy Capri used her funds: “I've been able to buy my very own content house and spent the last four months building out a whole studio warehouse where my team can work and grow.”

2. How long does the funding process take? ⌛ 
Here’s how Airrack described Spotter’s fast-paced process: “They were ready to give me the money that they had offered me within like two business days, and they understood that this industry moves quickly and that I don't have a lot of time.”

3. How do I know if Spotter is a good fit? 🤝 
MrBeast’s answer: “If you're trying to ​reinvest and grow your channel​ and you have tight cash margins, or you just want to expand, and you want to test new things, it is—in my opinion—a great way just to get money in the bank.”

Ready to start funding your future? Hit the button below to learn more:

​Get started with Spotter →​

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Paramount is launching the CBS Sports Creator Studio, an initiative that will pair creators and athletes in order to bring custom content to social media during major sports broadcasts. (Tubefilter)
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• Spotify is teaming up with OpenAI to automatically translate podcast episodes into different languages by cloning hosts’ voices. (The Verge)
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• Microsoft will begin advertising through “Sponsored Links” incorporated into Snapchat’s My AI chatbot feature. (TechCrunch)
  ​

• Reddit is launching a contributor program that will allow U.S.-based users to earn money based on the number of upvotes generated by their posts. (TechCrunch)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

This 13-year-old ballerina is dancing her way to the top of the YouTube charts

Yana Chirkina might be a classically trained ballerina, but that doesn’t mean her YouTube channel is all dance and no play. The teenage star frequently puts her ballet abilities to good use when creating content—just not in the way you might expect.

Chirkina’s top Shorts don’t include a single pirouette or plié.

Instead, the 13-year-old creator leverages her gymnastic talent to compete against her mother in a variety of “flexibility challenges.” Those competitions usually involve a fair amount of athleticism—and enough acrobatic prowess to wow millions of viewers. In fact, Chirkina’s most popular Short alone has earned her a whopping 138 million views since June 2023. That clip is far from the only viral video on the ballerina’s channel; so far, all of Chirkina’s top fifty Shorts claim at least 50 million views each.

A good chunk of those views flooded in over the last several days.

• During the final full week of September, Chirkina picked up 225 million weekly views.

• That seven-day figure was good for an 11% week-over-week increase, and brought the dancer’s total lifetime views to a staggering 4.5 billion.

• The result: Chirkina stuck the landing at #44 in our Global Top 50 chart.

FUEL YOUR FUTURE

UTA is joining forces with Crown + Conquer to launch a brand-new creator summit

DreamCon isn’t the only event welcoming creators to the southern United States. United Talent Agency and marketing agency Crown + Conquer are teaming up to host UNLOQ404, an Atlanta-based summit “designed to empower established and up-and-coming content creators.”

Come October 14, an expected 1,000 attendees will have a chance to drop into workshops, creator showcases, and keynotes from speakers like YouTuber Samir Chaudry (of Colin & Samir), KLUTCH Sports Group CEO Rich Paul, music executive DJ Drama, and restauranteur Pinky Cole. That programming will cover a variety of verticals, including sports, fashion, beauty, financial literacy, art, and entrepreneurship.

Should you snag a ticket to UNLOQ404?

According to UTA talent agent Steve Cohen, the summit aims to “serve as a rallying point for the next generation of creators, and if you’re on social media, you’re a creator.” Since you’re currently reading this newsletter, we’re guessing that description applies—which means you might want to check out the UNLOQ404 website to learn more.

Already heard enough? You can snag tickets here for $40 apiece.

WATCH THIS 📺

Would you pay $50,000 to ride the Orient Express?

Don’t worry—you probably won’t witness any Agatha Christie-style crimes. As Trek Trendy creator Will Davis demonstrates, a real-life journey on the Venice Simplon Orient Express has more to do with Michelin-star cuisine and less to do with murder.

But is 120 hours of duck foie gras, sunny European scenery, and complimentary cocktails enough to justify a $50,000 price tag? Check out the full video to find out.

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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.