TOGETHER WITH

It's Thursday and Meta celebrated Earth Day by pulling back the curtain on 60 water restoration projects that “will restore over 6 billion gallons of water annually once completed.”

THE BIZ

The process: When Markiplier‘s self-funded Iron Lung adaptation earned $50+ million at the box office, it seemed like a given that he’d eventually put a digital version up for sale on YouTube. After all, he’s been on the platform for 14 years, has nearly 40 million subscribers, and owns the rights to the movie.

As it turns out, things are not as simple as they seem.

Once Markiplier (aka Mark Fischbach) realized how complicated the process was, he decided that he didn’t just want to get Iron Lung live on YouTube. He wanted to find a way to make things easier for other indie filmmakers, too. So, he got in contact with YouTube Head of TV & Film Partnerships Fede Goldenberg.

As Fischbach explained, becoming an aggregator means he “would be able to not only bring my movie onto the platform for sale, [but] if there are other people that have movies that I see and I think this is worth it…I can bring it onto the platform.”

The fine print: YouTube and Fischbach are now in the final stages of negotiations, having undergone what the creator described as an “arduous legal process” where he was “so agreeable on everything”—including releasing Iron Lung “exclusively on YouTube.”

That exclusivity is a more limiting circumstance than experienced by most major Hollywood studios, which normally offer movies for sale across numerous platforms. But for Fischbach, this sacrifice is worth it if he can both release Iron Lung online and be an advocate aggregator for indie filmmakers in the future.

From June 3-14, Tribeca Festival will celebrate its 25th anniversary by showcasing a record-setting 117 feature films and 86 short films. 

The newly announced feature film lineup alone includes 102 world premieres—the most in Tribeca Festival history—and represents filmmakers across 44 countries. 

Here are three feature films you won’t want to miss:

1. Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World)
Academy Award winner Questlove will kick off the 25th Tribeca Festival with the boisterous, decades-spanning story of this legendary American band and its enigmatic founder, Maurice White.

2. The Accompanist
When 9-year-old Emily is removed from the care of her aging grandfather, she is placed with the witchy, funny, and unpredictable Sylvia. As the two bond, they find that forging a new family is not without risk. Directed and written by Zach Woods. Written by Brandon Gardner. Produced by Aubrey Plaza, Lauren Bratman, Michael Sagol, Carlos Zozaya.

3. Playing POTUS
From Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford to Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris, Playing POTUS explores how comedians don't just parody leaders, they help define them. Directed and produced by Josh Greenbaum. Produced by Rafael Marmor, Christopher Leggett, Peter Funt.

Passes to Tribeca Festival are on sale now:

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

MONEY MOVES

The card: Visa has partnered with TikTok to launch a debit card that offers a number of creator-centric perks.

The so-called “creator card” attempts to address some of the issues that pop up when social media professionals bring their business to traditional banks. In many cases, creators are met with skepticism from bankers and end up leaving short on cash and frustrated with financial institutions.

Other issues also impact digital professionals’ ability to work alongside mainstream financial institutions. Visa recently reported that 49% of creators have their businesses impacted by late or inconsistent payments, and 41% of creators have had to turn down opportunities due to cash flow issues.

The context: In the United States, companies like Karat have reduced that friction by rolling out credit and debit cards designed for creators. Now, across the pond, users of Visa’s creator card will be able to clear payouts quickly, preventing delays that block them from accessing their money.

Visa’s partnership with TikTok adds some additional perks, as the creator card is designed to recognize in-stream gifts and other related revenue sources from TikTok LIVE.

We’ll soon learn whether those solutions can mitigate creators’ financial frustrations. After debuting its new product with a soft launch, Visa is now rolling out the card among a larger group of eligible Brits.

GOING LIVE

The feature: Meta is giving Threads users around the world a fresh way to discuss hot topics in a dynamic interface.

The new Live Chats feature can be located via community hubs, in-feed links, and the profile pages of chat hosts. Once users enter the conversation, they will see an assortment of photos, videos, links, emojis, and polls, all of which will update in real time. According to a Meta blog post, a “select group of creators” can host Live Chats within their respective communities. 

Basketball fans will have a chance to explore the new feature during one of the biggest cultural tentpoles of the spring: the NBA Playoffs. By navigating to the NBAThreads community, users will be able to see score updates in real time while NBA insiders like Malika Andrews and Rachel Nichols host Live Chats tied to specific games and matchups.

The context: Threads’ new product has significant potential in the marketing world. At the 2026 NewFronts, tech giants claimed that brands need to put themselves at the center of cultural conversations with tentpole-powered advertising (as facilitated by formats like TikTok Pulse).

Meta’s NewFronts pitch doubled down on that prevailing theme by promoting products—like Reels trending ads—that are designed to bring buyers closer to concerts, sports games, blockbuster movies, holidays, and other tentpoles. Now, as Threads develops its nascent ad program, Live Chats can provide centralized locations for cultural discourse to take place.

The mission: A new “YouTube project” from the Independent Media Initiative will pair influential STEM creators with scientists from all 50 states.

Over the course of just ten days, 50×50: Science Across America will challenge participating creators and their scientific collaborators to produce 50 original videos set in locations like labs, field sites, hospitals, factories, and research institutions. Those videos will arrive on YouTube in the fall of 2026.

So far, 50×50’s creator lineup includes Vlogbrothers Hank and John Green, former Mythbusters host Adam Savage, Xyla Foxlin, Emily Graslie, Joe Hanson, and Destin Sandlin of SmarterEveryDay. The participating scientists, as well as other creator contributors, will be announced at a later date.

Check out a trailer for the project here.

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