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It's Wednesday and if you missed the end of the world, you’re not alone. Despite the rise of a #RaptureTok trend predicting a September 23 apocalypse, most of us still seem to have our feet firmly on the ground.

Today’s News

MONEY MOVES

The Sidemen empire is expanding

The expansion: The Sidemen are gearing up for a global push. Arcade Media—the management company that represents the top U.K. creator group—is eyeing worldwide expansion after selling a minority stake to U.S.-based film studio and VC firm Lumina.

The size of the transaction has not been disclosed, but Arcade Media Co-Founder Jordan Schwarzenberger told the Financial Times that the incoming capital will be used to fuel expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia:

The context: The Sidemen have exploded off of YouTube and into fields like retail, marketing, investing, original streaming content while simultaneously attracting worldwide attention through massive events. The group’s annual charity soccer matches, for example, have recently featured more participants who hail from outside of the British Isles.

That rapid expansion has picked up momentum since the Sidemen inked a seven-figure deal with Viewture in 2023. Now, Arcade is joining the fun with a capital injection of its own. The management company’s worldwide plans will capitalize on the growing cachet of the London-based septet—and creator culture in general—across far-flung regions of the globe.

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Next month, the greatest minds in media will unite for Advertising Week New York

Advertising Week New York is just around the corner.

Since 2004, Advertising Week New York has grown into an award-winning international event franchise—and this year, the Manhattan festival will bring together over 1,200 speakers and 4,000 companies from every corner of the industry.

From October 6-9, the world’s greatest minds in media, marketing, and tech will unite in Manhattan for 500+ sessions and 28 content tracks. 

Here’s a sneak peek at this year’s visionary speaker list:

• Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman & CEO at Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios

• Kevin Bacon, Actor, Musician, Philanthropist

• Alessandra Catanese, CEO at Smosh

• Sofia Colucci, Chief Marketing Officer at Molson Coors

• Sandra Douglass Morgan, President of Las Vegas Raiders

• Dhar Mann, Founder of Dhar Mann Studios

Check out the festival website for more details on attending brands, speakers, and ticket details: 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• MIPCOM Cannes is unveiling an “ambitious new focus” for 2025 that will place “the creator economy at the very heart of the world’s largest market for television and streaming content.” (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
  
  

• In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Alphabet announced that YouTube channels banned for spreading COVID-19 and election-based misinformation will be restored to the platform. (Ars Technica)
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• Disney+ has announced upcoming price hikes for certain ad-free and ad-based standalone plans. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• Meta has unveiled plans to invest “tens of millions” of dollars in a nationwide super PAC that will support candidates who oppose AI regulation. (Engadget)

MONEY MOVES

Night’s new agency is matchmaking brands and creators

The agency: After establishing itself in fields like talent management, retail, podcasts, and investing, Night is moving into the marketing world. The firm’s latest division—a newly-launched arm called Night Advisory—is already facilitating partnerships between major brands and members of Night’s 200-creator roster.

At launch, Night Advisory is staffed by a team of four creative strategists and aims to leverage its parent firm’s inroads among young audiences in order to connect brand partners to their target demographics.

The matchmaking: Night CEO and Founder Reed Duchscher told AdAge that the Advisory division evolved out of regular requests from brands for influencer marketing advice. One of those companies, NASCAR, has since become a Night Advisory client, alongside the World Poker Tour and several other unannounced brands.

As you would expect, Night’s advice for brand partners involves partnerships with the creators it represents. NASCAR’s activity at this year’s Daytona 500, for instance, included deals with Night clients like The Rizzler (real name Christian Joseph), while a more recent stream from Daytona International Speedway featured Twitch star Din Muktar (aka Agent 00).

Future Night Advisory campaigns will position creators to cover similar events. At upcoming World Poker Stops, for example, activations will be designed to enable the recording and uploading of influencer commentary.

THE BIZ

Will a new executive hire help Roblox smooth over creator relations?

The context: Roblox has existed since 2004—but over the last five years, the platform has grown exponentially, with annual revenue soaring from $508 million in 2019 to $3.6 billion in 2024. By the end of last year, the metaverse giant had reached 85.3 million daily active users (a 19% year-over-year increase). Oh, and Roblox content has also received more than one trillion views on YouTube.

That ballooning user base has led to increased friction between Roblox’s higher-ups and its top experience builders and creators. A recent clash occurred just a few weeks ago, when the platform made the contentious decision to ban predator catcher Schlep over alleged “vigilantism.” The resulting fallout has sparked numerous legal actions, with notable attorney Mike Mandell working alongside aggrieved creators to prepare lawsuits.

The hire: Now, Roblox is hoping to shore up its creator relations with a new executive hire. Vlad Loktev, a seasoned operative with experience at Airbnb and Zynga, has joined on as Chief Creator Ecosystem Officer. News of his arrival came just after the conclusion of the Roblox Developers Conference, at which the platform revealed new policies meant to appease creators.

Starting September 29, Loktev will begin improving the day-to-day experience for Roblox creators while spearheading the development of fresh tools and platform events. That role could prove critical to Roblox’s future, especially as the company’s revenues continue to rise and other experience-building platforms (such as Fortnite and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI) woo devs with their own creator-friendly policies.

WATCH THIS 📺

RocketJump is back, baby

The triumphant return: Freddie Wong is back on YouTube—and his next movie isn’t far behind. Fans of the Streamy Award-winning filmmaker/director might know Wong from his initial rise to internet fame as a Guitar Hero icon, from his Video Game High School webseries, or maybe from We’re All Gonna Die, the 2024 film he directed alongside partner Matt Arnold.

Wherever you know Wong from, it’s likely that you haven’t seen him in a while—but all that’s about to change.

In a recent video on the official YouTube channel for RocketJump (aka the production company Wong co-founded alongside Arnold and Desmond Dolly), the filmmaker announced the development of a new movie: this time a “punchy martial arts action comedy” called Nail House. And while that film comes to fruition, fans can look forward to a few new YouTube videos, too.

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