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Killed by kindness. Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to feel hungover from being too nice to people? We only ask because we may have gone a little too hard yesterday celebrating World Kindness Day. Who knew paying it forward could be so draining? All those free Krispy Kreme donuts probably didn’t help either.
In other news… SAG-AFTRA takes on AI, overemployed workers get their hustle on, and aspiring YouTubers head to camp.
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ENTERTAINMENT
Brad Pitt + Jennifer Aniston = beaten-up Chris Pine? // Illustration by Kate Walker
SAG-AFTRA fights AI monsters
The Future. With its contract negotiations with the AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA was on a mission to hunt synthetic beings that AI could create using a performer’s image and likeness. While the union wasn’t able to slay every AI-generated monster that could be imagined, it may have stopped the possibility of studios letting the assets of human performers be recreated, remixed, and redeployed to create their own proprietary talent.
Paid reanimation
What AI monsters did SAG take on and win against?
Zombies. The union won protections against studios being able to create deepfakes of deceased talent to be used in productions for 70 years after their death — strangely, a right that only extended to “commercial endorsements,” but not “expressive works” like film and TV.
Frankensteins. According to lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, if a production creates an AI actor “using Brad Pitt’s smile and Jennifer Aniston’s eyes” (for example), both would need to give their written consent.
Runaway clones. While a movie like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny can de-age Harrison Ford for the opening scene, the new contract no longer gives Disney the right to use that creation in perpetuity. They have to make a new deal with Ford every time.
Stampeding hordes. Studios will need to hire the minimum number of extras who are already required and can’t scan and paste background actors without compensation and consent.
While these gains are a “crowning achievement,” according to negotiating committee member Caitlin Dulany, others think the provisions — considered the main sticking point in the final stretch of the negotiations — are still not enough.
Filmmaker and actress Justine Bateman, who was a union advisor on generative AI, said the fact that studios can make original, human-like characters from code (“Synthetic Performers,” per the contract) is a bridge too far. The guild says that’s a battle for another time.
But here’s the future million-dollar question: will people even want to see an AI-generated movie star?
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WORK
All the same person
“Overemployed” people are trying to hack the job market
The Future. Remote work is supercharging a white-collar phenomenon dubbed “overemployment” (OE) — secretly holding multiple full-time jobs. While blue-collar workers have been doing that forever to make ends meet, the professional class has avoided doing so because of high workload, employer expectations, and those pesky non-competes. But with employers fixated on productivity, some employers may shrug their shoulders at ambitious workers as long as they’re meeting goals… or, worse, start to overload job requirements to curb the practice.
Two jobs are better than one
Overemployment — a movement that McKinsey estimates could be as high as 5% of the workforce — is taking hustle culture to a whole new level.
The OE community is mostly made up of people who have low-meeting, tech-focused jobs that are more individual-job-based than managerial — work that can be done within a normal 40 to 50-hour workweek and doesn’t require much oversight.
The adherents to OE have some pretty unified values — boost total compensation (many make mid-six figures), focus on saving and financial security (not job security), and excel at all your jobs.
And like Fight Club, secrecy is key — locking down LinkedIn profiles, not outing other members on forums like Discord and Reddit, and using code phrases when discussing how to handle the logistics of juggling all those jobs.
To give an example of the typical OE-er, Bryan Roque, who recently settled into one job, said he simultaneously held positions at Meta, IBM, and Tinder… netting him over $820,000 per year.
While many in the OE community pride themselves on how great they work for their various employers and how much they’re gaming a system that views employees as widgets that can be laid off at the first sign of “negative market forces,” many also note the commitment to optimization has taken a toll on their personal lives.
How can people not feel burnout after that much productivity?
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The window to invest in RYSE closes this month
Venture capitalists know how difficult it is to spot promising early investment opportunities.
Even the all-knowing Sharks from Shark Tank declined the offer to buy 10% of Ring for $700,000 — a decision they’d regret when Amazon acquired Ring, turning that $700,000 into $10 million.
What made Ring blow up and change doorbells forever? Retail distribution.
You’ve heard us talk about RYSE and their deal to launch in 100+ Best Buys. But did you know they pitched on Canada’s version of Shark Tank and received two offers?
Exits in the smart home industry have been shown to yield massive returns for early investors (look at Ring and Nest’s billion-dollar acquisitions), and the Sharks think they’ve spotted a winner in RYSE.
CREATOR ECONOMY
The great outdoors…? // Illustration by Kate Walker
Kids are heading to YouTuber camp
The Future. Gen Z and millennials are increasingly viewing social media stardom as a bonafide career choice. So, an education ecosystem — from middle school to college — is already popping up to support those ambitions. While legions of influencers are the stuff of Silicon Valley dreams, the infrastructure being built around influencing may lead the future job market to require that employees have the skills inherent to the creator economy. Prepare for slogans like, “Every employee is a brand influencer.”
Summer influencing
The influencer industrial complex is taking shape.
Camps and after-school programs, like Creator Camp in Texas, are popping up to meet the demand of kids who aspire to be professional influencers, which teaches skills like scriptwriting, video production, editing, and digital safety.
For example, Houston-based Creator Camp, started by a group of 20-somethings, has already expanded to 18 locations around Texas, serving over 1,300 students… within just two short years.
That makes sense when a 2019 Harris/LEGO poll found 30% of kids aged 8 to 12 put “YouTuber” as their top career choice.
Why the desire to become a creator? Kids at Creator Camp told WaPo’s Taylor Lorenz that becoming a YouTuber could not only help them become rich and famous but could also be avenues of social expression and self-confidence.
And it’s not just the kids. Morning Consult found 54% of people aged 13 to 34 want to become social media influencers. No wonder universities like Cornell, USC, and UCLA have even introduced courses specifically focused on social media marketing and social content creation.
Soon enough, we may have distinct majors for YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
In partnership with Morning Blitz
CAA is starting its own investment bank and advisory firm, dubbed CAA Evolution, to become more financially involved in its starry clients’ entertainment, sports, and business ventures. Read more → thr
Warner Music Group is joining Universal Music Group in Deezer’s new artist-centric royalty model. Read more → billboard
West Hollywood may be next in getting its own mini Sphere… but instead of a performance space, it’ll be a “three-level venue designed for live broadcasting with podcast space, a reception area, and green rooms.” Read more → deadline
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Fashion & E-Commerce
Amazon and Meta are testing an advertising partnership that lets users buy products from Amazon directly from ads on Facebook and Instagram. Read more → theinformation
Telfar is debuting a new shopping concept called “Gifted” — buy one of its in-demand bags, get one free after you submit a video of why you want to gift it to someone you love. Read more → hypebeast
Tiffany is now in the Poké Ball business, thanks to artist Daniel Arsham. Read more → highsnobiety
Tech, Web3, & AI
Anthropic, OpenAI, Vimeo, and Discord are joining Christchurch Call to Action — an initiative started by French President Emmanuel Macron and then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to get AI companies to stamp out terrorist content. Read more → axios
Once the Cybertruck releases, Tesla will sue you for $50,000 if you try to resell it within the first year. Read more → engadget
ExxonMobil is getting into the lithium-mining business in an attempt to survive the world’s transition away from fossil fuels. Read more → theverge
Creator Economy
Against all odds, Facebook and Instagram are now growing faster than TikTok for the first time in years. Read more → insider
X will apparently start algorithmically serving posts from smaller accounts that you don’t follow on your “For you” feed — a possible bid to boost creator discoverability. Read more → techcrunch
Fake products from blue-chip brands are already taking over TikTok Shop. Read more → insider
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.