Happy Thursday, TFP. In today’s edition of Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste: as the big oopsie unfolds of The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg accidentally getting added to a Signal group chat where classified military plans were being discussed by some of the highest Trump administration officials (yeah, that’s a mouthful), Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike seized the moment to remind everyone that they, too, can join the action — just by using the app. Priceless marketing, brilliant execution.

DAILY TOP TRENDS

UTA Gets AI In Its Suit Pocket

Rolling AIs // Illustration by Kate Walker

United Talent Agency has started to lean on AI to do market research, optimize dealmaking, and collect the currency that now makes Hollywood go round (real-time, complete viewership metrics) partly by using its own AI-powered app.

The Big Picture: UTA has been investing heavily in its data and analytics division, the Joe Kessler-run UTA IQ. By concentrating that power onto a new app for agents, UTA could have the upper hand in quick-moving negotiations — a reality that could win over prospective clients.

Behind the Data: Hollywood dealmaking is getting a reboot, thanks to AI.

  • UTA’s in-testing mobile app uses Microsoft Azure, OpenAI, Meta’s Llama, and other systems to “give its staff real-time information on film and TV viewership or ratings,” per The Information.

  • Since most streamers like to keep that data under wraps, being able to aggregate viewership metrics on the fly is a valuable asset because the numbers are often spread across various platforms (like Nielsen, Sensor Tower, Parrot Analytics, etc.).

  • Agents can quickly generate that information during negotiations or share the intel with clients right in the middle of a meeting.

Best and Final Offer: UTA also plans to use AI beyond its internal app. The agency is exploring the use of the AI-powered prediction engine Aaru, which creates “psychographic profiles” of unique demographics (voters of a certain policy proposal or dog owners in a specific city) to determine how they may react to a movie or actor, which could help save money on market research and surveys. The agency is also testing the use of platform Glean to surface documents and files across all internal platforms. And it already uses Perplexity for research and to generate reports.

The reputation of agencies as the information superhighway of the entertainment industry sure is leveling up.

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Broadway Plays Are Back And Bigger Than Ever

Every Broadway marquee // GIF by Kate Walker

Broadway plays — the classic dramatic performances, not high-production musicals — are breaking theatre-revenue records and driving such high demand that ticket prices are soaring to unheard-of heights.

Why It Plays: Before the pandemic, Broadway plays had a cultural reputation as an analog art form that seemed to be losing influence (other than big blockbuster musicals). But as the demand for IRL events and communal experiences has exploded post-COVID, Broadway has become an unexpected (but welcome) recipient of attention.

Behind the Curtain: Broadway is already having a banner year.

  • Last week, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, broke the record for highest-grossing play in a week when it sold $2.8 million in tickets.

  • That record was beaten this week by the stage adaptation of Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, which brought in $3.3 million in ticket sales.

  • The average ticket price for each show has topped a whopping $300, with center orchestra tickets for Othello hitting an unprecedented $921.

  • Off-Broadway plays are also commanding high prices — tickets for the Andrew Scott-starring Vanya and the Paul Mescal-starring A Streetcar Named Desire each top out at over $400.

Curtain Call: Interestingly, all of these plays feature Oscar-winning-or-nominated actors (not to mention the third-highest-grossing show on Broadway right now, Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Kieran Culkin, Bill Burr, and Bob Odenkirk). It stands to reason that audiences are eager to see these talents sink their teeth into weighty material, especially as Hollywood mostly shies away from straight dramas.

If the trend continues, it may have a slingshot effect where the studios and streamers will once again greenlight projects solely dependent on a great script and incredible performances… for the right price.

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DEEP DIVES

Have you ever seen a Broadway show in person?

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50% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Did you use Napster back in its original file-sharing days?

“My friend group was thrilled when we realized the ethernet connections on college campuses would download songs so much faster than our home dial-up speeds. We would have download parties in our dorm rooms.”

“Napster changed my life. I suddenly became a popular kid in high school, because I was the only one with a CD burner when Napster came out. So, I would sell customized mixed CDs to literally everyone, including teachers.”

“I was too afraid of what my parents would do if I downloaded a virus.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

QUICK HITS

→ Entertainment / Media

🎥 California lawmakers are considering amping up the state’s film and TV tax credit to 35% to keep productions from going literally anywhere else to save money.

💿 Daniel Nigro — Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan’s go-to producer — is bringing his Amusement Records under the Universal Music Group umbrella.

🍿 AMC is doubling down on 4DX and ScreenX premium auditoriums in a new deal with CJ 4DPLEX.

→ Technology

🤖 A federal judge is allowing NYT’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI to go to trial… while another judge opted not to issue an injunction against Anthropic in Universal Music’s copyright lawsuit.

🛴 Rivian is spinning out a micromobility startup called Also after scoring a $105 million investment from Eclipse Ventures.

👀 Parents can now request to see which chatbots their kids are talking to on Character.AI and for how long.

→ Creator Economy

🎨 Trend alert: as ChatGPT rolls out an image generator, people have discovered that it's really good at turning any image into a Studio Ghibli-style animation.

📱 YouTube will now count even the briefest view of a Short… which will likely skyrocket views for everyone.

🤬 A new social platform called Sez Us wants to tamp down on rage bait by allowing users to rate posts based on their “approval, influence, insightfulness, relevance, and politeness.”

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BOXABL Secures Nasdaq Ticker Symbol BXBL

BOXABL is revolutionizing home construction by bringing assembly-line automation to the building industry. With patented technology and 53 patent filings, BOXABL aims to disrupt a massive, outdated, trillion-dollar market — and they’ve just officially reserved the ticker symbol BXBL on Nasdaq!*

Now, BOXABL is raising funds and offering shares to the public — but this round is closing soon on StartEngine. Shares are currently priced at $0.80, with a $1,000 minimum investment. Join over 40,000 investors backing a bold solution to the housing crisis.

But time is running out — March 29th is the last day to invest in BOXABL on StartEngine.

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A Note from BOXABL

*This is a paid advertisement for Boxabl’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular here.

**Reserving a Nasdaq ticker does not guarantee a future listing on Nasdaq or indicate that BOXABL meets any of Nasdaq's listing criteria to do so.

Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.

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