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Happy Wednesday, Future Party. If you want an adrenaline rush, you can try out the “airport theory” trend that’s going viral on TikTok — showing up to the airport 15 minutes before your flight. The theory suggests that’s magically all you need to breeze through security and get to your gate. It’s been a success for some but a major headache for others. And if you’re traveling with kids… well… in the words of Donnie Brasco, “Forget about it.”
DAILY TOP TRENDS
YouTube – The Bondsman
X
(Twitter)– Jon StewartGoogle – Daredevil
Reddit – MTV Unplugged
Letterboxd – Anora
Spotify – “safeword”
Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov Makes A Black List For Screenlife Movies
Screens on screens on screens // Illustration by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E
Timur Bekmambetov, director of movies like the Angelina Jolie-starring Wanted and the upcoming Chris Pratt-starring Mercy, recently launched a new platform called Screenlifer. The platform hopes to incubate and support “screenlife” projects — movies and shows in which all the action takes place on a computer, tablet, or smartphone screen.
The Big (Little) Picture: Bekmambetov has become the patron saint of screenlife with his production company Bazelevs, producing projects like Unfriended, Searching, and Missing. Making screenlife projects is a novel, cheaper, but technologically complicated way of filmmaking, so providing the scaffolding to bring these stories to life could scale the genre.
Behind the Screen: Bekmambetov hopes that Screenlifer can replicate the success of The Black List — Hollywood’s go-to database for finding new writers.
Screenlifer will “identify, support, and promote screenlife content from emerging filmmakers and give it exposure to both audiences and industry professionals,” per Deadline.
That includes “consultancy, mentorship, and publicity in exchange for a minority stake in the projects” — although that doesn’t mean the projects will be produced under the Bazelevs banner.
When it comes to actually making the movies, Screenlifer will help raise funds through various rounds as if it were a startup raising venture capital. The filmmakers will maintain creative control.
Closing Credits: Projects that meet the “platform’s standards” will receive a mark of distinction to help boost their awareness. The best concepts will also be featured on the platform’s site. Screenlifer, which is now up and running, has already given two projects its mark of distinction — Vikramaditya Motwane’s thriller CTRL (now streaming on Netflix) and Allisyn Snyder’s stalker picture Howdy, Neighbor! (currently in post-production). Hopefully, we’ll soon spend more time watching movies set on phones than doomscrolling on our own.
Together with Kiswe
How To Turn Your Pre-Recorded Show Into A Global Event
When YouTube creator Daniel Howell wanted to take his sold-out We’re All Doomed! tour worldwide, he partnered with direct-to-consumer streaming platform Kiswe — and broke several records in the process.
With Kiswe, Howell transformed his pre-recorded show into a dynamic, interactive event by adding:
🎬 A live pre-show
💬 Real-time fan chat
🎤 A post-show Q&A
The result? Every performance felt like a one-night-only experience, bringing fans together no matter where they were in the world.
Best of all, Howell kept full control over his audience, data, and revenue — key metrics that every creator values.
Feast Your Eyes On The Colossal Biosciences Woolly Mouse
Courtesy of Colossal Biosciences
Biotech startup Colossal Biosciences has taken the first major step in its ambition to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth by 2028 — it created a “woolly mouse.”
The Big Bet: You may not be surprised to learn that recreating extinct species — especially something as large and distinct as a woolly mammoth — is pretty difficult. However, Colossal’s success in developing a (very adorable) mouse that shares traits with the mammoth shows the science is on track.
Between the DNA: To go big, Colossal started small.
Using CRISPR technology to edit mice embryos, the company genetically engineered a mouse with mammoth genes and implanted the embryos into a regular mouse mother.
The baby mice were born with the same color, texture, and thickness as the fur of a woolly mammoth.
The company is now seeking approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee to test whether the fur could help mice survive colder climates, similar to the mammoth.
If Colossal can test the mice’s adaptability, it’ll provide necessary data on how future mammoths will handle those environments (it appears the company is looking to release them into the wild).
The Future: Colossal has been on a tear since launching in 2021. It raised a $200 million round in January at a $10.2 billion valuation. Going from founding to creating a woolly mammoth in just seven years is lightning fast. But co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told TechCrunch that developing the woolly mouse is a “watershed moment” for the company — one that could earn public credibility and keep investors from sweating.
Together with Vintage
Build Wealth With Vintage’s MHP Fund
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DEEP DIVES
Read: NYT profiles Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho in the run-up to his first English-language studio release, Mickey 17.
Listen: Bold Names chats with Ayanna Howard, the dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University, about the convergence of AI and robotics.
Explore: Variety released a report about the state of AI in Hollywood when it comes to control and compensation for creatives.
65% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Did you watch the Oscars?
“I work in film and have never felt less excited about the nominees.”
“I streamed the show live on my tablet while playing an online video game with some friends. None of us were really watching, but we talked about the major awards, and I caught up on all the highlights the next morning.”
“This was my Super Bowl lol.”
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
🏆 Oscar viewership was surprisingly up this year with 19.69 million viewers compared to 18.07 million in 2024.
🎞️ New AI studio Staircase has come out of stealth with backing from major Hollywood talent, several Black List scripts, and the promise of making studio-level movies for $500,000.
🎥 Kickstarter has hired indie producer Taylor K. Shaw to help with outreach and attracting professional filmmakers to the platform.
→ Technology
🚗 You can now hail an autonomous Waymo taxi on Uber in Austin.
😎 Humane’s AI Pin may have gotten bricked in its fire sale… but hackers have already re-unlocked it.
🛰️ The Commerce Department wants to make it easier for people to get Starlink access in rural areas.
→ Creator Economy
📱 Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has joined Frank McCourt’s bid for TikTok’s US operations.
🤖 Meta is rolling out AI customer-support agents for small businesses on Facebook and Insta.
🏀 Dude Perfect created their own sports paradise in Dallas, Texas.
Let us know how we are doing...
PARTNERSHIPS | COMMUNITY | PODCAST | FRIENDS
Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.