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TOGETHER WITH |
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It's Wednesday and Wordle creator Josh Wardle has a head-scratching new game for the web's biggest puzzle nerds: Parseword. |
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Today's News |
🌴 Colin & Samir take L.A. 💸 YouTube wins the revenue game 🤝 FOX taps industry vet Billy Parks 👀 Gen Z's not happy with TikTok 🎧 An AI actor drops a music video
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CREATOR COMMOTION |
 | Colin and Samir in their natural states. |
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Colin and Samir are bringing their creator summit to L.A. |
The context: Colin and Samir are headed to Hollywood. The creator economy experts and longtime collaborators have announced Press Publish LA, a West Coast iteration of their nascent event series. |
Through their Colin and Samir Show podcast, their joint YouTube channel, and their newsletter The Publish Press, Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry have dispensed valuable advice for all types of creators. They've also become fixtures at notable creator-centric events from VidSummit to the Spotter Summit. |
Last year, they took things one step further by hosting a creator event of their own. Held in Brooklyn last September, Press Publish NYC connected hungry up-and-comers with notable creators like Cleo Abram, Max Joseph, Casey Neistat, and Steven Bartlett. Those industry-savvy speakers addressed an audience of over 400 attendees. |
"Most of the time we spend online falls into three buckets: regrettable minutes, forgettable minutes, and memorable minutes. A lot of the internet is the first two. We started thinking about how to create more of the third and we realized the best way to do that was to bring people together in real life." | | | | - Samir Chaudry |
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The West Coast event: Inspired by the success of Press Publish NYC, Colin and Samir are now moving their event series to what they call "our own turf." That's how the Publish Press newsletter described the upcoming event, which will gather West Coasters on May 28 for panels, mixers, discussions, and podcast recordings focused on the evolving relationship between creators and Hollywood studios. |
Colin and Samir haven't yet announced the summit's speaker lineup or venue, but interested attendees can apply for access by visiting the Press Publish LA website. |
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The only tool you need to create AI videos has arrived. Say hello to Agent Opus Story Mode: |
Agent Opus Story Mode is the only tool you need to create full-length, social media-ready AI videos. |
With Story Mode, you can create content in any style you upload, choose from preset styles, or turn audio files into videos. Here's how it works: |
1. Describe your custom style or choose from a preset style
Choose from an array of trending styles, upload an image reference, or describe your vision to Agent Opus to generate your own custom style. |
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2. Plug in your own audio or written script
Upload a voice note, podcast clip, script, lecture, or song—the possibilities are endless. |
3. Choose an aspect ratio and hit 'create'
The result: a polished video that carries your personal style consistently throughout every scene. |
Top brands and creators are already leveraging Agent Opus Story Mode. Now, it's your turn. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
 | The analysts now believe that YouTube is the biggest media company in the world. |
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INDUSTRY BUZZ |
 | Your new Head of Fox Creator Studios, Billy Parks. |
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Fox has tapped content exec Billy Parks to lead its creator studio |
The studio: Fox Entertainment is leveling up its creator initiative with the hire of a seasoned content exec. Billy Parks, who has had stints at Slow Ventures, Fullscreen, and Astronauts Wanted, is the new Head of Fox Creator Studios. |
Announced at the 2026 CES conference in January, Fox's fledgling content division aims to cultivate new formats, fresh talent, and original pieces of IP by partnering with traditional celebrities and social media stars like Gordon Ramsay and Rosanna Pansino. As its new leader, Parks will spearhead that effort: |
"Our goal is to meet creators where they are, respect what they've already built and help them grow, whether that means launching a new format, expanding into new verticals or scaling their brand across platforms." | | | | - Billy Parks, Fox Creator Studios Head |
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The executive: Parks is no stranger to the power of creator content, having previously worked alongside production units that delivered premium programs led by the biggest stars on platforms like YouTube, Vine, and Snapchat. Over the past decade, he has served as a C-level exec at the forward-thinking studio Astronauts Wanted, an SVP at multi-channel network Fullscreen, and a Partner at the venture firm Slow, which has deployed its capital to back creators in "high-value verticals." |
Last week, Parks announced on LinkedIn that he would be leaving Slow—although, at the time, he didn't reveal his next move. Now, we know Parks is gearing up to unearth the partnerships and monetization models Fox needs to get its creator initiative off the ground. |
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SURVEY SAYS |
 | Gen Z isn't happy with TikTok. (Photo via Getty Images) |
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Gen Z's negative feelings about TikTok are starting to affect their usage habits |
The survey: TikTok's latest features are alienating some members of Gen Z—even as they continue to use the app regularly. That's one of the takeaways from Harris Poll's latest survey of twentysomethings' social media habits, entitled "TikTok Troubles: The Platform Gen Z Can't Quit (But Doesn't Trust)." |
While the majority of respondents (65%) said that they use TikTok daily, Gen Z's feelings about TikTok are more negative than that regular usage might suggest. 31% said they primarily scroll their FYPs out of habit, and many expressed complaints about the platform: |
72% said the content they find has a staged or performative vibe 41% objected to the current volume of ads and branded content Approximately 33% bemoaned the arrival of TikTok Shop 27% expressed nostalgia for the era when influencer culture was less ubiquitous And 60% said they trust TikTok less than they used to
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When you add up all of that discontent, it makes sense that many Gen Zers wish TikTok had never existed. A full quarter of the Harris Poll respondents agreed with that take, and it's not the first time teens and twentysomethings have expressed that opinion. |
The exception: Those negative feelings aren't limited to TikTok. Platforms like X, Snapchat, and Instagram are also viewed unfavorably by many members of Gen Z, with nearly half of the creators in that cohort posting less than they once did. |
One platform, however, seems to have largely escaped that trend (at least, so far). As criticisms mount for other apps, YouTube is still a favorite among teenagers. The Harris Poll survey found that 78% of Gen Z views YouTube favorably, and 66% of that group visits YouTube every day. It looks like TikTok might have something to learn from Google's video hub. |
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WATCH THIS 👀 |
 | Tilly Norwood's human overlords want you to know that "AI's not the enemy." |
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AI actress Tilly Norwood just dropped a music video |
The music video: After unnerving the film industry with the launch of AI-generated "actress" Tilly Norwood, Xicoia Studios is putting the music biz on notice, too. |
A new music video titled "Take The Lead" follows Norwood as she sings and dances her way across rooftops, into bathtubs, and through city streets alongside a worrying number of flamingos. The lyrics are about as on-the-nose as you'd expect, with lines like "AI's not the enemy, it's the key," "I'm not a puppet, I'm the star," and "I'm just a tool, but I've got life." |
There's obviously a lot of artificial intelligence involved in all this, but that's not what Xicoia wants viewers to focus on. Instead, a blurb at the beginning of the video notes that "the following production was made by 18 real humans - from production designers to costume designers to prompters, editors and an actor." |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
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