Good morning. Experimental creator Heckin Sick launched a Kickstarter for a six-pound phone case to help cut back on the average 144 times per day we pick up our phones.

We see two possible results: lower screentime or jacked biceps.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Film review creator Chris Stuckmann’s crowdfunded horror movie, Shelby Oaks, releases today in theaters across the US.

Quick context: When Stuckmann set out to make Shelby Oaks three years ago, not many horror creators had successfully landed on the big screen—RackaRacka hadn’t released Talk To Me, there was no Kane Parsons A24 deal, and Curry Barker wasn’t a Sundance favorite. 

But in the last three years, the creator horror genre has become a Hollywood favorite. Talk to Me sold to A24 for seven figures, and Barker’s latest film sold to Focus Features for $15 million.

Enter: Shelby Oaks, a movie about a lost paranormal YouTube creator. 

The end game: Throughout the three-year production process, Stuckmann never missed a weekly YouTube upload to his 2 million subscribers. While some creators see Hollywood as a way to step away from regular YouTube uploads, Stuckmann said he plans to stay on the platform.

“I started my YouTube channel hoping to reach out. Hoping to find people who like movies like I did and find a community of people who understood how I felt—and I did,” Stuckmann said in a video. “What matters to me is that someone sees this movie who was like me when I was 14 looking to be inspired by someone who's doing something I wanted to do.”

Hi, Syd here! When I’m not writing The Publish Press, I’m serving (in many ways) as the in-office Gen Z delegate. Yesterday, I went to United Talent Agency’s ZCON—a one-day summit connecting brands with Gen Z creators. Here’s what I learned →

Brands are doubling down on short-form franchises. Adam Faze, head of short-form studio Gymnasium, said more brands will act as networks and build franchises of shows under a single sponsor. Amazon sponsored season two of Gymnasium series, Boy Room, and the partnership is set to extend to upcoming spinoff, Girl Room. 

“There's a lot of comedians out there that 20 years ago were trained in having a show on Comedy Central, and now Comedy Central is a playlist on Paramount+,” Faze said. “I think brands have a unique ability to become our generation's TV networks. And they can do that by really shining a light to a whole new generation of talent.”

Brands will never know their audiences like creators do. Social stunt creator Anthony “Anthpo” Potero said in a presentation that brands will never be as chronically online as their audience, so utilizing creators to obtain “meaningful views” is key.

“Not every view is made the same. You can get 1 million views on a video and [it] will do less for your brand than 1,000 views on a very meaningful video,” Potero said. 

Big picture: As Gen Z grows up (and gains spending power) brands are looking to them as credible voices. Creators like Potero, Ramisha Sattar, and Max Zavidow are using their POVs to make branded content just as entertaining as non-branded.

If 2024 was the year everyone started a podcast, 2025 might be the year that everyone starts a Twitch channel.

On Wednesday, Justin Bieber became the latest celebrity to join the platform. Bieber said he plans to stream every day. Other new streamers include Haliey Welch, who recently pivoted her podcast, Talk Tuah, into a livestream.

It tracks: Twitch CEO Dan Clancy recently told us at TwitchCon that Twitch is growing as a secondary platform among creators—especially musicians who want to use streams as a testing ground for live performance.

“DDG streams, Ty Dolla $ign, Tyga. Their primary job isn’t as a streamer—they’re rappers—but they use streaming as a secondary means of engaging and authentically interacting with their community and that’s a big area of focus [for creators],” Clancy said. 

Tell us: If you primarily upload recorded content, would you start a livestream? Why or why not?

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.