Break A Leg

Did you watch the Euros on Sunday? Instead of coming home, it’s going to Rome with an Italian victory over England after an agonizing penalty shoot out. After winning the Eurovision Song Contest back in May, it truly is Italy’s year. Today Alice is digging into the top creator stories from the week. Enjoy ✌🏻✌🏽.

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ How one YouTube family could become the next Pixar

→ Why TikTok is banning investment promotions

→ Breaking down Addison Rae’s UFC backlash

The Bucket List Family Raises $10 million 

YouTube family creators are lined up to become the next Pixar

The Bucket List Family, a Hawaii-based family with more than 1.3 million YouTube subscribers and 2.6 million Instagram followers, have raised money from their fans and investors to create their own movie studio. A portion of the $10 million investment was crowdsourced through Republic, a platform that curates private investing opportunities. The family seeks to create global stories with “complete creative freedom”, alongside software for a new era of animation. The first series will mix actual footage of the family with animation to produce a cartoon with shoppable elements for each episode.

By The Numbers: 

$3 million → raised from 27,992 investors via Republic 

$7 million → raised from VC and accredited angel investors 

The family turned down a $10 million offer from a major studio in favor of raising the funds independently and directly from their fans.

OUR TAKE

As Taylor Lorenz reported this week, big Silicon Valley investors are increasingly viewing creators “as the next financial vein to be tapped on the internet.” This is a great move for The Bucket List Family, who’ve spent years growing a diehard and family-friendly audience that’s willing to support them. We predict that more creators will turn to their fans to help fund future content.

TikTok Bans Creators Promoting Crypto

Paid cryptocurrency and investment influencers get their marching orders

Last week TikTok announced a new policy to combat the recent trend of high-risk investments being promoted on the platform. TikTok’s updated content policy seeks to target fraudulent financial scams and the influencers who promote them, including cryptocurrency creators. The platform will restrict branded content and paid advertisements, following the rise of crypto ‘pump’ schemes, like the “Save The Kids” scandal that we featured in last week’s issue. This new policy will impact sponsorships from the likes of Robinhood, Coinbase, and Klarna. By comparison, Instagram continues to allow paid promotions of cryptocurrency.

OUR TAKE

With great power comes great responsibility. TikTok’s For You Page has proven it can move mountains of people in an instant, making it all the more necessary for the app to take a stance on some of its more harmful and impressionable side-effects.

Addison Rae Gets ‘Fired’ From The UFC 

The TikToker’s reporting gig was short lived following backlash 

On Saturday TikTok star Addison Rae tweeted a picture of herself from the UFC red carpet for the McGregor vs. Poirier showdown with the tongue in cheek caption “I studied broadcast journalism in college for 3 whole months to prepare for this moment.” 6 hours later it was jokingly followed by “nvm y’all got me fired”, following widespread backlash against the creator, with claims that she was “stealing jobs from those more deserving”. The tweet sparked conversations around privilege and the value of journalistic training versus a social media following. 

OUR TAKE

In light of recent creator boxing events, such as the Social Gloves Battle of the Platforms and Logan Paul’s fight against Floyd Mayweather, it’s clear that live sporting events are becoming entertainment spectacles that bank on the transaction of social capital as much as the athleticism. The bottom line: social followings help sell fights and generate interest and eyeballs leading up to the event, making Addison a compelling choice for UFC organizers.

🔥 In Other News

• Snapchat launched a new screenshots page

• Read: Facebook Wants to Court Creators. It Could Be a Tough Sell 

• YouTube expanded Shorts to over 100 countries 

• 100 Thieves teased a collaboration with Gucci 

• Clubhouse signed deal with TED

• David Dobrik created a Shark Week special with Discovery Plus