Good morning. As we enter into Spotify Wrapped season, web developer Bennett Hollstein created his own Wrapped for TikTok, as the platform stopped releasing a year-end summary for users last year.
Receiving the report requires a little bit of legwork on usersβ endsβthey have to export their TikTok data and upload to the new web app. Luckily, in a move that can only be described as Peak 2023, thereβs a tutorial featuring an AI-generated voiceover with Hollstein playing Subway Surfers to really keep your attention.

Comedy Creator Ashens Raises Money for Feature Film

Comedy creator and filmmaker Stuart Ashen (right) fundraises for βTurn Backβ (left), a horror film told in reverse-chronological order thatβs based on UK folktales / Stuart Ashen
English YouTube vet Stuart βAshensβ Ashen launched a Kickstarter to finance his forthcoming horror film, Turn Back, last week. Already, heβs nearly doubled his goal and raised $216,000.
Quick context: Ashen has made comedic product review videos for his 1.6 million YouTube subscribers for 18 years.
Heβs also written and acted in various TV and film projects and crowdfunded two comedy films, Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild in 2014 and Polybius Heist in 2020.
While his past films were self-released, Ashen is targeting a wider audience with Turn Back, submitting to film festivals and seeking a traditional distribution partner.
βWhen we did the last two [movies] we were still in that mode of, βIs a feature film based on a YouTube audience going to work?β And so we tried to pitch the film in our heads based on what the audience would wantβprimarily comedy, with references to Ashens videos,β Ashenβs writing partner and filmmaker Riyad Barmania told us. βBut with this film weβve gotten a lot bolder and we want this to appeal to those people as well, but weβre aiming for a much more mainstream audience.β
Enter: Kickstarter, where Ashen can harness his existing audienceβs interest to power larger distribution ambitions.
Kickstarter supporters can receive various perks depending on how much they donate. For example, a $121 donation gets you a VHS box set with three of Ashenβs films.
βThe trick is to capture the imagination of [what the audience wants],β Ashen said.
Zoom out: Horror has been a popular genre for YouTube creators-turned-filmmakers, especially given the success of critic Chris Stuckmannβs first movie Shelby Oaks and RackaRackaβs A24 mainstream hit Talk to Me.

Why This Creator Groupβs Merch Partnership Works

From left to right, Sam βYour Narratorβ Denby, Joshua βJoshDubβ Wanders, Eduardo βEddieVRβ Saucedo, William βMullyβ Jonas, and Gaege βJuicyFruitSnacksβ Gibson β better known together as βThe Boysβ / The Boys
Comedy creator group The Boys announced a merch partnership with Spencerβs last weekend, rolling out exclusive apparel and accessories to the retail chainβs 690+ U.S. stores and website.
The collection is already selling out on Spencerβs websiteβso what can other creators learn from The Boysβ strategy?
We spoke with Kevin Ramsey, the COO of merchandising firm Warren James (which manufactures and fulfills The Boysβ apparel line), to get the answers.
The Boys and Spencerβs are a culture fit. The creatorsβ raunchy content paired naturally with the retail chainβs reputation for selling edgy apparel. βDemographic-wise, itβs a perfect overlapβ¦[The Boysβ] audience are the people already going into Spencerβs,β Ramsey told us.
Retail shouldnβt cannibalize online sales. Direct sales on The Boysβ website still drive the best margins (no middleman). So the collection at Spencerβs had to be differentiated from The Boysβ existing merch. Still, simply having products in stores creates βa halo effect where if someone comes across it in the store, theyβre like, βLetβs go check out [other products on] their website,ββ Ramsey said.

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TikTok Creators Report That Their Videos are βDisappearingβ

Some TikTok creators are reporting that their viral videos are disappearing from their profiles / Illustration by Moy Zhong
Several top TikTok creators are reporting that some of their videos are βdisappearing,β apparently taken down randomly without any explanation from the platform.
Between the lines: When videos are marked as community guideline violations and removed, creators are offered a reason for their removal and can appeal the decision.
In contrast, the βdisappearingβ videos are still showing up with no violations when a creator opens their personal page. But when viewers try to watch the creatorsβ βdisappearingβ videos, theyβre unavailable.
Big picture: Given the lack of communication from TikTok, affected creators including Che Durena and Oneya Johnson say theyβre posting less on the platform and encouraging their followers to migrate to other channels like YouTube and Instagram.

π₯ Press Worthy
Patreon acquires digital events platform Moment to bring βcreators and fans even closer together.β
Video essayist F.D Signifier shares his perspective on how Black athletes are often marginalized in the sports they help build.
Creators are launching online businesses in a matter of minutes with this free tool.*
Comedy creator Brandon Rogers releases his first interactive video.
YouTube is working on AI tech that would let creators record audio using the voices of famous artists like Drake.
Fill out this quick creator survey for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.
FaZe Clan is acquired by GameSquare.
*This is sponsored advertising content.

π Thank You For Pressing Publish
The content weβre looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
Read: A Miami-area meme page has quickly become a go-to news source for South Florida. The Washington Post investigates what the success of the Instagram account βOnly in Dadeβ means for the future of local journalism.
Watch: βBe unrealistic.β Lifestyle creator Callum βCalluxβ McGinley explains how that phrase shaped his mindset in a documentary about notwoways, the sneaker brand he created thatβs now reportedly worth $26 million.

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