Good morning. We hopped off the plane at JFK with a dream and a cardigan…ready to kick off festivities for Press Publish NYC tonight. Follow along on our Instagram for live posts, then be sure to check out Friday’s newsletter for a recap. 

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Creators. Yesterday, Saturday Night Live announced the newest cast members for its upcoming season, most of whom are regular faces on TikTok’s FYP—Veronika Slowikowska, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, Jeremy Culhane, and Tommy Brennan. 

Context: For most of SNL’s 51 years on the air, being on the show meant  “making it” for comedians. With the growth of TikTok, Instagram, and podcasts, though, many comedians have carved a new (and more independent) path to success. With that, the role SNL plays in the creator industry has evolved.

One POV: “I don't watch SNL,” Anthony Potero said on The Colin and Samir Show. “And the only experience I have with SNL is they stole one of my YouTuber friend’s bits bar for bar.”

And another: We spoke to a handful of creators who auditioned for SNL’s upcoming season. Their reasoning? Being part of a comedy legacy is still significant, and SNL is as legacy as it gets for comedians.

Big picture: SNL creator Lorne Michaels told Puck he planned to “shake things up” ahead of the show’s next season premiering October 4. It seems creators are a big part of that—the incoming class has a combined following of over 3 million, a significant shift from the days when SNL’s cast was mostly unknown before joining the show. With SNL entering its 51st season and broadcast TV viewership down overall, a creator-focused recruiting strategy could be key to supercharging views.

Comedy podcast group TMG Studios just more than doubled its roster with five new shows. Noel Miller, TMG’s owner, knew this was the natural progression for his team that was “hungry to do more.”

Quick context: 

The reason for expanding the roster? Miller felt his team could take on more—and that meant acquiring new podcasts. He said he wants to position TMG as an incubator for new talent, providing creative direction and financial support to up-and-coming shows and creators. And with declining views on Miller’s own podcast since Ko’s departure, Miller hopes the new additions can grow quickly as part of TMG.

So how’d TMG find its new roster? Miller said it was like “digging through records” to find fresh faces—most of the new shows have under 100K subscribers on YouTube. 

“It's a question that I ask [the team] often, like, ‘hey, what are you guys seeing that is really speaking to you?’” Miller told us. “So that gets us an initial pool of shows or people that we're interested in.”

What comes next: As a seasoned stand-up comic, Miller plans to prioritize live events, using his shows as ways to further spotlight rising talent. 

“My guys over at the YouTube channel Big Time don't have a podcast but wanted to try doing a live podcast. So we put them on the flyer and they did their first live podcast,” Miller said.

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Short-form sound effects creator Josh Harmon is launching his first venture into long-form content with Sounds Good, a show delving into how he makes his viral foley videos. 

“So far on the channel I've had the chance to work with these incredible musicians—Post Malone, Benny Blanco, all these amazing people, heroes of mine,” Harmon said. “But I want to open it up so that I can work with actors, athletes, comedians.”

How he got here: Harmon has been a drummer since he was three years old and started posting videos mimicking film sound effects during the pandemic. Now, with over 9 million subscribers and 6 billion channel views, Harmon is self-financing Sounds Good (which will use the extended footage from his short-form content with guests). 

Sounds Good released today on YouTube, with Jon Batiste as Harmon’s first guest.