Good morning. Esports org Sentinels opened up its investor pool to fans over the weekend, selling up to 4% of the company at a $30 million valuation. It’s a playbook not many creator holding companies have deployed, but we’re curious: Would you ever bring your audience on as equity stakeholders?

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

How the Hollywood Strike Affects Creators

Last Thursday, SAG-AFTRA—a union that represents 160,000 performers like actors, radio hosts, and creators—officially went on strike, meaning that members agreed to stop working on and promoting upcoming projects until their union comes to a new agreement with the major entertainment studios like Disney and Netflix.

In tandem with the writers’ strike that began in May, this will be the first dual strike by Hollywood actors and writers since 1960, when both unions ended up winning healthcare benefits and pension plans for their members.

What they’re fighting for today → wage increases, streaming residuals, and limits on the use of AI.

So what does it mean for creators? This week, the union spelled out guidelines for members and anyone seeking future membership:

• Creators can still participate in brand partnerships, but they can’t promote screenings and content produced by studios (unless they are already under contract).

• Creators can’t participate in conventions such as Comic-Con panels or meet-and-greets on behalf of the studios.

• Creators can show solidarity for the strike by supporting the union on social media and joining members on the picket line.

Big picture: SAG-AFTRA helps negotiate fair wages, safe working conditions, and healthcare for its members, which include everyone from Jennifer Lawrence to A-listers’ stunt doubles.

For creators looking to take their work to the big screen in the near future, crossing the picket line to work with a major studio right now means revoking membership in the union (and losing those union benefits) forever, as UCLA professor Lia Haberman notes.

Rhett and Link to Host Third NSFW Livestream

Rhett and Link have announced the return of Good Mythical Evening, their uncensored and “unsober” live event on August 24.

Context: For the last three years, creator duo Rhett and Link have hosted an annual livestream show during which they curse, enact suggestive fanfic stories, and generally do things that would otherwise demonetize them on YouTube. Last year they sold over 83,000 tickets and the livestream was No. 2 on Twitter trending in the U.S.

This year has a couple new twists:

• Fans will vote in real-time on the challenges Rhett and Link take on.

• The show will be streamed live at participating Alamo Drafthouse Cinema theaters.

In previous years, Rhett and Link have hosted the event through Moment and the now defunct Looped. This year it’s through Kiswe, a platform known for working with the Try Guys and incorporating interactive audience choice elements.

Big picture: Rhett and Link are representative of an industry-wide fascination with creating interactive experiences (see also: our coverage of PinkyDoll on Monday) during which audiences are as much part of the show as creators themselves.

Sponsored by Uscreen

From Free Basketball Content to a Global Membership Brand

In the Lab is a global basketball brand co-founded by Navin Ramharak in 2017, offering free basketball content online and in-person training camps. In 2019, Navin and his co-founders saw the opportunity to offer an exclusive membership to their growing audience. They turned to Uscreen and created In the Lab+.

Today, In the Lab+ has grown into an online empire with their own branded mobile apps catering to over 1,000 paying members, including everything from educational and entertaining video content to a space for their community to interact and connect, all within the In the Lab+ membership.

Learn how they built it here.

OnlyFans CEO Steps Down

OnlyFans CEO Amrapali Gan announced her departure from the creator platform yesterday after nearly three years at the company.

Context: When Gan took over as CEO in December 2021, OnlyFans had just gone through a PR firestorm after banning explicit content, making it OK again, and navigating its founder and CEO Tim Stokely quickly stepping down.

Gan’s tenure has been marked by efforts to rehabilitate OF’s image and pay more to creators:

• OF paid $10 billion in creator earnings last year, up from $8 billion in 2021.

• Gan led the growth of OFTV, the platform’s SFW original programming.

• She also shepherded in more safety resources for creators.

Looking ahead: OnlyFans Chief Strategy and Operations Officer Keily Blair will become CEO as Gan shifts her focus to a new consulting brand.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Johnny Harris and Sam Ellis start a new YouTube channel about sports and geopolitics.

• Fashion creator Emily Oberg launches a Sporty & Rich flagship store in NYC.

• Stop working with dozens of tools to manage your creator business. Norby is the all-in-one solution.*

• TikTok launches an incubator program for up-and-coming music creators.

• MrBeast releases characters on the video game Stumble Guys.

• YouTube and Netflix will soon account for as much TV viewing as all broadcast networks combined, according to Nielsen.

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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