Good morning. Last week, Meta projected that Reels annual revenue will grow to $10 billion this year. That’s about the size of TikTok's global ad revenue in 2022 (this year, TikTok is forecast to earn $13.2 billion). As much as Reels seems like the less-cool cousin of TikTok, the numbers suggest it’s coming into its own competitive angle.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

How Should Creators Navigate the Hollywood Strike?

Writers and actors are striking together for the first time since 1960 to battle studios they suspect want to further cut talent payouts as AI and streaming dominate entertainment.

Where do creators fit into all of this?

We spoke with The Creators’ Attorney, Tyler Chou, about creators’ role in the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild dual strike—and why the gap between creators and Hollywood is smaller than ever.

Can creators promote movies and TV shows?

SAG says only those that aren’t included in the strike (some productions didn’t use SAG actors or were granted waivers). Creators can check this site or reach out to SAG via email to see if the work they want to promote is fair game.

• Worth noting: SAG discourages creators from making content about strike-affected work in any capacity (for instance, fashion inspired by the Barbie movie).

Why should creators stand with SAG-AFTRA?

“It’s important for creators to realize that as much as creators focus on creating for the beauty and sake of creation and by tapping into their passion, they are exactly like all of the working actors who act because of their love of acting,” Chou said. “Only 1% of actors make the big acting fees that we hear about.”

• FYI: 87% of SAG members don’t get union health insurance because they don’t make the minimum yearly salary of $26,000 required to qualify.

“I predict this strike is bringing SAG into the consciousness of creators,” Chou said, “and they will consider joining with the realization that SAG could ultimately protect them and offer benefits that they do not have on their own.”

Those benefits could include advocating and negotiating minimums for brand deals, offering healthcare, and more.

Zoom out: While YouTube is pulling in more viewership than streaming services and TV networks, the line between creators and Hollywood is blurring. Actors like Paul Scheer and Jason Bateman have podcasts, while creators like Quinta Brunson and Reece Feldman actively work in Hollywood.

“These companies that the actors and writers are fighting against are the same ones who hire creators, so by making the studios and streamers accountable…they are setting precedents to make sure that [studios] also don’t [take advantage of] creators,” Chou said.

Victoria Paris Reports Uptick in TikTok Earnings

Lifestyle creator Victoria Paris recently shared that she made over $6,000 in one month through TikTok’s Creativity Program, significantly topping her average monthly revenue from the platform last year.

Context: Since TikTok launched its Creator Fund in 2020, big time creators like Hank Green have criticized the platform for lackluster payouts compared to other platforms’ revenue sharing programs.

In February, TikTok rebranded its fund as a Creativity Program, a move TikTok’s former head of product said was a reactive measure to compete with other platforms.

Details: Paris noted that only about one in 20 of her videos meets the Creativity Program’s video length requirement of 60 seconds, implying that a smaller share of her videos are earning significantly more than what her entire catalog used to.

FYI: TikTok’s Creativity Program is still limited to users in the U.S. Other creator revenue programs including YouTube’s, Snap’s, and Twitter’s are more widely available globally.

Sponsored by Uscreen

How This Yoga Creator Launched a Profitable Membership Business

Building an online membership business goes hand in hand with building a strong community. And Tara Stiles is a creator who’s mastered both.

Tara combined her experience in classical ballet and her long-time practice in yoga to co-found Strala Yoga. She soon discovered how she could bring together her transformative ballet content with her connected community into a revenue-generating membership business.

Uscreen helps creators like Tara sell their videos online. With it, you can build, launch, and manage your own revenue-generating membership businesses.

In a 1-on-1 interview, Tara reveals how she uses Uscreen to keep her membership community connected and engaged. Learn her strategies behind:

• Curating content based on member feedback.

• Hosting virtual community meetups.

• And more…

Click here to watch the full interview.

TikTok Rappers on the Rise

TikTok rappers Flyana Boss became YouTube’s Artist on the Rise last week, their latest achievement in a major month-long rise.

Context: Since June, the LA-based duo has racked up over 165 million views on TikTok promoting their single “You Wish.” The so-called Flyana Boss challenge videos show them running through unexpected locations from Times Square to Disneyland.

FYI: Their popularity has translated to IRL opportunities—earlier this month, Flyana Boss performed at the 2023 Essence festival with Megan Thee Stallion. The two have also worked with brands including Google, Chipotle, and TikTok following their first viral video.

Zoom out: Though “You Wish” is their first viral hit, this isn’t the first time Flyana Boss have promoted a song through a dance challenge. Missy Elliott recently came to the rappers’ defense over their TikTok marketing strategy, which was criticized for being “repetitive.”

👀 Creator Moves

• Aquarium Info is hiring a script writer to work on long-form videos.

• Riley Mae is looking for a YouTube producer with two years of short-form content experience.

• VanWives is hiring an experienced editor to help with their YouTube channel.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Jay Shetty hosts President Biden on his podcast.

• Animation creator CircleToonsHD launches a card game.

• Ryan Trahan releases a director’s commentary on his penny series.

• Reddit tests an “official” tag to authenticate profiles.

• Uppbeat’s AI Playlist Generator is powered by ChatGPT and lets you use any prompt to generate a playlist of on-point copyright-free music you can download for your content.*

• Adobe updates its Photoshop beta to include expanding photos with AI.

_{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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