Good morning. Obsession director Curry Barker just announced that his next film, Anything But Ghosts, will hit theaters on May 7, 2027.
Barker and his creative partner Cooper Tomlinson will star as amateur ghost hunters. I’m personally holding out for a Sam and Colby cameo.
Today’s lineup:
Could Jubilee host the next presidential debate?
OpenAI wants a bigger piece of the creator economy
Why kids are spending so much time on Spotify (not Taylor-Swift-related)
Jubilee Partners With CNN for a Town Hall
James Talarico (left) will speak on a town hall hosted by CNN in partnership with creator media group Jubilee (right) / James Talarico, Jubilee
On October 14, Jubilee—the creator media company behind political YouTube shows like Surrounded and The Split—will partner with CNN on a town hall featuring Texas US Senate candidate James Talarico.
Inside the partnership:
Ahead of November’s midterm elections, CNN anchor Erin Burnett will interview Talarico in front of an audience of Democrat, Republican, and Independent voters. CNN has also invited Republican candidate Ken Paxton to participate in a separate town hall.
Jubilee will help with the “ideation and development” of the programming, though the company did not share its specific responsibilities.
The town hall will air first on CNN, then Jubilee will post the full video to its 11M subscriber YouTube channel.
“Jubilee is bringing expertise in the digital space and with different audiences, and CNN is providing its own digital reach, distribution, and scale, as well as trust within the political campaigns,” Jubilee founder Jason Y. Lee told us via email.
Zoom out: In just two years, Surrounded has become one of the internet’s most popular (and controversial) political formats, averaging over 5M views per episode. Lee told us that Jubilee eventually wants to host a presidential debate. By inking a partnership with a strong voice in institutional media, Jubilee is professionalizing their platform as a space for respected political debate to viewers, media partners, and political candidates.
What Creators Should Know from OpenAI DevDay
OpenAI held its fourth annual DevDay in San Francisco yesterday. The event came a week after Patreon co-founder Sam Yam joined the company to lead development of creator products.
Here’s what stood out for creators →
AI agents for gruntwork: OpenAI’s biggest announcement centered around “dots”, always-on AI agents the company is pitching partly to creators.
The company said creators can use dots to automate tedious parts of the production process. For example, agents can flag clip-worthy moments, prep show notes, and draft social posts from interview transcripts.
The catch? “dots” are only available right now to pro and business premium users in limited markets.
A Casey Neistat-backed biz makes a cameo: ModRetro built a plugin with OpenAI that lets anyone vibe code games for its portable console. The gaming company, where Neistat is an investor and chief storyteller, also gave away 8K limited-edition versions of its handheld system to attendees.
Neistat was in San Francisco for the plugin launch and appeared on TBPN, the creator-led live tech show OpenAI purchased earlier this year.
The bigger picture: Creators weren’t at the center of yesterday’s showcase. But OpenAI has increasingly partnered more with creators to help build its products and shape how the public perceives the company and understands AI.
A few examples →
Design and tech creator Cova Lee joined OpenAI to work across its product and social teams.
AI-education creator Matt Wolfe signed a 12-month exclusive brand partnership with OpenAI that gives him final editorial say over his content.
Yam also brought Patreon’s former heads of product (Drew Rowny) and engineering (Shannon Ma) with him to OpenAI.
What do you think about OpenAI’s efforts to court creators and build tools for them? Let us know with a reply.
Is Spotify the New Third Space for Kids Online?
This American Life reports children are chatting via the comments section of Spotify podcasts / Illustration by Moy Zhong
Last week, This American Life host Ira Glass reported that some of the show’s Spotify episodes drew an influx of random comments. Another staffer eventually figured out why: kids were using the empty comment sections to talk to each other.
The perfect storm: As governments crack down on platforms, YouTube, Meta, and TikTok are tightening age verification. At the same time, Spotify is pushing video uploads, from music videos to podcasts to full YouTube VODs.
The result? Spotify comment sections are becoming an unexpected hangout for kids, many of whom say they’re locked out of other platforms:
Commentary creator Joe Bartolozzi’s Spotify page has entire comment threads of students helping each other with homework.
“I’m not allowed on YouTube or anything like that,” one commenter said under react creator SSSniperWolf’s VOD. Other viewers share Roblox usernames and talk about their favorite games.
On gaming creator JudeLow’s page, one commenter’s poll on the best Minecraft creator drew 161 reactions.
Will Spotify adopt similar age verification policies as video grows on the platform?
🔥 Press Worthy
Linktree adds messaging and YouTube video integration.
Comedy creators from The Kevin Langue Show start their own YouTube channel called Saturday Morning Detention.
Comedy creator Chris Olsen is releasing a memoir.
Kyle Gordon releases a new song parodying pop-punk bands.
Fashion creator Cyrus Veyssi is joining the cast of the Broadway show & Juliet.
Podcast host Guy Raz becomes part-owner of his show, How I Built This, and brings it to YouTube.
