Good morning. LA was a ghost town this weekend as creators and industry folks flocked to Indio for CoaBieber-chella (if someone can get us press passes for next weekend...call us). Much of Bieber’s set involved pulling up YouTube videos and playing classic hits like “Sorry” and “Beauty and a Beat.” It was a nostalgia-fueled time that made everyone Future Mrs. Bieber, if only for a moment.

And speaking of LA creators—we’re bringing back a community favorite event for you later this month. Scroll for details.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Today’s lineup:

1. What happened to Khaby Lame’s $975M stock deal
2. How one creator self-funds a scripted short-form series
3. The state leading the way in child creator protection laws

Last week, several brokerages including Fidelity, E*Trade, and Charles Schwab blocked online trading or put restrictions on shares of the stock behind Khaby Lame's recent merger with Hong Kong-based financial company Rich Sparkle Holdings.

Catch up quick → 

On paper, it's a proven model. Selling likeness at scale has worked before: Shaquille O'Neal sold his name, image, and likeness to media company Authentic Brands Group in 2015, for example.

"The premise of this idea is spot on," Jeff Frommer, investor and founder of creator-brand matching company OWM, told us. "But the execution—what it will do to get creators nervous about these big paydays—that's the problem."

So what happened? The stock jumped to nearly $180 per share when it was first announced in January but fell quickly amid confusion over the deal's future. No formal filings confirmed the deal was complete, and there were no records showing Lame's company had received the share of the new entity it was promised post-merger.

“The structure of this deal was poor and the company behind it I’m not familiar with, but it felt like the right future world that we’re going to live in,” Frommer said. “But the first market mover advantage was one that was built on a house of cards.”

Another path → Building a business with longevity means building value beyond a creator’s likeness, Frommer told us. For example, Beast Industries is building an empire that straddles multiple industries such as fintech, phone services, and CPG. Woodworking creator Jonathan Katz-Moses sells his own line of tools. 

"Going public is like getting an investor at scale," Frommer said. "You need a real business underneath it."

Big picture: The deal's unraveling may spook investors on creator partnerships—at least temporarily. Frommer's takeaway for creators? "Choose the right business partners. Scale the trust you've earned."

From Subway Takes to microdramas, short-form content is raking in views—and attention—at a rapid clip. But no two creators are building a short-form content business the same way. 

So? We’re featuring several short-form creators in the coming weeks to understand their business, challenges, and biggest opportunities.

Film creator Milky Tran got her start as a writer and director at Jubilee. She went viral shortly after she was laid off in 2024, and she’s been a full-time creator ever since, making scripted comedy shorts like 3 Adult Things.

But to produce her new ensemble show, Next Session, Tran had a decision to make: sign with a media brand like Fallen, Gymnasium, and American Picture Company (and their economies of scale) or go indie. Tran went indie. 

Here’s how it works → 

Looking ahead: While Tran ultimately wants to write and direct her own movie, she finds the show rewarding.

“I love connecting with people—with the team of passionate creatives I get to make it with and the audience that looks forward to it,” Tran said. “Seeing the impact of these short-a** stories reflected in the comments is a surreal experience.”

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While US states including Nebraska and Indiana are rolling back child labor regulations, Tennessee is going in the opposite direction.

The news: Last week, TN passed a bill barring children under 14 from appearing in monetized online videos. 

Big picture: Over the last 10 years, child labor violations have risen fivefold. But more than a dozen states have loosened child labor restrictions by extending working hours, lowering age thresholds, and reducing oversight for minors in the workforce.

Labor laws are more complicated for creator kids. Most states (save for California and Colorado) have no laws governing children who earn income on social media—leaving young creators in a legal gray zone that traditional labor law was never built for. Could Tennessee’s bill help reverse the national tide?

We’ve been cooking this year: hiring a company president, hosting Press Publish LA, earning a Webby nom. And now? The return of our favorite community series, Coffee With Creators.

Save the date: Friday, April 24. We’re bringing back Coffee With Creators on a monthly basis at The Lighthouse LA. 

Consider it a standing hang with your favorite creators to learn from each other, meet potential collaborators, and end the month strong. For free, as always—hope to see you there.