Why "Internet Collaborative IP" Catapulted Two YouTubers Past Star Wars
Two YouTube creators have turned low‑budget horror films into box‑office powerhouses, with Kane Parsons' "Backrooms" earning $213 million worldwide on a $10 million budget and Curry Barker's "Obsession" pulling in $225 million on a $750,000 budget. Together they have outgrossed Disney’s "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu," which has made $294 million since its release on a $165 million budget. Industry partners such as A24, Focus Features and Blumhouse have helped the creators tap the horror boom, while analysts attribute the success to a new model of “internet collaborative IP” that leverages community‑built storytelling and direct fan engagement. This marks only the second theatrical triumph for a YouTuber, following Markiplier’s $50 million "Iron Lung" adaptation.
The New Vertical Integration: How Amazon, Google and Paramount + Oracle Are Rewriting the Paramount Decrees
Amazon unveiled an AI‑powered studio that ties MGM’s film library to AWS, Prime Video’s 200 million subscribers and nearly 300 million Fire TV devices. Paramount Skydance is building a similar stack with Oracle’s generative‑AI tools, cloud infrastructure and its own IP, but it lacks...
Two Amazon AI Original Series Deals Went Wrong in 48 Hours. Here's Why They Matter.
Amazon MGM Studios and AWS unveiled a GenAI Creators Fund, greenlighting three original series, including Jorge Gutierrez’s “Punky Duck” and Buzzfeed Studios’ “Cupcake & Friends.” Within 48 hours both creators withdrew, citing community backlash and fears that AI would dilute artistic authenticity. The rapid reversals...
Hollywood Just Drew a Line in the Sand on AI Actors... Which Bollywood Already Crossed.
SAG-AFTRA’s tentative agreement with the AMPTP opens limited AI use in Hollywood, allowing digital replicas only when they deliver "significant additional value" and imposing a higher threshold for fully synthetic AI actors. The deal bans consent‑free language dubbing of replicas...
In The Fight Against AI, The Org Chart Is the Vulnerability
People, Inc. is betting on an aggressive "INVERSION" strategy, launching over 200 AI‑focused initiatives to revive its faltering brand portfolio. Chairman Barry Diller and CEO Neil Vogel admit that only a handful of the company’s 40‑plus brands have real value,...
People Inc. Is Partnering With the Wrong Part Of The CPG Marketplace
People Inc. is betting on an "INVERSION" strategy that partners with consumer‑packaged‑goods (CPG) firms to co‑create and own branded products, rather than licensing its media brands. The essay argues the plan is vulnerable to platform‑driven competition from Meta, Google and...
What 301 CPG Brands Reveal About People Inc.'s INVERSION Bet
An analysis of 301 consumer‑packaged‑goods (CPG) brands shows that every billion‑dollar breakout, aside from MrBeast’s Feastables, was founded between 2015 and 2019. Brands like Olipop, Liquid Death, Alani Nu and Chomps achieved valuations from $500 million to $1.85 billion within five years....
Why People Inc.'s INVERSION Strategy Needs To Be More Than A White-Label Business
IAC rebranded as People, Inc. and formalized its "INVERSION" strategy, aiming to turn its media IP into directly owned products and services rather than licensing. The company now runs 19 separate initiatives, from white‑label consumer goods to new entertainment formats,...
YouTube Built a Tool To Protect Celebrity Likenesses. But It Does Not Pay Them.
YouTube has launched a deep‑fake detection tool that lets high‑profile individuals upload their likenesses to Google’s cloud for automated monitoring. The service, first opened to politicians and journalists, now covers actors, athletes, creators and musicians, flagging or removing videos that...
Netflix Is Building the Pipes Its Future Competitors Will Use
Netflix’s Q1 2026 shareholder letter highlights a “more dynamic” media landscape driven by rising video supply from both human creators and generative‑AI tools. The company projects ad‑supported streaming revenue to double year‑over‑year, reaching roughly $3 billion in 2026, while subscription revenue...
The MPA's Wins Against ByteDance Are Real. They May Not Last.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) secured a de‑facto ban on ByteDance’s AI video generator, Seedance 2.0, preventing its rollout in the United States. The agreement obliges the Chinese firm to filter copyrighted material, embed attribution watermarks, and cooperate with industry‑led monitoring....
Disney V. Hailou AI: No Sacred Cows, No Legal Remedy
Disney, Warner Bros., Universal and other studios sued MiniMax, NanoNoble and their parent SXJT over the Hailuo AI platform, alleging the service generated copyrighted characters without permission. The defendants responded with two motions to dismiss, arguing that U.S. copyright law...
Why SAG's 'Tilly Tax' Falls Short of Bollywood's AI Future
The Writers Guild of America clinched a four‑year contract that adds $321 million to health and pension funds but stops short of securing compensation for the use of writers’ work in AI training. Studios must only notify the WGA if they...
Bollywood Is Running Hollywood's Forbidden Experiment
Bollywood studios are rapidly deploying AI to create, dub, and recut films, turning India into the world’s largest testbed for AI‑driven entertainment. With 958 million active internet users—over half in rural areas—the market is hungry for low‑cost, multilingual content. Companies like...
Why Netflix Is Missing the Lesson Nike and Starbucks Just Learned.
The article argues that artificial intelligence is moving from a hardware‑focused hype phase to a productivity‑driven era, mirroring the historical rollout of electricity. Brands like Nike and Starbucks are already using AI to produce original entertainment, capture audiences, and monetize...