Happy Thursday, FutureParty people… but no one’s probably happier than the audiences at the Cannes Film Festival. This year’s fest has George Miller’s Fury Road prequel Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola’s 40-years-in-the-making Megalopolis, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things follow-up Kinds of Kindness. If you’re there, please send back reactions… and maybe a croissant.

In other news… Hollywood rediscovers cable’s good economics, creators sue to keep TikTok in the US, and VF Corp may drop Supreme.

We hope you enjoy this and all upcoming issues, but we have one request: please share your feedback. If you have any thoughts at all about our new look, format, and direction, please reply to this email. It’ll go straight to us. Do not hold back.

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• YouTube – Wicked

• X (Twitter) – X-Men ‘97

• Google – King Charles portrait

• Reddit – Happy Gilmore 2

• TikTok – SpongeBob Closing Theme Song Music

• Spotify – “I Want What I Don’t Need” - Villagers

.ENTERTAINMENT.

Streaming is remaking itself into the new cable

The Future. As streaming exits its subscriber-growth stage, the TV industry is looking to create a sustainable business… and finding that the old ways may be the answer. While ditching expensive cable subscriptions may have been the initial goal of streaming, the ultimate destination of the innovation may be just being able to watch your cable-like bundles on any screen via easy-to-use apps that can harness infinitely more data about their audiences.

Revenue reboot
Streamers aren’t so interested in the innovations of ad-free, on-demand, premium TV anymore.

• Every major streamer now has an ad-supported option… and it’s paying off. Netflix saw users of the tier double to 40 million this year, while Prime Video reported that its quarterly ad sales jumped 24%.

• Streamers are starting to bundle to reduce churn by lowering costs for consumers — that includes an upcoming Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle and a Peacock, Netflix, and AppleTV+ bundle.

• There’s a push into live programming, including talk shows, live-streamed stand-up specials, show reunions, and, the biggest moneymaker of all, sports.

• And scripted shows are undergoing a broadcast-like transformation — the streamers are looking for familiar-feeling procedurals and multi-cam sitcoms that can be made cheaply and go on for multiple seasons.

What this shift seems to signal is that the economics of TV didn’t need to change, but the technology did — something that Disney CEO Bob Iger basically confirmed when he said yesterday that the company plans “to reduce pretty dramatically our investment in content specifically aimed at those traditional networks.”

In other words, your favorite ABC show is now a Disney+ show. Cut the cord already.

58.3% of you voted Netflix in yesterday’s poll: Apple or Netflix?

“Netflix has more content, and I like the setup better.”

“Apple for original content, but Netflix still comes through if you wanna watch something old.”

“Even though Apple has some great exclusive content, Netflix has far more variety. It’s easier to pick a fun TV show to mindlessly relax to, while it feels like you need to invest some time on Apple and the content is more serious.”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT ANTHEM AWARDS.

Good people finish first

Brought to you by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards is back to honor the purpose and mission-driven work of people and organizations worldwide. Let’s go!

Join winners like REI, The Daily Show, R/GA, Sesame Workshop, Havas, UNICEF, The Elton John AIDS Foundation, On Purpose with Jay Shetty, and Vote.org in inspiring others to take action in their communities. Because we’re all in this thing called life together.

Ready? Enter by the Early Entry Deadline on Friday, May 24th (it costs less that way, too!).

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Netflix officially scored two new NFL games to be played on Christmas Day, with the option of also showing games in 2025 and 2026. [Read More]

• Spotify was sent a cease-and-desist order by the National Music Publishers’ Association over the streamer’s new lyric video feature and its remix tool that allows users to slow down or speed up songs. [Read More]

• Kevin Parker, the frontman of Tame Impala and a songwriter/producer for acts like Dua Lipa and Rihanna, sold his existing and future publishing rights to Sony Music Publishing. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• VF Corporation is reportedly exploring a sale of streetwear giant Supreme only four years after acquiring the brand. [Read More]

• Fast Retailing, the Japanese parent company of Uniqlo, plans to launch fast-fashion brand GU in the US later this year. [Read More]

• Canada Goose has named French designer Haider Ackermann as its first-ever creative director. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• A bipartisan group of Senators has finally released a “roadmap” for how Congress should tackle issues around artificial intelligence. [Read More]

• Uber is introducing a new “Shuttle” service that’s meant to help alleviate traffic congestion at concerts, live events, and the airport. [Read More]

• Blue Origin announced that it’ll restart passenger spaceflights beginning May 19th, almost two years after its last crewed flight. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• Billionaire real-estate mogul Frank McCourt announced that he’s organizing a consortium of investors to make a bid for TikTok if it goes up for sale. [Read More]

• Jellysmack stealthily sold its creator catalog licensing business, JellyFi, to Copyright Capital back in March. [Read More]

• Duolingo’s green owl mascot, which has gone viral on TikTok for its irreverent posts, has been popping up on YouTube… just in case that TikTok ban pans out. [Read More]

.SOCIAL MEDIA.

TikTok creators sue to block app’s ban

The Future. A new lawsuit against the US government’s plan to force the sale of TikTok sets the stage for a battle between expression and security. Considering the legal firm behind the lawsuit has had past success stopping a ban of the app, and the law’s provision that suits can only be filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, expect the debate to quickly make its way to the Supreme Court.

The value of a TikTok
Eight very different creators (just see here, here, and here) are suing to keep TikTok in the US.

• They argue that TikToks are a unique form of expression without a one-to-one equivalent that, if lost, would negatively impact the livelihood of millions of users.

• They allege that they’ve tried posting their content on other platforms, but they don’t garner anywhere near the same reach and engagement as they do on TikTok.

• The lawsuit claims that banning the platform due to classified national security concerns is also a violation of free speech.

The lawsuit was filed by Seattle-based firm Davis Wright Tremaine (and is being paid for by TikTok), which was also behind the successful challenges to the first ban of the app under former President Trump and Montana’s state-only ban.

Another point of interest: Erich Andersen, ByteDance’s general counsel who is spearheading its lawsuit, also worked at Davis Wright Tremaine in the early 90s. Small world.

.GIVEAWAY ALERT.

Win a Caribbean island getaway

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Plus, you can explore turquoise waters with unlimited water sports and scuba diving.

• Read: WSJ profiles Robbie Praw, Netflix’s comedy head who organizes Netflix Is A Joke Fest and has turned the streamer into the hottest place for standup comics.

• Listen: Rapid Response chats with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky about his vision for the company’s pop-culture-focused Icons listings.

• Watch: OpenAI recruits Khan Academy’s Imran Khan to show off how GPT-4o can help students tackle complex math problems.

JOBS OF THE WEEK

Explore a weekly curated list of the latest and greatest opportunities in business, tech, and entertainment. For more listings, check out the complete job board.

Associate Manager, Post Production - LIVE
Netflix
Los Angeles, CA

Product Manager, Advertising
Spotify
New York, NY

Staff Designer, Enterprise AI Experiences
Adobe
San Francisco, CA

Manager, Content Strategy & Planning
Roku
Santa Monica, CA

Joaquin Phoenix’s character would have the most annoying baggage for the rest of his life if he dated GPT-4o.

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