Happy Thursday, FutureParty people. The great mystery of where the Sundance Film Festival is heading next has reached a new stage. Deadline hears that 15 cities are officially in the running, getting the greenlight from the Sundance Institute to put in serious bids to become the premier film fest’s next home starting in 2027. Some of the host cities in the running include three cities in Georgia, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Park City (of course). Only time will tell if we can still go snowboarding after a screening.

In other news… Marvel gets less interconnected, Snoop Dogg sells his stuff, and SpongeBob takes the Kids’ Choice Awards podium.

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.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe

• YouTube – Tires 

• X (Twitter) – Glen Powell

• Google – Chappell Roan

• Reddit – Deadpool & Wolverine

• TikTok – “Fool” - Frankie Cosmos

• Spotify – “Orion’s Belt” - The Avett Brothers

.ENTERTAINMENT.

Marvel disbands its movies and shows

The Future. After dominating pop culture for over a decade by creating the ultimate franchise, Marvel has admitted that there’s such a thing as too much world-building. So, now, its movies and shows won’t be so interconnected. The strategy mirrors Bob Iger’s larger overhaul of Disney’s film and TV divisions… which could lead to a new burst of creative risk-taking at the Mouse House.

Keep it small screen
Marvel announced that, moving forward, its movies and shows would no longer be connected in a way that required you to watch everything to keep up with the overarching storyline.

• The shows will now exist under the newly created Marvel Television banner (which, yes, is the same name as the old Marvel Television banner), starting with the WandaVision spinoff, Agatha All Along.

• Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television, and animation, said that the change should help the brand reconnect with casual fans and spotlight how each Marvel story can be geared toward different audiences and encompass varied genres.

The change comes after Marvel ramped up production of its movies and shows to pump Disney+ with content — a move that made keeping up with every Marvel title start to feel like homework to audiences.

That volume of content also hurt the quality of the productions, stretching executives and crews thin in an effort to make deadlines — deadlines that couldn’t be moved because of how all the projects were set up for the next installments. Under that pressure, things started to feel a bit less than super.

52.5% of you voted for Siri in yesterday’s poll: Siri or Alexa?

“Use neither, and don’t own Apple anything.”

“Both are objectively awful.”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT RYSE.

The smart home industry is shook

The smart home industry is projected to grow 55% annually until 2030.

Automated shades are the last missing piece in the smart home, but high prices and complex installation procedures have slowed adoption.

Until now.

Toronto startup RYSE has created a revolutionary way to convert manual window shades into automated ones. Their hardware is so on point that Best Buy recently stocked RYSE’s SmartShades in over 100 retail locations.

And guess what? You can participate in their pre-IPO offering and invest in RYSE at just $1.50/share.

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star are set to host the 2024 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards — the first time animated characters have hosted a full awards show. [Read More]

• A24 has inked a deal with independent publisher Mack to bring its iconic books to global retail stores — a novel partnership between a film studio and a publishing house. [Read More]

• Dolly Parton, who’s been retired from touring for years, is set to launch a “multimedia symphonic storytelling experience” of her music and legacy that will go on tour next year. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• BEGS (Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, and silver) are hitting record valuations as investors look to shore up alternative assets. [Read More]

• Buy now, pay later platforms like Affirm and Klarna are getting credit card-like protections after a ruling by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [Read More]

• Nissan is rolling out a fragrance, dubbed “Smell My Dust,” at an all-electric grand prix that’s meant to evoke the smell of a traditional gas-powered race — a move that Nissan hopes gives its racers a competitive advantage. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• AI startup Anthropic announced that it’s finally starting to understand how neural networks — the engine of AI — actually work. Believe it or not, this is a breakthrough for the industry. [Read More]

• Humane, fresh off its flagship AI Pin product being a bit of a flop, is looking for a buyer — setting its valuation price between $750 million and $1 billion. [Read More]

• Beijing built an official chatbot of Chinese leader Xi Jinping that was trained on books and paper he allegedly wrote himself, government regulations, policy documents, and state media reports. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• TikTok tapped Billie Eilish to be the launch partner for its “Fan Spotlight” feature, which allows artists to pin videos from five creators each week. [Read More]

• Nebraska sued TikTok due to its algorithm essentially being a “sophisticated gambling machine that is addictive to kids.” [Read More]

• Linktree is beta launching its social-commerce storefront links for creators using its link-in-bio platform. [Read More]

.MUSIC.

Snoop Dogg is auctioning his legacy

The Future. Snoop Dogg is collaborating with Scott “DJ Skee” Keeney’s memorabilia authentication and auction company, Realest, to auction off his personal items from his career. If successful, expect many other major artists to follow suit and maybe even host annual auctions as a sort of tour spring-cleaning.

Snoop sale
Snoop Dogg is taking a page out of Pharrell’s playbook and picking up the gavel to auction off his own memorabilia.

• Items include autographed riders, production books, master recording tapes, autographed jerseys, and yes, a smoked blunt.

• The items have been verified by Realest’s two-tiered authentication system, which is similar to Major League Baseball’s system — witness-based authentication and watermarking via a hologram sticker or hidden marking.

• The project, dubbed “The Shiznit,” launched yesterday and ends June 2nd, with items being exhibited across the country.

The auction could potentially be a major moneymaker for Snoop. Most artists, especially someone on the rapper’s level, have never really taken advantage of selling seemingly basic yet coveted items like lyric sheets and concert setlists themselves.

Yet, those items can go for a lot on eBay or at a professional auction house (which keeps a significant cut of sales). Since streaming revenue is pennies on the dollar (in Snoop’s own words), he may see this as a lucrative new revenue stream.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT REGALIER.

The cool people’s secret

REGALIER is a hidden gem in a sea of newsletters, delivering a brilliant curation of stories, pictures, and links to your inbox every day.

They give you stories like:

• Why billionaires are fleeing America.

• How Prada is dominating its competition.

Next to:

• The weirdest developments in AI.

• Clever memes and inspiring art.

Sign up now, so you can tell people you were in REGALIER before it blew up.

Join REGALIER today.

• Listen: Google CEO Sundar Pichai stops by the Decoder podcast to talk about how AI will revolutionize search… and discuss if YouTube plans on suing OpenAI (if the firm trained its forthcoming Sora tool on YouTube videos).

• Watch: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella chats with WSJ about their new AI-powered PCs and how the features are launching a new era for Windows.

• Read: In the wake of the tragic Singapore Airlines flight, Bloomberg lists some routes that routinely experience the most turbulence.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT NICE NEWS.

Wanna hear some good news?

The good news is that it's out there. You can find it at Nice News.

They’re sick of the doom and gloom of the reg news. That’s why they filter through 100+ sources daily to send you the most uplifting, relevant stories out there.

Pretty refreshing, huh?

Join over 750,000 readers and get good news sent to your inbox.

Talent > tools

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.

Studio Operator (Freelance)
FanDuel
Los Angeles, CA

Stage Manager, Coca Cola Roxy
Live Nation
Atlanta, GA

Senior Director, Corporate Marketing
Salesforce
Seattle, WA

Agent Assistant, Music
Wasserman
New York, NY

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today we get into the NFL potentially allowing private equity into team ownership, how brands are paying school tuition fees, and how streamers are trying to change the way they pay their talent.