Sony Pictures has appointed Fede Goldenberg, a former YouTube film and television partnerships executive, to lead Screen Gems, its genre-focused film label. The appointment brings
By Targe Media A creator can have millions of followers and still own very little. Their audience may live on someone else’s platform. Their income may depend on brand deals. Their content may perform well while the business behind it remains fragile. Rohan Gurram believes creators need to think differently. Through RG Creators, Gurram is encouraging creators to approach their careers with the mindset of founders. That means understanding what they own, how revenue is generated, who needs to be on the team, and what could survive if a platform disappeared tomorrow. “Attention is valuable, but attention alone is not a business,” Gurram said. “Creators need to decide what they are actually building around it.” For many creators, growth begins with content. They post consistently, develop a voice, and build an audience. Then the decisions become more serious. Which deals are worth taking? What should become a product? Which ideas deserve investment? What should stay personal, and what should be delegated? Gurram sees those as founder questions. A founder thinks beyond the next sale. They consider ownership, cash flow, team structure, customer trust, and what the company could become over time. Creators face the same responsibilities, even if they do
Major brands are expanding creator programs that allow social media users with as few as 500 followers to participate in brand campaigns and earn rewards. The initiatives involve companies including Target, Little Spoon, SoulCycle, and American Eagle, reflecting changes in how brands recruit and support emerging creators. Key Takeaways Major brands have expanded creator programs to include smaller social media accounts. Some initiatives accept participants with as few as 500 followers. Rewards include gift cards, free products, discounts, and affiliate opportunities. Several programs encourage creators to complete branded social media activities. Brands are broadening creator partnerships beyond traditional influencer campaigns. Major retailers and consumer brands are expanding creator programs for nano-influencers, opening new opportunities for social media users with as few as 500 followers to participate in brand campaigns and earn rewards. Companies including Target, Little Spoon, SoulCycle, and American Eagle have introduced or expanded creator advocacy initiatives that invite emerging creators to promote products through everyday social media content, reflecting changes in influencer marketing strategies and content discovery. The initiatives differ from traditional influencer partnerships that have typically focused on creators with large audiences. Instead, participating brands are encouraging smaller creators to complete social media activities, engage with branded
Not every task should go to AI, according to Dr. Connor Robertson, founder of Elixir Consulting Group and host of The Prospecting Show. Not every task needs a human, and not every task requires the founder personally. In his view, the businesses that scale efficiently are the ones where the right work goes to the right resource every time, with the sorting done deliberately rather than by habit. The Four-Quadrant Decision Matrix Robertson sorts any task on two axes: how predictable it is, and how much judgment it requires. High predictability and low judgment gets automated. High predictability and high judgment gets delegated to a trained human. Low predictability and low judgment gets systematized before it is automated. Low predictability and high judgment stays with the founder. In his experience, most founders have too many tasks sitting in that last quadrant because they have not built systems to move them into the other three. Tasks AI Handles Better Than Humans Robertson points to anything repetitive, rule-based, and high-volume as work that should go to AI: first-draft generation from defined templates, data formatting and consolidation, rule-based routing, pattern recognition at scale, and initial research and summarization. A human doing these tasks,
Artificial intelligence has transformed the way people search for information, discover experts, and make important decisions. Search engines are no longer the only gateway to knowledge. Millions of professionals, investors, students, and business owners now turn to AI platforms to compare companies, evaluate specialists, understand complex topics, and identify trusted voices before making financial or personal commitments. This shift is changing the very nature of reputation. For decades, professional credibility was built primarily through referrals, networking, media interviews, and search engine visibility. Today, those signals remain important, but they are increasingly supplemented by another layer of digital authority: the ability to be consistently recognized across reliable publications, educational resources, professional communities, and authoritative online sources that artificial intelligence systems can understand and connect. As AI-powered discovery becomes part of everyday decision-making, experts across industries are rethinking how they communicate their knowledge. Visibility alone is no longer enough. The emphasis is moving toward credibility, consistency, and demonstrated expertise. This evolution is reflected in the work of entrepreneur, educator, and international advisor Yelyzaveta Burtova, whose career illustrates how modern reputation is built not through self-promotion, but through sustained contributions across multiple fields including education, entrepreneurship, international advisory services, and community leadership. The
Photographer: Zuli Photography (RunwayDiamonds fashion show in London) By: Lara Silver International fashion producer Serge Tagro says the brands that succeed globally are not always the loudest online. They are the brands that build credibility through editorial media, professional storytelling, and long-term digital authority. Every fashion entrepreneur wants visibility. Some focus on Instagram. Others invest in TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, or emerging platforms that promise rapid audience growth. Social media has undoubtedly transformed the fashion industry, allowing designers and luxury brands to communicate directly with millions of people around the world. Yet Serge Tagro believes one of the biggest misconceptions in modern fashion is the idea that social media alone can build a lasting brand. After years of producing international fashion events and working with designers, photographers, magazines, filmmakers, and luxury brands through RunwayDiamonds, Serge Tagro has reached a simple conclusion. Attention creates awareness. Authority creates trust. And trust builds successful brands. “People often confuse visibility with credibility,” says Serge Tagro. “One viral post may introduce a designer. It doesn’t automatically make that designer an authority.” Why Fashion Brands Need More Than Social Media Social media remains one of the most effective communication tools available to modern businesses. It allows fashion
What often strikes people working through his pieces is how difficult his career is to file under a single heading. The entrepreneur has operated across media, publishing, education, and reputation, and the instinct to ask which of these is his real business tends to miss the point. The businesses are varied, but the underlying preoccupation is singular. Here, Royston G King reviews the making of a cross-industry entrepreneur, and the argument he builds is worth following closely. That preoccupation is credibility. Each of his ventures, in a different way, deals with how trust is built, signaled, and sometimes faked in a digital marketplace crowded with claims. Seen this way, the range is not scattered but coherent. Media, publishing, education, and reputation are simply different vantage points on the same question, which is how anyone comes to be believed online. This coherence is one of the things many of his pieces eventually identify. A reader expecting a portfolio of unrelated ventures instead finds a set of businesses circling a common theme. The variety is a feature, not a lack of focus, because the problem King is interested in shows up everywhere that reputation matters, which is to say almost everywhere. It
In an era obsessed with social media and paid advertising, email marketing is frequently overlooked, and according to Royston G. King, that neglect is a costly mistake. Email and the follow-up systems around it remain among the most reliable and profitable tools available to a business, precisely because so many businesses fail to use them well. The fundamental advantage of email, in the framing Royston G. King uses, is ownership. Social media audiences are rented, the platform controls the relationship and can change the rules, limit reach, or disappear entirely. An email list is owned. The business controls the relationship directly and can reach its audience reliably without depending on a platform’s algorithm. This ownership makes email one of the most durable assets a business can build, and building it deliberately is part of how a company can master scaling without becoming dependent on platforms it does not control. Royston G. King emphasizes that the value of email lies not just in broadcasting promotions but in building relationships over time. The businesses that succeed with email use it to provide ongoing value, nurture trust, and stay present in their audience’s attention, so that when the prospect is ready to buy,
Influencer fatigue is changing how U.S. brands evaluate creator campaigns. As AI-made content becomes more common and sponsored posts compete for attention across crowded feeds, marketers are placing more weight on creator trust, disclosure, audience fit, and whether a partnership appears credible to followers. Key Takeaways Influencer fatigue is pushing brands to look beyond reach and review audience trust signals more closely. AI tools can help creators produce faster, but they may also make content feel more generic without clear human context. CreatorIQ reported that average annual influencer marketing budgets rose 171% year over year in its 2025-2026 report. The FTC continues to emphasize clear disclosure when creators have a brand relationship. Smaller creators may become more useful when their audiences expect direct, specific recommendations. Influencer fatigue is becoming harder for brands to ignore as sponsored content fills social feeds across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other platforms. The concern is not that audiences have stopped following creators. It is that many followers appear more selective about which recommendations they treat as credible. Harvard Business Review reported on December 8, 2025, that influencer marketing had grown into a $24 billion industry, while trust concerns were rising. The report cited
By: Amaury Aguilera I’ve always had a passion for music. Growing up in the environment I came from, getting exposure wasn’t easy, and I never wanted to come across as delusional. Because of that, I kept my dreams to myself. I rarely told anyone about my love for music. People would see me singing, performing, or acting like I was on stage and would often call me crazy. Even my family didn’t really know how serious I was about it. I felt like no one could put more pressure on me than I already put on myself. Sneaking Into Sessions While Cutting Hair Back in 2020, I was already around a few local artists and music figures. Every chance I got, I would sneak into studio sessions, hoping someone would eventually give me an opportunity to step into the booth. One day, while attending a session with some friends, they encouraged me to give it a try. I ended up freestyling a verse. Ironically, I was the one with the weakest English in the group, but somehow I still managed to leave an impression. Everyone kept telling me I was talented and that I should take music seriously. At the
Digital media companies focused on editing and redistributing creator content into short-form videos are receiving new financial backing, with businesses connected to YouTube creator Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, participating in a sector that has become increasingly important to online content distribution. Investors, marketing firms, and creator-focused businesses have directed attention toward companies that transform long-form videos, podcasts, and livestreams into shorter clips designed for platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and X. The investment activity centers on businesses that specialize in identifying segments from existing content and adapting them for distribution across multiple social platforms. These companies have developed services that allow creators, brands, and media organizations to extend the reach of content beyond its original format. The model has attracted interest from investors who view short-form video distribution as a growing component of the creator economy. Creator Businesses Expand Beyond Content Production The companies receiving attention operate within a segment of digital media commonly referred to as content clipping. Their work involves extracting moments from podcasts, interviews, livestreams, and long-form videos, then editing those segments into shorter clips optimized for social media audiences. Creator businesses connected to MrBeast have become part of the discussion surrounding the
Creator marketing took center stage this week after Accenture confirmed an agreement to acquire the agency business of Whalar, a company known for its work connecting creators, influencers, and brands. The transaction will bring Whalar’s agency operations into Accenture Song, the professional services firm’s creative and marketing division, adding specialized influencer marketing capabilities to its existing services. The deal marks a notable development for companies seeking to integrate creator-led campaigns into broader marketing strategies. While financial terms were not publicly disclosed, both organizations confirmed that the acquisition is intended to strengthen services focused on digital creators, social media talent, and brand partnerships. Whalar will continue operating several parts of its broader business independently, while the agency division is set to become part of Accenture Song following completion of the transaction and any required approvals. Whalar Agency Operations To Join Accenture Song The agreement centers on Whalar’s agency business, which has built a reputation for managing influencer campaigns and creator partnerships for major brands. Through its agency operations, Whalar works with companies seeking to reach audiences across platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other social channels. Accenture Song serves as the customer experience, marketing, commerce, and creative arm of Accenture. The
By: Jonathyn Lopez Kareem Rogers, known professionally as The Fit Recruiter, works in a space where hiring decisions, career coaching, and workforce trends overlap. From that vantage point, he has seen a shift that is hard to ignore. People are still preparing for careers as if stability comes from staying consistent, while the reality of today’s job market rewards something very different. The speed of adaptation is becoming more valuable than long-term repetition. The ability to shift direction is now often more important than the ability to stay on a single track. For decades, career success followed a predictable formula. Education led to entry-level roles, which led to promotions, which ideally led to long-term security. That structure is still familiar, but it no longer ensures the same outcomes. Companies are changing faster than employees can plan for, industries are being reshaped by technology, and job roles themselves are evolving midstream. The result is a workforce that is increasingly unsure whether traditional career paths still apply. In conversations with professionals, Rogers often hears the same tension. People are not only concerned with income or job titles anymore. They are questioning whether their work makes sense for the life they want to
Calabasas Confidential entered Netflix’s reality television lineup on May 28 with a cast made up of social media personalities and celebrity children from well-known entertainment families, introducing viewers to a series centered on life, relationships, and personal ambitions in one of Southern California’s most recognizable communities. The newly released program follows a group of young adults whose public visibility stems from a combination of family connections, digital influence, and involvement in entertainment-related careers. The debut marks Netflix’s latest addition to the unscripted television market, a category that continues to attract audiences through programs focused on personal stories, social dynamics, and contemporary culture. Set in Calabasas, California, the series documents the daily experiences of cast members whose lives are closely connected to social media platforms, entertainment circles, and public attention. Several participants in the series already maintain established online audiences, while others are known through family ties to professional athletes, actors, musicians, and entertainment figures. The program combines elements of lifestyle television, relationship-focused storytelling, and influencer culture, placing its cast within a setting that has long been associated with celebrity visibility. Calabasas Confidential Introduces a Cast Connected to Entertainment Families The series features a group of young personalities whose backgrounds reflect
Emma Chamberlain’s coffee business is moving deeper into physical retail, and its new Los Angeles café gives that shift a visible address. Chamberlain Coffee now lists cafés in Century City and on Abbot Kinney in Venice, with the Venice shop described by the brand as its first standalone location. The opening places a digital first consumer label into one of Los Angeles’ recognizable shopping corridors, where café design, packaged drinks, merchandise and local partnerships meet in one room. The café arrives as Chamberlain’s public profile remains linked to entertainment, fashion and online media, but the business story is increasingly about shelf space and in person retail. Chamberlain Coffee’s materials describe the cafés as an extension of the founder’s coffee ritual, with an emphasis on comfort, connection and a slower pace. That positioning gives the brand a way to translate online familiarity into a store format without relying only on a celebrity name. A Creator Brand Enters the Street Level Test The Abbot Kinney café opened at 1142 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, according to public listings and local coverage. Time Out Los Angeles reported that the location opened May 7 and described it as the brand’s first standalone brick and mortar café.
By: Raphael Macek Most people who own a Macek did not set out to collect fine art photography. They saw the work, something shifted, and they never quite went back to who they were before. How does that happen? And what does it tell us about the man behind the image? They do not always come in as collectors. That is perhaps the most striking thing about the people who end up owning a Raphael Macek. A surprising number of them walked into a gallery, or an art fair booth, or a friend’s home, without any particular intention to buy fine art that afternoon. They were not horse people, necessarily. They were not photography enthusiasts in any formal sense. They were simply people who stopped in front of an image and found, with a quiet surprise that many of them struggle to articulate years later, that they could not quite keep walking. Something in the image held them. Not the obvious things. Not spectacle, not novelty, not the kind of visual loudness that much contemporary art uses to compete for attention in crowded spaces. Something slower and more permanent than that. A quality of presence the image seemed to possess