🎬 AI Oscar Campaign?

👋 Good morning. If you're in LA (everyone else, talk amongst yourselves), you've spent the past week hiding from 100-degree heat and wishing for cooler weather. Well, somebody clearly used a One Wish Willow. Hurricane Rachel won't make landfall here, but she's sending dangerous surf, tropical humidity, and a chance of rain this long weekend. Given that LA drivers forget everything they know the second a single drop hits the windshield, stay safe out there.

Welcome back to The Dailies. Before the scoops, a scheduling note: no Monday issue next week, we’re back Tuesday. Please don’t refresh your inbox and spiral. We’re fine, you’re fine, it’s just a holiday weekend. Now, let’s get you caught up. 👇

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) Oct. 1 to Oct. 7. Data provided by Luminate.

For the first time, an AI-generated movie is campaigning for an Oscar. YouTuber Gossip Goblin (aka Zack London) wants a Best Animated Feature nomination for 'Gods Don't Give Gifts,' which opens Dec. 4 (the trailer starts playing in theaters today). It was supposed to come out Oct. 30, but got pushed back, likely to be better positioned for awards season.

So, who's Gossip Goblin? London has over 3M followers across YouTube and Instagram and over 1B views on his trippy AI shorts. His R-rated sci-fi horror anthology (billed as the first AI film with an MPA rating, an honor available to anyone with a submission form and a check) imagines a dystopian future where people upgrade their bodies and sell their memories. He made it in two months with a team of 10, using AI visuals with human voices and music, and it's produced by Edward Saatchi of Amazon-backed Fable. The hope is that he’s the next YouTuber to pack theaters, after ‘Iron Lung,’ ‘Obsession,’ and ‘Backrooms.’

Now, about that Oscar. Here’s where the Academy’s rules stand this year:

In other words, it can technically compete for Animated Feature and Best Picture, as long as the Animation Branch decides it counts as animation. We’ll see how that goes.

Looking ahead… a nomination feels like a long shot, given the industry sentiment around fully AI-generated projects. Commenters have mostly panned the trailer as lifeless, uncanny "slop," with the occasional "okay, but this is kind of a big deal" mixed in. We’ll find out Dec. 4 how it plays with a paying audience.

The countdown is on. The American Film Market returns to Los Angeles November 10 - 15, 2026, bringing thousands of film professionals from more than 80 countries together at the Fairmont Century Plaza. Connect with producers, buyers, distributors, financiers, and filmmakers from around the world; discover new projects and partnerships; attend screenings and industry sessions; and explore The AFM House, featuring innovation, technology, and emerging tools shaping the future of film. Secure your badge today and be part of AFM 2026.

The fastest way into Disney right now might be a YouTube channel. According to CMO Asad Ayaz, the company is done hiring creators only for marketing gigs. It wants them as talent, pitching series, podcasts, features, and parks partnerships to a dedicated team in his org. Ayaz took over all of Disney's marketing and brand strategy this year, and most of the company's creator work now seems to run through him.

This isn't Disney's first swing at creators: back in 2014, it paid $675M for Maker Studios, a network of YouTube channels run by Ynon Kreiz (yes, the guy who just became co-CEO of Skydance). It flopped, but this try looks different: no big acquisition, just Disney working with creators directly.

The bigger picture: ignoring the creator economy is no longer an option for Hollywood. From Netflix to Amazon to Lionsgate, everyone is building a creator strategy, and no two look alike. Disney just showed us its version.

🎥 Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity launched an indie banner, called Artists Equity Independent Pictures. It'll back up-and-coming filmmakers with a theatrical film fund. First projects include 'A Woman in the Sun,' from 'Nyad' writer Julia Cox, starring Renée Zellweger and Sissy Spacek.

🎮 Xbox now has a Hollywood arm. The new division's called XP, and it'll chase more hits like 'A Minecraft Movie' and 'Fallout.' It's been a rough stretch for the gaming giant, with layoffs in July and an August report that it was pitching major studios on a $300M-plus bundle of screen rights to a dozen-plus of its franchises.

🏈 Disney+ will stream Super Bowl LXI on Valentine's Day 2027. (Couples counselors, keep that Monday open.) It'll be ESPN's first Super Bowl ever, available on Disney+ in the U.S. and 55-plus international markets. Ads sold out back in August, and any slots that reopen are going for $10M-$12M per 30 seconds.

💸 California's latest film tax credit picks are in. The state approved 35 movies for $226M, including a hee-hee-hefty $30.8M for the 'Michael' sequel and $11.4M for Ice Cube's new 'Friday' film. Pixar took the biggest check, though, at $40.1M for an untitled pic. The batch should bring $1.08B in spending and 30,000 jobs.

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🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: With the MLB playoffs pulling eyeballs and no tentpole in sight, it's looking like a quiet weekend at the movies. Jessica Chastain's 'Other Mommy' should take the top spot with around $20M, though last week's champ 'Verity' could give it a fight for first with $12-20M. Aaron Sorkin's 'The Social Reckoning' is looking like a swing and a miss at just $7-8M.