🎬 Creator Takeover

👋 Good morning! The Academy's finally giving Tom Cruise his golden statue. With three nominations and zero wins at the Oscars since 1990, the 62-year-old daredevil is getting an Honorary Oscar for his "commitment to the theatrical experience." Also receiving honorary golden statues: choreographer Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas, while Dolly Parton snags the humanitarian version for distributing 285M books to kids.

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to The Dailies. We’ll make this quick—you’ve got coffee to drink and an industry to conquer. Here’s what you need to know today… 👇

CLOSEUP
🤳 Cannes Lions kicks off with a creator takeover…

The International Festival of Creativity—aka Cannes Lions—kicked off this week along the French Riviera, and it's serving as Hollywood's crystal ball for where advertising dollars are heading. Since the 1950s, this has been the Super Bowl for ad execs and CMOs to spot the next big trends over rosé and yacht parties. But this year's festival is looking less like ‘Mad Men’ and more like TikTok, with creators becoming an increasingly dominant presence:

• VidCon who? Creators are picking Cannes over the traditional creator-focused VidCon (which overlaps this year, kicking off June 19)—choosing business networking over creator community

• They're entering the prestige advertising world in pursuit of serious, long-term brand partnerships that rival traditional media contracts rather than typical one-off brand deals

• Major platforms are backing this shift—YouTube is bringing ~12 creators including Amelia Dimoldenberg, TikTok is sponsoring Adam W and Anna Sitar, and Meta and Snap are hosting creator programming

• Submissions to the Social & Creator Lions award category jumped 18% this year

Festival organizers are rolling out the red carpet with official recognition—launching a dedicated "Creators" programming track last year and renaming their "Social & Influencer Lions" awards to "Social & Creator Lions" to reflect creators' elevated status. They've also upgraded infrastructure, adding a content studio to their creator-focused space to accommodate and encourage content creation.

The bigger picture: Creator-first programming will generate nearly $185B in global ad revenue this year—officially overtaking traditional media for the first time. As the advertising money that traditionally funded TV shows and movie productions is getting redirected toward creator partnerships, the smart money is on finding ways to work together rather than viewing creators as competition.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM SEVERANCE
There is nothing like Severance.

Mark Scout, played by Adam Scott, leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself. In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.

WIDESHOT
🎬 Netflix, IMAX China, and Amazon & Roku…

🏠 Netflix is doubling down on its brick-and-mortar bet. The streaming giant just announced a third Netflix House location coming to Las Vegas in 2027, adding to its Philly and Dallas spots opening late 2025. These massive 100,000 square-foot venues will pack in escape rooms, mini golf, VR games, and experiences based on shows like ‘Squid Game.’ It's Netflix's latest move to build that Disney-level fan obsession where people actually want to buy the merch and live in those fictional worlds. With streaming growth slowing down in the U.S., Netflix is creating must-visit experiences that'll give fans serious FOMO if they don't show up and hang out in their favorite shows IRL.

📽️ IMAX is leveling up in China. The cinema giant is partnering with Wanda Film, China's largest movie chain, to replace 27 premium screens with IMAX's jumbo high-tech displays across major cities from Beijing to Xi'an. The timing makes sense: IMAX China drew a record 22M viewers from January to May (up 106% year-over-year) largely thanks to fantasy hit ‘Ne Zha 2.’ While overall Chinese movie attendance also rose 27% in the same period, IMAX's outpaced growth shows audiences are increasingly choosing premium experiences when they head to theaters. The expansion banks on IMAX's strategic programming split between Chinese blockbusters like war epic ‘Dongji Rescue’ and Hollywood tentpoles like ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ and ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash.’

🤝Amazon and Roku are teaming up to dominate TV advertising. The two tech giants, who've historically been rivals in streaming devices and content, unveiled a landmark partnership launching Q4 2025 that gives brands access to over 80% of U.S. connected-TV households through a unified platform spanning Prime Video, Roku Channel, and other streaming services. Early trials showed ads reached 40% more unique viewers while cutting repetitive exposure by 30%, tripling advertiser value. We've been seeing a lot of this shift from the "winner-takes-all" mentality of the streaming wars. As platforms realize fragmented audiences hurt everyone's bottom line, expect more former rivals to become frenemies chasing advertising dollars.

STATISTIC
📈 The cord-cutting prophecy has been fulfilled…

Streaming just officially beat traditional TV for the first time ever. According to Nielsen's May 2025 report, streaming platforms captured 44.8% of total television viewership, narrowly surpassing the combined 44.2% share of broadcast (20.1%) and cable (24.1%) TV. The shift has been dramatic since Nielsen started tracking this data in 2021: streaming usage is up 71% over four years while cable viewing fell 39% and broadcast dropped 21%. YouTube’s doing victory laps with a record 12.5% share for its fourth consecutive monthly increase—making it bigger than Netflix and any traditional network. Meanwhile free ad-supported services like Pluto TV, Roku Channel, and Tubi now combine for 5.7% of viewing, more than any individual broadcast network.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Glenn Close and Billy Porter join the cast of ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.’ (more)

• Glen Powell will star in an untitled firefighter drama for Amazon MGM, directed by Ron Howard and written by Christina Hodson. (more)

• Tom Rhys Harries will star as the shape-shifting villain in DC Studios’ ‘Clayface,’ set to hit theaters September 11, 2026. (more)

• Druski is teaming with Kenya Barris on a comedy feature based on his viral short ‘The Diggers,’ set in a dysfunctional funeral home. (more)

• Nikki Glaser sells a MASH-inspired comedy to Paramount, set to star, produce, and co-write the nostalgic rom-com twist. (more)

• ‘Harold & Kumar’ sequel is in the works at Lionsgate, with ‘Cobra Kai’ creators set to write, direct, and produce. (more)

• Amazon MGM acquires shark thriller ‘Survive,’ about a mother and daughter stranded on a cliff, from writer Ian Levy and Premeditated Productions. (more)

• Amazon MGM lands Harrison Query’s short story ‘Code Black,’ with Jake Gyllenhaal in talks to star in and produce the political thriller. (more)

• Sydney Chandler and Takehiro Hira are starring in ‘Anima,’ a sci-fi road movie now filming for celluloid-only outfit Kebrado. (more)

• Rodrigue Huart will write and direct ‘Suffer Little Children’ for Paramount, a reimagining of the cult horror film ‘Who Can Kill a Child?’ (more)

TV Development 📺

• 50 Cent launches his ‘50 Cent Action’ channel in the UK via Prime Video, marking its first international expansion. (more)

• Desi Banks is developing a sitcom with BET Studios based on his stand-up, blending comedy, fatherhood, and fame. (more)

• ‘Land of the Lost’ is getting a reboot at Netflix, with Legendary Television reviving the cult 1970s sci-fi adventure series. (more)

• ‘Tucci in Italy’ is renewed for S2 at Nat Geo. (more)

Business 🤝

• Tubi UK has inked major content deals with NBCUniversal, AMC, and Sony, adding 1,000 titles including ‘Baby Driver’ and ‘Moonhaven.’ (more)

• Lionsgate is teaming with DirecTV to launch ‘Lionsgate Collection,’ a premium channel featuring hit titles like ‘Weeds’ and ‘The Expendables.’ (more)

• David Zaslav to take a sharp pay cut in 2026 as WBD restructures, following shareholder rejection of his $51.9M package. (more)

• Story House founders Joe Forte and Meg LeFauve have signed a multi-year film deal with Netflix to write and direct original features. (more)

• Issa Rae’s ColorCreative has partnered with HarbourView Equity Partners to expand its global reach and boost diverse content creation. (more)

• YouTube has launched ‘Open Call,’ a new tool letting brands invite creators to pitch branded content directly through the platform. (more)

• Warner Bros. Games restructures around ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘DC,’ and ‘Mortal Kombat,’ with new leadership over each franchise. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Tubi surpassed 100M monthly users for the first time, hitting 1B viewing hours in May and setting new Nielsen records. (more)

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments