Hello and welcome to the very first edition of Verified! Thanks for being an early adopter. I'll be at SXSW this weekend – see you in Austin? Follow me at @dylanewells.
This newsletter is published by WP Creator, a new business outside The Washington Post’s newsroom that is focused on the creator economy and content partnerships with independent creators. Learn more about WP Creator.
Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP. Photo Illustration: Annelise Capossela for The Washington Post.
Creators plot to take on a leading role
As Hollywood prepares for another Oscar weekend, creators are moving on from bit parts to playing main characters on- and off-screen.
“The floodgates have opened over the past year,” said Brent Weinstein, the head of CAA Creators. “It's a total sea change in terms of the relationship between creators and these larger media companies.”
Of course, top influencers will still be conducting buzzy interviews on the red carpet. For the third year, Amelia Dimoldenberg will return as the Academy Award’s official social media ambassador, but the creator and star of “Chicken Shop Date” is no longer just interviewing movie stars. Dimoldenberg now has her own romantic comedy in development that she’s set to produce and star in for MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures.
Studios are no longer “just trying to put someone in for a cameo appearance for the marketing value,” Weinstein said, but rather “doing overall deals with creators.” Particularly notable is the shift to scripted content, he said, such as Fox Entertainment’s recent deal with creator Dhar Mann for a slate of 40 scripted vertical video shows.
Similar to the reality star wave of talent that preceded them, today’s creators provide an attractive alternative to traditional Hollywood talent, with the added benefit of also bringing a massive, built-in, engaged audience that is ready to watch whatever content they produce. Plus, creators are scrappy and know how to put a production together quickly, often at a fraction of the cost of a major studio — allowing them to tackle bigger behind-the-scenes production roles as well.
The host of “The Middle Row,” a social video series where artists break down music videos, is a pop culture trend forecaster, “probably in a movie theater somewhere,” an AMC stubs member and movie fanatic with more than 1.1M TikTok followers at @cocomocoe.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Dylan Wells: You were on the red carpet at the “Wuthering Heights” premiere and part of the press tour, interviewing Charli XCX. How do you see the role of creators in this new era of film promotion?
Coco Mocoe: I think what the journalists are doing is something that will never be replaced. I studied journalism in college, so I really appreciate how actually difficult it is. And I think now what we’re seeing with creators being involved in that, I actually think that they can exist really cohesively.
Creators are making it more accessible, making it more bite-size. And I do think that even though they are making it more accessible, it can sometimes feel maybe diluted, but I think that’s okay. Audiences are smart, and they can explore more where they want to explore — but sometimes audiences don’t always want something that’s super heavy-handed. I think creators are bringing a more accessible perspective to the average person.
DW: Where do you see the value of content creators now for the film industry?
CM: I think creators — in general for film, but also any niche that creators kind of exist in — can just move a lot quicker on their feet. I think that even though we are getting paid pretty well, we usually are, comparably, a lot cheaper than creating a commercial and airing it on cable television — or, any product that they’re selling, a lot would go into creating commercial assets, which they’re doing as well. Creators are just so much faster and nimbler and scrappier when it comes to creating content.
I wanted to tap into the movie world, because, transparently, the most money that I make from brand deals is from entertainment deals, getting paid to talk about a movie coming out.
DW: Can you share what kind of money they’re offering for something like attending a movie event or helping promote a film that might be coming out?
⛳ The PGA Tour is doubling down on their work with creators
The Group Chat
First in Verified: Bravo’s “Summer House” star Jesse Solomonannounced his first headlining music tour in an interview with Verified. The reality TV star-turned-influencer-turned-musician’s 16-date “Happy To Be Here Tour” will kick off on April 25 in Philadelphia and wrap up in New York later this summer, a show he hopes the “Summer House” cast will attend. “I think the response to ‘What Would Jesse Solomon Do?’ has been generally positive, but me pursuing music since then isn't always taken the same way,” Solomon said, referencing his viral music performances.
Is it a blessing or a curse to have an online audience already when trying to build a music career? “I don’t have the opportunity to make mistakes with a small audience. Everything that I’m doing, I’m kind of like growing and learning and making those mistakes in front of a big group of people” Solomon said. “There’s a lot of pressure for everything that I do to kind of be really high level. But I wouldn’t trade that for the world, because the hardest thing to do is build an audience, and I have built an audience.”
That dynamic is what he says has inspired his new single, “Guess I’ll Start,” out this Friday. “It's kind of upsetting when people are so negative about you online, but I'm just going to start doing what makes me happy.”
Creator red carpet: The Academy’s chief marketing, communications and content officer Jennifer Davidson says creators — from movie accounts to comedians, chefs and cosplayers — are key to their strategy and “play a powerful role in shaping cultural conversation around cinema.” But, noting the common criticism surrounding influencers appearing at award shows, she told WP Creator they are “very intentional in how we curate opportunities for creators on our carpet.” Mocoe, sharing her perspective as a creator, said that interviews on red carpets are a “necessary evil … as long as the creator is humble enough to be willing to fall on the sword if it goes wrong” and it doesn’t come at the expense of the interviewee.
Political posting: Creators often debate if posting about politics is lucrative, but Facebook has “become a major boon to political and news creators, resulting in a surge of growth and engagement — and cash.” In at least one case, a prominent liberal news creator made $268,000 in one month, according to the must-read Chaotic Era.
Creators, meanwhile, continue to be the preferred moderators for potential 2028 hopefuls’ book tours. Per California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team, 18 out of 22 of his book-tour interviews were with creators, and seven of the nine moderators were creators or independent journalists or podcast hosts. Newsom also attended a creator event in Atlanta as part of the tour. And ICYMI, Kai Trumpvlogged her trip to Erewhon with the U.S. Secret Service, prompting some backlash online.
Close Friends
I can’t stop watching: Soul Desire Goldens’ temperament tests. The latest litter is named after pasta, and they’re too cute to handle.
This week I was influenced by: Sally Carden and Brett Chody’s videos of Close to Home bakery’s sourdough chocolate chip cookies. I must try immediately, and clearly I’m not the only one.
Savannah Stephens contributed to this report. We would love to hear from you about what you think of this first edition and what we should be covering – just respond to this email with tips or feedback (or to share your Criterion Closet picks or Letterboxd top four). Plus, some topical bonus lore as a reward for scrolling to the end: my great grandfather won an Oscar for screenwriting. See you next Wednesday!
