Cannes Lions’ Creator Boom Meets 2026’s Budget Buzzkill
Talent is sitting on the fence as the Riviera is rocked by reality. Plus: Twitch’s creator-friendly expansion, and I scoop a buzzy new series from Mad Realities
I interviewed Survivor alum Rob Cesternino about his podcast empire, wrote about Alex Cooper’s unpopular Unwell deals, covered the launch of women’s sports media venture Reign and spoke to two Chernin Group partners about the firm’s bet on creator empires. I’m natalie@theankler.com
Hello from New York, where tomorrow I’ll be attending YouTube’s annual advertising song and dance, known as Brandcast. Based on the lineup of speakers — including host Trevor Noah and featured creators Dude Perfect, Kareem Rahma and Quenlin Blackwell — I’m expecting the world’s largest streaming platform to double down on its messaging that YouTube is paving the way for the next era of entertainment.
I’ll have a full report about my time in New York next week, but today I’m also looking a bit further down the calendar and bringing you an early dispatch on Cannes Lions, which kicks off June 22. Last year, I reported on what turned out to be a major “tipping point” for creators at Cannes as they cemented their role in the advertising industry. “Cannes Lions is now the most valuable place for a creator to be,” Kai Gayoso, co-head of digital at Range Media Partners, recently told me.
So why am I hearing that so many creators are still unsure about whether they’ll be heading to the French Riviera?
That’s the question at the center of today’s newsletter. Also ahead:
Why Cannes still matters so much for creators — and how they make the trip pay off
Why some brands are pulling back on creator travel spend, and the workaround they’re using to book talent for less
The global unrest, economic pressure and competing events upending the Cannes calculus this year
What the vibe means for dealmaking, and why festival veterans are still unfazed
The Hollywood agencies planning big footprints on the Riviera
Plus! My conversation with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy about the Amazon-owned platform’s push beyond gaming into music, sports, lifestyle and more
How Twitch is using longform loyalty, viral clips and its new Creator Cast program to unlock bigger brand dollars
But first, I’ve got a fun scoop from a company catching the eye of some very big brands with its buzzy social video series.
Today, Mad Realities — the digital-first studio behind TikTok hits Shop Cats and Hollywood IQ — is debuting its newest show, Data Leak.
In each episode, host Charlie Flynn forces two unsuspecting New Yorkers to hand over their phones for a series of games that will reveal the secrets of their digital lives.
“Mad Realities is excited to pull back the curtain on our complicated and scandalous relationships with our phones with Data Leak,” CEO Alice Ma emailed in a statement, adding that the concept “is certainly in the zeitgeist” and highlighting how her company’s content has been resonating with Gen Z audiences. Co-created and produced by Willa Barnett and Billy Loveman and helmed by Flynn, a Brooklyn-based comedian with 30,000 followers on Instagram and 18,000 on TikTok, Data Leak “is ready to go there with sheer honesty and humor, touching on dating, sex, money, texts with Mom, the Bible app, AI usage, shopping, our quests for weird info, and much more,” Ma added.
Now, on to Cannes Lions and Twitch’s next turn:
Creators’ Cannes Scramble
We’re less than six weeks away from Cannes Lions. Have you booked your ticket?