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Insider compiles a weekly list of moves in the creator industry, from new hires to investments.
This week includes updates at Reddit, Snap, and The Chernin Group.
It was a busy week for audio and gaming startups.
Podcorn, which runs a creator marketplace for podcasters, was acquired by Entercom in a deal that valued the upstart at $22.5 million. Short-form video app Triller acquired Timbaland s and Swizz Beat s livestream music platform, Verzuz. And Songclip, a music licensing company that works with social apps, raised $11 million in new funding.
Imagine the “WandaVision -style alternate-reality version of the last year for Walt Disney Co.
Executives, filmed in 1950s sitcom black-and-white, shake hands by the pool to celebrate a massive 2020. They toast “Black Widow” grossing $1 billion, full queues for Rise of the Resistance at the theme parks and strong numbers for Disney+.
But wait . what’s that faint voice crackling through the transistor radio? Is that . Dr. Anthony Fauci?
Back to the real world.
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In many ways, the pandemic hit Disney harder than any other media and entertainment company.
The Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment giant lost $2.8 billion in fiscal 2020, furloughed more than 100,000 workers, laid off thousands, delayed the release of its biggest blockbusters, closed an animation studio (R.I.P. Blue Sky) and decided to shed 60 Disney Stores to focus on e-commerce.