Geoff Weiss

• Sony-Owned Anime Streamer Funimation To Buy Crunchyroll For $1.2 Billion
• Ryan’s World Products Projected To Clock Half A Billion Dollars In Retail Sales By Year’s End

  Chris Williams, a former Disney and Maker executive who would later become the co-founder and CEO of next-gen kids’ entertainment goliath Pocket.watch, had a grand vision one day as he began to see kids’ content garnering massive pickup on YouTube.

  
• Kids’ Content Studio Moonbug Hires Disney’s David Levine As Head Of Studio

  Kids’ content giant Moonbug has tapped former Disney executive David Levine to serve as its new head of studio. In this capacity, Levine, who formerly served as VP of kids programming for Disney Channels Europe, Africa/U.K., and Ireland, will lead Moonbug’s IP expansion.

  
• Instagram Makes ‘Reels’ Shoppable, Bringing Ecommerce To Every Format On The App

  Instagram is today bringing ecommerce to its TikTok copycat Reels as the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. The integration was already being piloted by a handful of brands, Instagram says, including MAC Cosmetics, Revolve, Song of Style by Aimee Song, Rare Beauty, and the NBA.

  
• ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ Taps TikTok Star Eitan Bernath As Principal Culinary Contributor
• Mark Rober To Teach Creative Engineering Class Alongside Online Learning Startup ‘Monthly’
• Juanpa Zurita, Kyle Exum, NikkieTutorials, More To Bestow First-Ever ‘Streamys Creator Honors’
• Twitch Institutes Sweeping Changes To ‘Harassment And Hateful Conduct’ Policies, Beginning Jan. 22
• Facebook Launches ‘Black Gaming Creator Program’ With Monthly Pay, Other Perks
• More Than 350 Gaming Creators Hit 10 Million Subscribers In 2020, YouTube Says
• Alisha Marie And Remi Cruz’s ‘Pretty Basic’ Podcast Passes 50 Million Downloads
• YouTube Will Now Support ‘High Dynamic Range’ Video Quality For Live Streams