Charles Adiukwu, Jr.

So I was browsing through some news this morning and came across something that caught my attention SuperGaming just raised another $15 million ($20m total now) from some pretty big names - Polygon, a16z Speedrun, Bandai Namco. Now that's not necessarily groundbreaking news on its own, happens all the time in this space. But what got me thinking was the timing of it all You've got Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick saying AI is going to create better paying jobs in gaming. Then you've got Amazon's CEO basically warning about workforce cuts. And here's SuperGaming with 200+ million players getting this massive injection of capital I've been in this industry for a while now, raised $1.3 million myself for a previous project, trained over 100 gamers professionally. And one thing I've learned is that the projects that survive and thrive aren't the ones picking sides in these debates They're the ones figuring out how to make everything work together SuperGaming's approach with their GameChain thing - it's a Layer-3 solution that basically makes Web3 feel like Web2. No complicated wallet setups, no gas fee nightmares. Just gaming with actual ownership underneath. That's smart And that's exactly what we've been building with Aura Forge I've seen projects with massive funding just disappear overnight. I've seen the hype cycles come and go. But what I'm seeing with this SuperGaming deal is different. It's not about the flashy marketing or the token pumps It's about building something that actually works for players While everyone else is arguing about whether AI will replace humans or whether blockchain is too complicated, we're just getting on with building. AI companions that enhance the gaming experience instead of replacing it. Blockchain infrastructure that players don't even need to think about The way I see it, the next big shift in gaming isn't going to be about better graphics or faster processors. It's about giving players real ownership of their gaming experience and creating economies that actually reward the community SuperGaming's funding validates what a lot of us have been saying for months. The smart money is moving toward projects that bridge these worlds instead of trying to tear them down Anyway, just thought it was worth sharing. Always interesting to see where the industry is heading What do you think? Are we heading in the right direction with all this Web3 gaming stuff or is it still too early to tell?

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Everyone’s racing to replace humans, creators and artists. The brands & companies who will win are figuring out how to amplify them. Culture, humor, taste & timing, the things that make content connect on a human level, may actually be replicable with prompts in the short term, but what generative AI can't recreate is trust. And that's the only thing that scales long-term. The value of human creativity and connection is appreciating, and the companies investing in that now will be the ones people back emotionally and financially in the future. Who is building something worth betting on?

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The Industry Isn’t Dead. It’s Evolving……….. Had a conversation today. Someone said, “The industry’s done.” I get it. It’s been a rough stretch. Streaming payouts are low. Algorithms change overnight. Labels are cautious and everyone’s fighting for a smaller slice of attention. It can look like decline. But the industry isn’t done. It’s shifting. We often assume that if one part slows down, the whole thing must be over. But that’s not how music works. It moves. It migrates. Streaming might be struggling, but live shows are thriving. Merch is strong. Artists are building direct-to-fan models that actually sustain careers. The energy didn’t disappear. It just changed lanes. The real challenge is perception. When the numbers drop in one area, it’s easy to think the music stopped moving. But it didn’t. It found new homes, new platforms, and new ways to connect. The opportunity now is to pay attention to where that energy goes next instead of mourning where it used to be. Music has never been static. It’s always been about movement. This is just the next migration

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RE: FLAG DROP CULTURE — WHY DOES THIS WORK NOW? Drop culture has always been about two things: Scarcity Identity The NITE FLAG platform introduces a third: VISIBILITY. Because these aren’t collectibles that sit in a box. They’re displayed. Illuminated. Experienced. That changes behavior. Now imagine: • A limited-edition championship flag—only 500 made • A concert-exclusive release—available for one night • A hand-sewn American flag—numbered and authenticated • A brand collaboration—never repeated Across industries that haven’t traditionally participated in drops: Colleges Corporate brands Marine Events Now they can. And it makes sense. Because our new platform SUPPORTS it. #NITEFLAG #Innovation #Collectibles #BrandStrategy #Design

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This is how outdoor brands find creators who actually drive results coming from someone who has seen hundreds of creator campaigns. Stop chasing vanity metrics and start looking for longterm creator partners and storytellers. The creators who drive real sales and brand awareness shoot real footage, tell a good story, and edit for a human watching. Not an algorithm. Run campaigns longer than feels comfortable. Most brands want a lightning in a bottle moment and quit right before the compound effect kicks in. Find the creators who click. Treat them as long-term investments and collaborators, not one-off deals. THEN STAY CONSISTENT

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Most brands treat XR as a visual upgrade. That's why activations impress for a second, then fade. The real game-changer? Narrative structure. Story turns flashy tech into lasting connection. Build experiences that make people stay.

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Boo! Here’s my latest stop motion spot promoting the all new Vincent Price Ultimate Action Figure (Black & White edition) by NECA - National Entertainment Collectibles Association . #stopmotion #animation #vincentprice #actionfigures #actionfigure #advertising #marketing #celebrity #actor #icon #legendary #horror #movies #film #filmmaking #filmmaker #animator #toyindustry

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Most music industry executives and artists chase an algorithm. I can’t even blame you. Austin Dunn on the other hand… He built systems that outsmart it. While the rest of the industry was focused on going viral, Austin was quietly engineering the strategies behind some of today’s most influential artist moments like: Victoria Monét 6ix9ine Teddy Swims and more. He’s the founder of @rnbmusic on IG, one of the most powerful faceless pages in music, and one of the few digital strategists who truly understands that storytelling, not virality, drives longevity. In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook Podcast, we unpack: - How Austin turned content seeding into a science - The strategy behind faceless pages and culture-led marketing - Why narrative-building is a stronger growth engine than algorithms - How he helped redefine R&B’s digital identity through authentic community - What it takes to build movements, not moments This conversation isn’t about chasing numbers. It’s about creating context. And in this era (aside from great music) context is king. Artist don’t gotta be the loudest. They just gotta be intentional. Simply put, a conversation like this doesn’t come cheap. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Austin Dunn, founder of @rnbmusic. Watch/Listen now: Austin Dunn on The Manager’s Playbook Podcast.  https://lnkd.in/gp4daAFT

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Local AZ Film Production seeks brand integration partners with companies local to AZ. New to brand integration? Wondering what the heck I’m talking about? Let me break it down - this is a way for your company to support local Arizona artists while simultaneously expanding your reach. When your product or brand is featured in the storyline of a film, viewers don’t feel like they’re being marketed to. This isn’t a commercial while we wait to get back to our show; it’s part of the show. Becoming part of the story cements your brand in the viewers mind better than a 100 billboards. The best part? It’s at a fraction of the cost. But, wait… How do you know it will work? The cool thing about me, is I’m a filmmaker who’s day job is sales and marketing. If you’re interested in being a part of my project, I’ll show you real Google keyword research with exact metrics of people looking for stories like this one. As a bonus, if we decide to work together, I’ll create a custom keyword research report for your company, so you can see the exact number of people searching for you and your products in Phoenix and around the country. Have I piqued your interest? DM me for more details about the project and how we can work together.

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FILMMAKERS: RUN OUT OF MONEY AND YOU LOSE THE RIGHT TO DICTATE TERMS This is for filmmakers, writers, and directors who think passion substitutes for capital discipline. When your film runs out of money late—production or post—you are no longer raising equity. You are raising rescue capital. That means something broke. The budget failed. Contingency is gone. Time is bleeding. Quality is under pressure. Leverage has shifted. At that moment, you are not pitching opportunity. You are asking someone to absorb your mistakes. In every real industry, the last money in is understood to be the most dangerous money in. In real estate, a half-built project that runs short doesn’t get friendly money. It gets rescue capital with higher preferred returns, senior positioning, and control provisions because the asset is already impaired. Film is no different, even if creatives want it to be. If you’re asking someone to step in late and save your movie, you should expect to pay at least ten additional points of preferred return over early capital. Minimum. Often more. That investor is underwriting completion risk, reputational risk, market risk, and the very real possibility that the project still fails. If that sounds harsh, understand this: You don’t have leverage when you’re out of money. The person writing the check does. Being offended by that reality doesn’t make it wrong. It just exposes inexperience. Too many creatives confuse confidence with entitlement. Wanting late-stage capital on early-stage terms isn’t optimism. It’s delusion. Great directors master the craft. Serious filmmakers master the business. The ones who don’t eventually learn who really controls outcomes. The last money in is the most dangerous money in. Dangerous capital is never cheap. Disclosure: This post is for commentary and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, an offer to sell, or a solicitation to purchase any security. Any references to returns, structures, or terms are illustrative only. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Any investment decisions should be made with qualified legal, tax, and financial advisors and in compliance with applicable securities laws.

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Is Horror Quietly Becoming One of Steam’s Most Reliable Growth Categories? I was browsing SteamDB today and noticed something that genuinely caught my attention. Poppy Playtime, a game originally released in 2021, recently spiked to 52K+ concurrent players on Steam,  the highest CCU in its five-year history. This surge coincides with the launch of Chapter 5, and the new peak effectively doubles the game’s previous player record. Using SteamDB release data, Horror-tagged launches increased from ~1,600 titles in 2023 to ~2,800+ in 2025. That’s a materially faster growth rate than total Steam releases over the same period. Supply growth alone isn’t meaningful unless demand follows, but demand signals are becoming harder to ignore. The last few years produced multiple non-franchise Horror (excluding Resident Evil, Silent Hill and other established IP) hits posting 100k–400k peak concurrent players (Sons of the Forest, Lethal Company, Phasmophobia), numbers traditionally associated with mainstream multiplayer genres rather than “niche horror.” Many of these titles share common DNA: • Social / co-op design • Streamer-friendly emergent moments • High replayability • Strong meme / clip ecosystems Commercially, estimated revenue models (VG Insights / Gamalytic) suggest several modern Horror titles now sit comfortably in the $100M+ revenue tier on Steam alone. That would have been an unusual outcome for new Horror IPs not long ago. What’s structurally different is that Horror increasingly behaves less like a traditional genre and more like a creator-driven entertainment format. Fear + unpredictability + social dynamics generate highly watchable content. Watchable content fuels discovery. Discovery fuels scale. This pattern mirrors something we’ve already seen in film. Horror movies, including breakout hits like Five Nights at Freddy’s, continue to demonstrate that fear remains one of entertainment’s most dependable audience magnets. The crossover between film, streaming culture, and interactive horror is becoming increasingly visible. None of this implies Horror is “easy.” Genre inflation is real. Steam tagging is noisy. Breakout success remains rare. But the directional pattern is interesting: Horror is growing in supply, producing breakout demand spikes, and generating outsized commercial winners. Curious if others are seeing similar patterns in their own datasets.

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Struggling to explain complex topics? Animation can convey a clear, approachable message in a way that an article or even a live action video may struggle to do, especially when the subject is complex or highly technical. Our team at The IMG Studio recently partnered with the City of San Antonio to create an animated explainer about AMI, or Area Median Income. It’s a concept that affects housing programs, affordability, and eligibility for services, yet many residents aren’t familiar with what it means. Working closely with the City’s Neighborhood & Housing Services Department, we developed the script, built a storyboard, and brought the message to life through animation. The result is a short, clear, educational video designed to help people understand how AMI impacts their daily lives. This kind of work is at the core of what we do. We help organizations turn complex, technical, or policy-driven topics into clear, engaging stories that people can actually understand. #AMI #Animation #Storytelling #PublicEducation #SanAntonio #ExplainerVideo #VideoProduction #AfterEffects #Illustrator

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🗽 NYC's commercial video production market is broken, and nobody cares. What I keep seeing: No real opportunities for boutiques to break into bigger client work. Just moved here with killer creds as a producer, director, and DP. With festival wins, shoots in Mongolia, Indonesia, Namibia, and one doc on Amazon Prime, I thought I'd crush it. Nope. Applications? Black hole. Mandy and Backstage are dead. Newbie status? Brutal. Breaking in as a PA or entry-level on-set role to build local networks feels like a gamble between low-pay gigs and exploitation. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm just observing. The real pain? Relationship management pressures that dilute budgets. Agencies, video production houses, and VFX/CGI studios fight to stay top-of-mind with clients and brand-side marketers. But in this battlefield, repeat briefs feel impossible. High competition. Low tender pipeline adoption. No centralized platform. Biggest video production players hoard deals because they ARE the network. Meanwhile, smaller creators & agencies get shut out. Everything funnels through entrenched relationships. Nailing these broken-system challenges isn’t just about one creator landing a gig. It’s about the lack of systematized competition that lets fresh talent compete on merit. In contrast, EU business stakeholders actively bid via platforms like Tenders Electronic Daily, pooling suppliers for video requests for proposals. The irony? While the industry chases AI templates and $50K CGI fluff, they ignore real visual storytelling, creative techniques, and ad editing tricks that actually hook humans. NYC pros in film/media/creative fields: What platforms actually work? What’s your playbook for breaking the black hole? Drop real advice for my new website https://ivan-us.com below 🎥

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Tubi is outsourcing TV to creators. Commissioning exclusive original series from major Youtubers, the free streaming service is going full tilt towards creators as the diesel in their new entertainment engine. Move over, Jacob Elordi. It’s the Big Nik, Rock Squad and Joey Graceffa era. Faces you’re soon to see on your big screen. Tubi already pulls in over 100 million monthly users and snags 2.2% of U.S. TV viewing, outperforming HBO Max and Peacock without charging watchers a dollar. This is a mass-market strategy to change what TV is. Traditional studios are hamstrung by expensive, slow content pipelines - when it pays off, it pays big. But it can be money down the gutter when it doesn’t. By linking up with creators, Tubi outsources both production and audience engagement. Influencers come with baggage of the best kind: a loyal fanbase, cultural relevance, and organic marketing sway. I’d be lying if I said creators were the future of TV entertainment. They’re not - they’re a new studio system entirely. One that signals exactly what audiences really want, and fast. 

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