The 11th Hour Dispatch — Wednesday, August 22, 2018
BINGE WATCH
Stage, the streaming service dedicated to the theater world, officially launched Monday. Okay, actually, the service is still in “previews” with its full subscription platform rolling out in October for “opening night,” because, like any good theater kid, it has to be dramatic. Stage’s content lineup will include, as you would imagine, theatrical productions, but also originals. Some of the initial launch content includes:
- The talk show Crossovers, the pilot episode of which features actors Taye Diggs and Leslie Uggams
- Original scripted comedies Waaay Off Broadway and The Divorce
- Studio Sessions, a performance-focused series that features performers singing for a live audience
- The Next Great American Musical, a reality competition show where teams develop a musical concept with Broadway judges for a chance to produce a real-life Broadway musical
Co-founder and CEO Rich Affannato notes that the service has an ultimate end goal of getting a younger audience into the theater. “If we want to bring new audiences to the theater, A: we need to go to them, to where they are, and B: by introducing people to the world of theater, the lifestyle of theater so to speak, that could be an interesting gateway to getting people to a live show,” Affannato said.
YOUNG MONEY
Have you ever used a credit card and thought, “Wow, this isn’t inconvenient enough!!!” Well Revolut has a solution for you. The digital banking service, has launched a metal banking card that gives you “cash back” in cryptocurrency. The Revolut Metal card is made of a single sheet of reinforced steel and is “three times the weight of a regular card.” On top of the traditional banking services that Revolut offers, users will also enjoy the perks of the $8 per month Premium level (unlimited foreign exchange, free international money transfers and ATM withdrawals, travel insurance, etc.) along with the unnecessarily heavy card, a dedicated purchase concierge service, and 1% cashback in cryptocurrency or fiat. The new card and Metal subscription level will run you $140 per year or $15 each month if you feel the need to assert your “coolness” over everyone you know.
BIG BUSINESS
BuzzFeed launched the Tasty Talent Program to expand its food-related content by uniting chefs and BuzzFeed creators together. The program will be led by chef-in-residence Marcus Samuelsson, head chef at Harlem’s Red Rooster and frequent Chopped judge. The initial participants in the program include:
- James Beard Award-nominated chef JJ Johnson
- Top Chef alum Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins
- Founder of Spice Spice Baby and overall spice scientist (yes, it is a thing) Dr. Kanchan Koya
- Tasty video producer Alix Traeger
- Tasty senior culinary specialist Alexis de Boschnek
- Tasty recipe developer and producer Rie McClenny
- Tasty recipe developer and producer Vaughn Vreeland
The program will churn out long-form foodie content to grow BuzzFeed’s already gargantuan footprint on the internet, as well as its TV and SVOD partners. Tasty brings in an absolutely wild 2.1 billion views every month and reaches over 500 million monthly viewers, one of which is me when the insomnia hits hard.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
The New York Public Library is reimagining classic novels on its Insta Stories if reading is hard. (These are actually really rad.)
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