Thought Enthusiast is an editorial project from AdHoc, a New York experiential agency exploring the people, ideas, and cultural currents shaping what’s next.

Justin Ryan Kim is a creative director based in NYC currently at Gap.

We caught up with Justin to talk about simplicity, storytelling, successful brand campaigns, and what it takes to build lasting relationships with consumers.

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On creative taking the wheel

A creative director’s job is to drive. The best creative directors are just good communicators because they understand how to listen to people and say, “Hey, that’s a really great idea. Let’s figure out how to make it work.”

Our job is to take the story and make it clear to understand, make it easy to understand. Make it so that all you have to do is look at the slide and you’re like, “I see it. I feel it. I understand it.”

Then you start to realize maybe the goal of this campaign is not to convince this person of anything. Maybe the goal of this campaign is to get them to put their phone down and dance.

On the power of less

If you watch campaigns and content, it should never be about giving a solution. I don't think the answer is to give people a solution. It’s more that we need to give people a POV. And through that POV, you should be thinking about how people will react to it. You should be thinking about how people will see it five days later, ten days later, three weeks later, two years later.

The best things are really simple.

Over the years, I’ve always been someone who thinks, “What more? What more? What more? What can we add? What can we add? What can we add?” At the time, we needed that because there wasn’t enough. It was a question of what do we add. Now the question is: what do we take away?

If you look at narrative, if you look at how people are storytelling, and if you look at ads, no one’s doing that anymore.

It’s not about hitting people with all the best collaborations and all the biggest moves all at once, even though I totally could have. What has been done instead is build a relationship with our consumer. Now they’re excited to hear what is next. They feel optimistic about what we’re doing.

On being the cool older kid

If you want someone to buy something, you need them to feel safe about what they're buying and a lot of that comes from trust. And so then it just becomes how do I—how do we—create scenarios in which people feel they can trust a brand?

What I do is I put my six-year-old hat on. When I was a kid, I would always get excited by looking at the cool kids. The cool kids were never kids my age. The cool kids were always the big kids. I wanted to be them. I wanted to see what they’re doing and what they’re into.

Now when I make work, I think about that person who’s that cool big bro, big sis, older kid in the neighborhood.

By doing that, you’re able to create safety. I want someone to watch something and not just feel good, but feel supported and feel heard. That comes from building trust.

You build trust first by shifting perspective. Because if you’re a brand and you’re doing the same things as everyone else, you’re just following the status quo. When you’re following the status quo, you’re not growing. You’re stagnant. You’re actually failing. If you want to constantly think about growth, you have to constantly think about how to improve the communication.

You should be chasing trust.

It’s not about changing the game or destroying the internet every time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t destroy the internet every once in a while.

On being present

Something that I’m working on right now, and something that inspires me, is people with a strong sense of self.

Honestly, a lot of times these days, I don’t get inspired by looking at things anymore. I get inspired through conversations. I get inspired through hearing stories. I get inspired by being outside and seeing how happy people are not to be doing much.

I try to stay off my phone. I try to stay unplugged. I try to be outside. I try not to get in my own head.

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AdHoc’s campaigns live in the spirit of creating experiences with an emphasis on the unconventional, unfounded, and new to build things that feel culturally embedded and considered rather than overbranded and boring.

Izzy Fradin is a Chicago-based curator, creative producer, and sound designer working across music, design, and hospitality. She cut her teeth curating for Numero Group, before taking on roles with Earth Libraries,22Twenty, and co-producing Sub Pop’s Margo Guryan tribute compilation, Like Someone I Know. Her collaborations include work with Aquarium Drunkard, New Commute, and NTS radio among others.

Outside her career, Izzy works with fine art and hospitality spaces through her project Space Crafting. Through this project she crafts sonic identities, physical media, and live experiences, including 2023’s Flagstaff Fadeaway festival and the ongoing Fadeaway Sessions series. She is also editor-in-chief of abracadabra!, a quarterly print magazine exploring the powers of manifestation through visual art and the spoken word.

We caught up with Izzy to chat about her archival work in music and running her own magazine and the future of cultural discovery in the face of automation.

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With all you have going on, walk me through what your week looks like. Which of these roles is leading the charge in your life right now?

It’s a tough question. My main focus is Earth Libraries, which is my full-time job, so that definitely takes up the majority of my time.

I do spend a lot of time on other projects, though, the magazine being one example. abracadabra! really comes in waves because it depends on where we are in the production process. We’re just wrapping up our seventh issue, so lately I’ve been in editor mode: writing for the magazine, coordinating contributors, ordering bonus items, things like that.

What is your main role for Earth Libraries? How do you play a role at the label?

I’m doing a lot of A&R, which stands for Artists and Repertoire, bringing new artists into the label, particularly on the archival side.

I have a background in archival releases from my time at Numero Group, and I was originally brought into Earth Libraries almost as a consultant because no one on the team had prior label experience. I’ve helped streamline some of the operational side of the business while also thinking through release strategy, storytelling, and ways to build awareness around what we’re doing in Chicago. Over time, the role evolved to include more of my curation experience. I help shape playlists, support sync licensing efforts, contribute to editorial content, and think about how we connect great music with the right audiences.

Connecting audiences with music is such a big part of what we do, which makes me curious about how you approach that challenge in a live setting. Can you walk me through what you think makes a pop-up or activation really special?

When I was at Numero Group I was in charge of doing a pop-up around a compilation record called Whispers Lounge. It’s a really amazing record featuring lost ‘70s lounge acts that recorded these private-press records, and it showcases some of the best music from that genre.

We took over this jazz club in Chicago called Dorian’s and kind of made these silly videos imagining Dorian’s as Whispers Lounge, a fictional supper club with nightly entertainment. We had custom old-fashioned glasses made, custom coasters, and custom matchbooks. The whole record was packaged like a matchbook, and we had the bar create a special menu with cocktails that referenced songs and artists featured on the record.

Every detail was considered because we really wanted to transform the space into this fictional world. So I think it’s about attention to detail and really creating an experience that feels one of a kind and brings people together. That’s the other piece of it: the humanity. Events are worthwhile when they create a sense of community that feels novel and rallies people around something.

How did you come up with these little details, and how did the idea come to be? Did you all brainstorm together, or were you responsible for any of the specifics you're particularly proud of?

Yeah, I mean, it’s always a lot of collaboration. Especially for that Numero event, there were a number of brainstorming sessions. I think we had even more ideas than what we ended up doing. But it became a matter of, okay, we have budgets and we have to rein it in.

That was one of the first really big projects I was involved in personally. It was the biggest pop-up or experience I’d worked on up to that point. Tim Breen, who’s been a collaborator of mine for years now, was really the creative mastermind behind Whispers and that event in so many ways.

He’s an expert at a lot of things, and he was really helpful in taking the ideas we had and figuring out how to bring them to life. I’m grateful to have had mentors like Tim who brought me into those conversations early on and gave me the opportunity to have a voice in those spaces.

You've helped create a lot of memorable experiences. What do you think is the most important element of a good party?

The people. You could have absolutely nothing planned, but if you’re in good company, it doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters if the people are there and a sense of community is there.

Before the interview you mentioned tastemaking and curation. That's similar to what we do at AdHoc. We brand ourselves as tastemakers, understanding trends and what's happening in culture and being able to put these things into experiences for brands. How would you define a tastemaker?

I guess tastemakers are just people who have a point of view. People who have spent the time in the trenches listening, caring, and educating themselves on the history of whatever they’re passionate about and develop that through extensive love, fascination and curiosity. A sort of curatorial angle of expertise that’s backed by experience and knowledge.

I’ve spent my life worshipping at the school of music. But I’m equally a proponent of the Bob Dylan philosophy of: “if it sounds good, I like it”.

A point of view is often defined as much by what you reject as what you embrace. Is there anything in culture right now that people seem really into, but that you don't totally understand or that feels a bit like a fad to you?

I don't love how widespread adopting AI has become. That's definitely something I struggle with. Is it a fad? As much as I would like to think so, I don't think it is. I think it's going to continue evolving and becoming more integrated into our lives. My hope is that it becomes more thoughtfully regulated, because people left to their own devices tend to do some pretty questionable things with technology, and corporations aren't exactly known for exercising restraint either.

So, where do you go when you’re looking to discover something new?

Daytrotter comes to mind. Before it was part of Paste, there was a platform called Daytrotter that, in the 2000s and early 2010s, operated as a music discovery platform before that was really a thing.

They were one of the first outlets doing intimate recording sessions with emerging artists. They had a few different locations over the years. It started somewhere in rural Illinois, then moved to Iowa, and then Texas. They would have artists come in, record a live session, and then give away the downloads for free on their website.

When I was a burgeoning teenage DJ and music obsessive, it was such a huge platform for discovery. They’ve been on hiatus for something like 10 or 12 years, and then a month or so ago announced their return.

The return of Daytrotter is a sign of the times. What does the future of tastemaking and cultural discovery look like when big tech companies push for integrated AI and automation?

I think people are getting tired of the algorithmification of taste, especially in music. It’s become increasingly difficult to find large platforms that are doing real music journalism rather than functioning as influencers. There are still some great Substacks and niche corners of the internet where tastemaker-driven discovery exists, [shoutout New Commute in memoriam for blog culture], but it’s much more fragmented than it used to be.

That’s why Daytrotter’s return feels so meaningful to me. It feels like an editorial decision on the part of Paste rooted in a real understanding of what people are hungry for. Looking back through the archives, they had sessions from Charli XCX and Dua Lipa from over 12, 14 years ago, long before either artist became the global stars they are today.

I talk to so many musicians, and working with record labels, we’re constantly having conversations about press, exposure, and what the path forward looks like. Getting discovered today looks really different from the blogosphere era.

I don’t know exactly what the solution is. But things like Daytrotter coming back feel like harbingers of a better future. They represent a model that prioritizes discovery, curiosity, and genuine enthusiasm for music. Daytrotter is one of many solutions, and I think we need more things like it. That’s what gets me excited.

When you have things like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and all these playlists that are curated for you, they’re still built on algorithms. In many ways that takes away the fun of spending time searching for new artists and stumbling across things by accident.

Do you think there’s enough of a human element left in music discovery? Enough people helping other people find things they love, rather than machines deciding what we should hear next?

My take is that the people who are genuinely curious and care about discovery are on the long tail, but they’re unchanging. They’re not going anywhere.

The people who are content with their Daylists and Release Radars are the same people who, before Spotify, were satisfied with their mainstream radio stations. It’s literally the same thing. And there are a lot more of those people. There always will be. That’s just kind of how the world works, because most people don’t really care what they’re listening to. They want to be part of the collective conversation. They want to watch the shows everyone’s watching, see the movies everyone’s seeing, read the books everyone’s reading, and participate in a shared cultural experience.

And I’m not saying that with any judgment. It’s human nature!

For the people who care a lot there’s more to discover than ever. But I even think about something like NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts as a comparison to Daytrotter. Tiny Desk used to be an incredible platform for discovery, and in some ways it still is. But it’s also become, “Okay, now Bruno Mars is doing a Tiny Desk.” And you start to wonder, is that discovery anymore? Or is it just another major promotional platform? Is the goal now to get Drake to do a Tiny Desk? Tiny Desk used to be for the little guys. Now it isn’t, at least not exclusively.

What I’m getting at is that the outlets for emerging artists are becoming fewer and farther between. We need these outlets, and we need them to have enough reach and bandwidth that discovery doesn’t become entirely dependent on influencers with audiences operating inside social media ecosystems. You shouldn’t have to be on social media to find interesting new music.

That’s part of what excites me so much about Daytrotter coming back. It’s online, sure, but it’s not just another social platform. It’s also an opportunity for smaller artists to be discovered.

The first two artists they’ve brought back, Wendy Eisenberg and Theo Lawrence, are both incredible musicians. Both sessions are fantastic. Honestly, listening to the Theo Lawrence session made me emotional. Part of it was nostalgia I think. It immediately transported me back to high school, sitting in study hall with terrible headphones plugged into my iPod, listening to a Daytrotter session and having that feeling of hearing something amazing for the very first time.

That’s the power of human-led, curated discovery. And that’s something I don’t think is ever going away.

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Writing is just what Sami does, and has always done. When he moved to NYC he started in sports editing for MLB.com, VICE Sports and the NHL. In 2014 he began his bestselling newsletter SNAKE, where he covered vintage clothing. The archives of SNAKE have been collected into a book Sheer Drift: The Snake America Newsletters, which is available on Shining Life Press. He expanded into SNAKE SUPER HEALTH (also bestselling) where he covers the fascinating and twisted topics of wellness, peptides, hairline implants, etc. He is now able to write his newsletters full-time, while writing for magazines like AD and GQ on the side.

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🤪 On being super geeked

I finished some fiction work lately that I’m excited about. I’m also super geeked up about my health newsletter. I love writing and thinking about this topic, and following where it’s moving in the culture and what people are doing. I’ve been lifting and tracking protein and doing this shit since high school, so it’s fun.

Lately, I’ve been holding weekly calisthenics workouts every Sunday, through the Snake Super Health letter. That’s been awesome. It’s a way of making what I cover more real, more accessible, and more fun. The workouts are a nice way to break down the wall between “working out” and life. More than that, it’s just awesome to break a sweat and chop it up outside with all the cool, nice people who have been coming through.

📖 On the best book ever written

I have noticed lately I’ve been thinking about hand and grip strength: wrist strength, and shoulder health a lot: looking it up and doing all sorts of odd pronated and supinated grip exercises to make my hands and arms feel better. Music-wise I’ve been listening to a lot of George Wassouf. Syrian singer with one of the most beautiful and subtle/majestic voices ever. Always on these days. I just finished the 1,001 Nights—best book ever written? Mind-blowing shit. What can I say? I read, I lift, I listen to music, I work, repeat.

🍲 On Navel and Tripe

Pho Bang. The #5 with the navel and tripe. Best place on earth. I also like the Brooklyn Heights pier for calisthenics. Any park really. God bless these places, they’re like the library. Free and available for all citizens. It’s so cool.

🏋️‍♂️ On temporary pain

I loved working on Pain is Temporary, a movie zine with A24 last year for The Smashing Machine starring The Rock. We made an MMA/lifting magazine from 2000, which was decidedly different than now, and when I got into lifting and physical culture. It was the most fun I’ve had collaborating on a project before. It was seriously just the best time.

👾 On delivering down to the last pixel

I like the latest Camelbak campaign; a buddy Justin has been involved/making decisions on the graphic and creative side. It looks excellent and is vibrant. Jumps off the page. Cool product too and brand. It delivers down to the last pixel.

👟 On moments that become a part of you

The first Inspiration vintage fair in NYC in like 2011. I went and saw so much (on racks, on different people) that went into my blood, and I got carried away with vintage for about a decade after that. It felt like that Sex Pistols show in 24 Hour Party People—30 people in attendance, everyone makes something clutch after. Another moment was being in Paris when the Notre Dame cathedral burned down. It felt like the last scene of a Fellini film. I’ve never seen a street scene like that. Emotions all up and down the gamut, people 20, 30 deep, for miles.

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Mayssa Chehata is the founder of BEHAVE Candy. BEHAVE is the first low-sugar, clean-label candy that doesn’t spike blood sugar. It was her love of sweets and her father's diabetes that inspired Mayssa to create a better candy option. BEHAVE partners with chefs and food scientists to create candy that tastes too good to be true, in order to reduce the amount of sugar in the food system.

Mayssa is also the host of the ROCK BOTTOM podcast, a writer & speaker. She previously held roles at the NFL, Uber, Daily Harvest, and SoulCycle. She moonlights as a DJ.

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👵 On fanbases aging gracefully

Merit tapped a customer's 89-year-old grandmother, after the customer emailed telling them her grandma was their biggest fan, for a campaign. It's so beautiful, I love seeing brands promoting age diversity in casting and content, and the authenticity of the story having been sourced organically through a customer was so beautiful.

🎇 On life-changing founders

I look up to Melanie from Ghia so much. I admire the brand she’s built and her products really changed the game for me when I became sober-curious and cut out alcohol for over 2 years.

🌬️ On In 2,3,4, Out 2,3,4,

There are a few breath work events I’ve both attended and hosted that I believe changed the course and direction of my life. Where I was able to tap into a deep level of connection and understanding within myself that was truly healing and allowed me to slowly become to person I am today.

🔮 On having friends who are as woo-woo as you

My biggest, most favorite collaborators are my friends. I feel like we're collaborating on life together. My co-founder of course is the biggest one in my business, but a handful of my closest friends many of whom are founders as well. And my sister (who I also work with on the BEHAVE business and some of my other projects). I'm so grateful to be surrounded by incredible women everyday. and they're all as woo-woo as me so they don't hesitate when I ask them to do a witching ritual for manifestation or to pull tarot cards so we can figure out what to do next.

🎧 On staying sonically fresh

I realized that I need to expose my brain to new music, rather than replaying old music, as part of the process of rewiring. Every couple months I create a new playlist and add new music that matches the vibe I am trying to emulate in my life at that moment. It's been truly life changing. Oh and actually getting up and dancing throughout my day - whether at home, taking a dance class, or going out dancing with friends. Here's a playlist I was listening to for a mind reset end of last year.

🍭 On breaking the sugar ceiling

I'd bring more women into the candy industry, because I believe that would solve the bigger issue which is that the candy industry makes products that are killing people. There are very few female founded and run companies in the candy world, and almost all of them are better-for-you. So more women in the space would likely amplify this shift towards cleaner, lower sugar products that we are trying to create with our brand.

Follow Mayssa on Instagram & check out her podcast ROCKBOTTOM here.

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Maceo “Paisley” Keeling III is a performance artist, writer, TEDx speaker, filmmaker, and marketing consultant. His many accomplishments range from a fellowship with the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, running his own storefront gallery in LA, publishing his first book of essays Tao Of Maceo: Identity, Relationships,Work: A Journal On Living, to being in a Justin Timberlake music video.

His compounded experience in art, culture, community building, and strategy has honed his ability to translate cultural trends into real social needs for businesses to offer solutions to. He is currently leading Experiential and Cultural Marketing at Feeld, aiding in the great return of in-person gatherings. In addition to his 9-5 he runs a philosophy club, non-profit think tank, and publishes essays on Substack and Citizensofculture.com

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🤣 On the value of a good sitcom

The funniest thing I have watched recently is Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat. There is also something interesting about it still feeling like television, as opposed to quick social content. It's a challenge to keep people engaged in longer form content with everything happening right now so I really value a sitcom.

👀 On looking over instead of looking up

Its hard to say what my "industry" is, but I will say that I do more looking over than looking UP. I have a friend Jenny Gottstein who is head of experiential at Happily and she is not only a bonafied genius but also one of the kindest people I have ever know.

Next to her is Nu Goteh who is on the editorial team of Deem a progressive design publication. They have an annual conference with MCA in Chicago and he's just a really funny guy to be around.

⛳️ 🎾 On the future of the green

I am really interested in what is happening both in Golf and Tennis right now. We have brands like Malbon (golf) who are new players in a world where legacy and tradition are so key. And then brands like Wilson (tennis) who are a heritage brand that needs to keep up with the fast paced growth. These are different sports and different brands both trying to address a fundamental scale and culture problem.

Malbon's job is somewhat more straight forward, as revenue and customer base grows their brand dollars will go further to sponsor young talent and to some extent legacy institutions like the Master's have to validate them or risk loosing touch with the next generation. It's an uphill battle but they can start at the fringes and work their way into the mainstream once they have proven authority.

Wilson has another challenge and which has some complexity, they have the purse strings to advertise, but their name is almost synonymous with tennis to the point that that their struggle is that consumers might think they already know what Wilson is about. So they are repositioning to win incoming tennis payers with edge, but they also have to maintain what what they have established.

New brands get to be more risk tolerant and experimental, heritage brands have more to lose, but a lot more resources. I am interested in these dynamics where ever I see them but with the Master's and the Miami open having just passed this is top of mind for me.

🎷 On music that’s jazzy, listenable and thought-provoking.

My friend Aja Monet just dropped these new tracks Elsewhere and Hollyweird which are absurdist reflections on society that point the mirror back at the inconsistencies between what we say and do, and to a large extent, what that means for who we are as individuals and a society. It’s jazzy and listenable, but also thought-provoking which I need.

🎢 On Let’s-a-go to Universal Studios

You know what!? I went to Universal Studios Hollywood Theme park and was so blown away by the level of execution at the Mario World attraction. It was the kind experiential activation that I hope to be able to create one day with such a powerful and nostalgic IP, and budget.

I imagine being able to open up a Dragon Ball Z exhibit or something. But it reminded me that some of the biggest goals are still out there and to remain inspired to reach the highest level of delivery.

🎙️ On raising your creative ceiling

I gave a TED talk a few years ago that helped me realize I was actually no where near my ceiling when it comes to creative thinking. I realized that sometimes you have to just sign up for the thing or say "Yes" and then figure the rest out as you go.

This isn't the same as fake it until you make it, but rather realizing that learning happens along the way to a place and its not always about arriving, but becoming. So in order to deliver the TED talk I had to gain new skills and practice them. So I was initially correct in thinking I wasn't ready, but it was imposter syndrome convincing me that I couldn't learn and grow.

So now I think about the direction I want to go and who I have to become to feel like I belong there.

📵 On cool projects that never made it to Instagram

My buddy Daniel Johnson, has made some of the best work I have ever created with him as a photographer. We captured work that led to a film project with another friend of mine Leila Jarman. These two projects were exceptional.

Another cool collaboration was with a buddy of mine Lorenzo Diggins, we created a collaborative sock collection that lead to some really great opportunities for both of us. There have actually been a lot of cool projects I completed that never made it to Instagram. Which in some ways I value and in other ways I think are missed opportunities. I think about my dream project and it would be something like working with the team from Braindead on a philosophy book or something that has a lot of really powerful quotes or a calendar that people can peel off to be inspired.

Follow Maceo on Instagram & check out his Substack here.

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To Marty, “access” is such a buzzword, but how she sees it — access to the arts isn’t just about inclusion, it’s about enabling radical transformation once people are in the room. She’s been in arts and culture for about 15 years now, and her vision has been about expanding access and rethinking systems so people can fully participate.

Marty started in media, with leadership roles at NYLON and VICE en Español, where she elevated voices across independent music and art scenes through community-centered storytelling. She later moved into the arts and cultural sector, working across museums, cultural institutions, and government to deepen community engagement. She has led initiatives that connect institutions to broader civic ecosystems, from public programming in spaces like Grand Park, to reimagining the community engagement department at the Academy Museum, to now leading community partnerships and initiatives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her work focuses on designing systems that center historically excluded communities and actively welcome non-dominant languages.

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📢 On sonic landscapes building community power

I’m working on a music research project documenting the artists, organizers, and spaces that sustain the sounds of Mexican immigrant communities in NYC. From Puebla York to norteño and corridos, I’m exploring how migration shapes music, how sounds travel, evolve, and take on new life in the city. I’m especially interested in how these sonic landscapes build community power.

📝 On The Rag

On The Rag, a literary magazine. It’s critical thinking at its most messy, unfiltered, and unapologetically human way. It gets it right, it embraces vulnerability and imperfection; it’s not polished yet honest. 100% recommended, approved and obsessed.

🗣️ On salon-style gatherings

I’m very inspired by salon-style gatherings where friends and strangers come together to critique, dissent, and think through ideas in real time. I want to see more spaces that actively invite critical thinking and meaningful dialogue, where people can humanize one another, debate openly, and stay open to shifting perspectives. I think one of the most human and effective ways to shake the status quo is by creating spaces where people can question it, mobilize around change, and collectively process and share that excitement.

🎨 On true reminders of human care and art

Bob Baker Marionette Theater isn’t a brand, but it’s a community institution. They are based in Los Angeles and rooted in preserving the art of puppetry. I love how grounded and dedicated they are to craft, care, and legacy. In a moment shaped by AI and rapid digital production, they are true reminder of human care and art.

🌎 On the world’s borough

Queens. It reinforces my commitment to this city every time. I usually start the day with coffee at Mokafé in Astoria. One of my favorite museums there is the Museum of the Moving Image which has amazing screenings, exhibitions and galleries that remind us of the power of the moving image. I also want to shout out my friend Rana Abdelhamid, who runs Malikah in Queens, a mutual aid and community self-defense organization. A must is browsing books by local writers at World’s Borough Bookshop and a great meal at Chivito de Oro.

☎️ On call me maybe Mamdani?

I’m manifesting a future collaborator: Mayor Mamdani. I keep thinking about the need for stronger linguistic bridges between institutional spaces and the communities they serve. To take the responsibility to think beyond English, and engage New Yorkers in the many languages they actually speak at home, on the train, and at the bodega... My dream for New York is where language access in cultural institutions isn’t an afterthought, but a core practice. My pitch is simple: any institution receiving city funding should be held to standards of language justice. Anyway, DEAR MAYOR I have a few thoughts on cultural policy, specifically how to mobilize the arts in ways that are linguistically accessible and intentionally participatory, CALL ME.

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Lauren Bliss has been in the beauty industry for the past 12 years, previously at amika, and cocokind. She got her start working at MAC as a makeup artist, just like Trixie Mattel and Patrick Ta. She is currently the Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Experiment, a chemist-founded beauty brand fresh on the scene; you may recognize them for their iconic reusable silicone mask.

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🎨 On prioritizing creativity

When I left my role as Director of Social Media at cocokind in early 2024, I was super burnt out and started to question whether the beauty industry was still for me. Looking back, I realize I was questioning it because I wasn’t working for a brand that prioritized creativity. No shade, but the emphasis on community without equal investment in creative just wasn’t scratching that itch.

I started sharing my thoughts on my personal socials about how beauty brands had lost their way, how creativity felt deprioritized, and how fearmongering had started to replace inspiration as a sales tactic. Turns out, a lot of people agreed!

Through that very public vent session, I started discovering brands I wasn’t as familiar with, brands that brought me back to that same feeling I had in my teens and early 20s. One of those brands was Experiment, where I now lead the brand marketing team. It’s been such a joy to work for a brand that cares just as much about visuals and storytelling as it does about science.

🧪 On the next big experiment

We’re less than 3 weeks away from our biggest product launch of the year at Experiment, and this one has been a fun challenge. It’s the brand’s first treatment for breakout-prone skin, and anyone who’s worked in skincare knows how hard those can be to sell. People, understandably, want results: before and afters, clinicals, all of it. We’ll have that (duh, we’re a chemist-founded brand!!!!), but being Experiment, that’s not enough. We always have to bring the smart AND the hot. Our CEO and co-founder, Lisa Guerrera, really set the tone for a fun creative world, and it’s been exciting to help bring it to life across different parts of the marketing funnel. This will also be the brand’s first A-tier launch at Sephora, so there’s a lot riding on it, which honestly just makes it even more exciting.

💄 On C-beauty

I’m absolutely obsessed with Kaleidos. They’re a makeup brand based out of Shanghai, and their packaging and formulations are so unique. Their new Glassload Lip Melts come in these refillable glass and metal capsules that you can mix and match to make your own. There’s a nice weight to them which makes it feel super luxe while staying at an accessible price point. Packaging aside, I really appreciate that they’re making makeup that feels fun to play with: metallic, loud, and often in unexpected shades.

I’m generally really into C-beauty makeup brands and would love to see them get more hype in the States (like how K-beauty is for skincare).

🏡 On taking an extended vacation at the cottage

I know it’s been months, but I’m still at The Cottage. I didn’t watch Heated Rivalry until weeks after the finale aired, and honestly, I can’t believe I was so late to it. This year has been an emotional rollercoaster, and watching Connor and Hudson rise to fame, watching that show, reading the books... it has become a bit of a safe place for me. I read all six books in the series within the span of weeks back in February. I am specifically obsessed with the rise of Hudson as a modern-day heart throb (Shout out to Aika Flores his Groomer, she really knows how to do his hair and skin). My TikTok FYP is still filled with Heated Rivalry edits...I hope it never stops and I have no shame about it. Okay I’m rambling now...;p

📵 On letting the marketing manager unplug!

I recently took a month off from social media, and while I initially thought it would be detrimental to my work, like I needed to stay tapped into trends and what other brands are doing, it actually had the opposite effect. I felt like I had more creative ideas because my brain wasn’t bogged down by endless content (and constant bad news). It also pushed me to finally film a couple videos for my personal socials that had been sitting on my to-do list for way longer than I’d like to admit. While I can’t always take breaks that long, I always try to read a lot, which naturally leads to less screen time.

🤳 On ending influencer brands

No more influencer brands. Please, I’m begging. Influencers who are actual experts in their field, like makeup artists turned creators turned founders, are one thing. But 90% of the time, these brands feel like cash grabs. They don’t offer real innovation for consumers, and at that point, it’s just more…stuff.

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Anu has worked across trend forecasting, cultural insight and brand strategy for the past ten years in-house at brands like Nordstrom and Mejuri, and on the agency side at Kantar Futures and Spring Studios. The past few years, she has been carving out her own niche, which she calls “trend strategy.” She is now embarking on being an indie writer and consultant, finally allowing herself the time to explore all the ideas she has kept on the back burner, like the Q1 trend report she shared on her Substack WHAT’S ANU. We’ve been eating up her reports and are so excited that she is sharing what’s been on her mind with us.

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🇫🇷 🇮🇳 On bridging Paris and Jaipur

I’m obsessed with Rescha, a brand bridging Paris and Jaipur. I’ve been yearning for a female-focused version of Kartik Research, and this is a beautiful iteration. I’m desperate to buy the Galaxy Skirt. Which is why I need to post more on Pickle.

🧠 On not getting caught in the hype

I really admire Matt Klein’s foresight work, which has definitely been influential in informing how I approach trends. He doesn’t get caught up in the hype cycles, integrates a critical perspective, and has managed to create a space for deep thinking about topics that are often otherwise treated superficially.

🥒 On being a pickle girl

So, I’m intrigued by Pickle, the clothing rental app. I’d first heard about it a few years ago, and I’ve seen sporadic press mentions, but I’ve never heard anyone I know talk about it in real life. Maybe I’m just too old, though. Because less than two months ago, I uploaded (1) dress, and it’s already been rented 3x. I’ve made nearly $300, and the dress cost me $600, so it’s going to pay for itself soon. I’d previously tried ByRotation, which is very popular in the UK, but they don’t seem to have been able to make inroads in the US — nobody ever rented anything I uploaded there. My takeaways are: I need to add more stuff to Pickle, and this rental thing might be worth paying attention to.

🌳 On hedging your bets

I’m really fascinated by how drastically divergent it feels like the American Eagle and Aerie marketing strategies are getting. American Eagle with their Sydney Sweeney eugenics pun and Ella Langely/Stagecoach country music sponsorships, both with highly produced and retouched campaign imagery,

vs. Aerie continuing to emphasize inclusivity and taking a stance against AI imagery.

Are they betting that these are the same customer? Or are they purposefully splitting their bet between two segments?

🍝 On lunchtime lasagna

Saraghina. It’s not groundbreaking, just the quintessential neighborhood spot. By day, the bakery has decadent morning croissants, lunchtime lasagna, and the perfect array of host presents. I’ve recently taken to bringing over a bottle of their house chili oil rather than wine. By night, the restaurant has perfect negronis, fritto misto, and chocolate mousse. And then, across the street is Lunatico for live music every single day. What more can you ask for?

📈 On repackaged ideas

I wish we’d stop renaming “trends” every year for the sake of an annual report, when in reality it’s usually just a repackaged version of the same idea. Trends don’t change every year, and that’s the point. Tracking trend trajectories should help us make sense of how culture is evolving, but the endlessly generated catchy copy lines just create confusion instead.

The sad part is that most seasoned trend experts understand this, but fold under the commercial pressure to invent newness. I feel like I’m sort of taking a subversive approach to trends by consciously slowing things down. I don’t change the trend titles in my framework every year — in fact, they’ve been the same for 5+ years. And my newsletter intentionally looks back on 4+ weeks of signals before doing any analysis, because that timeline offers more pattern-recognition perspective.

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Keith Richards is not a member of The Rolling Stones. He’s been in the music biz for over a decade, spanning digital and live production, buying, and agency experience, formerly Warner Music Group and Paradigm. He was recently brought on to build Ground Control’s first festival department. When he’s not creating meaningful opportunities for artists, he’s spending time with his wife and three boys—coaching two of them on their baseball teams.

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📝 On songwriting that lingers long after the song ends

Improvement Movement’s sound really jumped out at me the first time I heard it. There’s something about it that feels like a modern take on that indie rock, Eagles-type vibe—I just keep coming back to it.

I had the chance to catch Dean at the Blue Room here in Nashville not long after I started at Ground Control. I wasn’t familiar with him beforehand, but he had that packed room completely locked in from the first note. His wit and banter perfectly complemented the melodies and thoughtful lyrics—it all just clicked. I’m really excited to watch what feels like a pretty meteoric rise unfold from here

🏟️ On Keith’s MVPs

A few people have played a really meaningful role in shaping my career.

Paul Steele and Aaron Sawyer at Triple 8 were instrumental early on. They saw something in me and believed in my potential—honestly, probably more than I believed in myself at the time. That kind of trust and support made a lasting impact and helped set the foundation for everything that’s come since.

Micah Davidson is another person who’s been incredibly important in my journey. We were coming up in a similar time and space, figuring things out side by side, and that shared experience is something I really value. Those early years of building together are irreplaceable.

And Eric Tobias is someone I continue to lean on. His perspective—coming from the tech world but deeply rooted as a music fan—has always stood out. He sees things differently, and that’s challenged and inspired me since the day we met.

🥪 On breaking bread

I’ve got a few local sandwich shops in the regular rotation; Mitchell Deli , Fat Belly Deli , Bill’s Sandwich Palace. I go often enough now that it feels like they actually know me, and I love that sense of being part of something—even in a small, consistent way.

🇨🇦 On Québécois je ne sais quoi

Festival D’été. I don’t think there’s another event quite like it, and the team behind it consistently does an incredible job year after year. They’re truly some of the best in the business, and it shows in everything they build.

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Gael Aitor is the co-founder of Grownkid alongside Kayla Suarez; a social club for 18-24 year olds, making young-adulthood less lonely through community and play. Gael started this practice by creating a podcast with his friends during the pandemic, “Teenager Therapy,”, that grew to one of the top 100 American culture podcasts.

After finishing Teenager Therapy Gael then started another podcast with Kayla “Grownkid” which has since evolved into the social club it is today, holding weekly events in NYC. They were recently featured in the NY times for throwing a mixer where you can wrestle your date. Other events of late include: a protein slop potluck, make your own entry-level job, and a douching sermon. Their absurd events sneakily create social boot camps. They get young people out of their comfort zones, allowing them to make friends and manifest the young adulthood they were promised.

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☕️ On chatting it up with Chyelle

Given that all my work has always been virtual, I really have to effort to get out of the house. And I learned that lesson very quickly because I didn’t go to college, so it was up to me to create my community, and it wasn’t handed to me.

So in New York, you will usually catch me working at the La Cabra in Bushwick. It’s my favorite coffee shop, good coffee, good music. There’s also a lovely vintage Furniture Showroom and coffee shop called Chyelle, that’s run by Chyelle herself, and she’s wonderful. I love going in there chatting it up with her. We’re actually going to do a pop up at her shop soon.

🗑️ On wasted space

I want to work brands that are willing to help fight the loneliness epidemic and give people experiences that leave them with at least one more person in their life. There’s so much space that is just left unused, and it’s just sitting there. Or it’s only used to, buy a piece of clothing, get a coffee, but we can create more and more meaningful experiences in these spaces.

📵 On no phones on the dance floor

Jia from 6am group. It’s a techno collective, and so it’s a global rave community. They’ve done a bunch of different they have a bunch of different kind of collectives, such as work LA or reform. They do this huge party called Wall of Sound, and it’s just high quality techno music with incredible sound, incredible lighting design. They’ve been throwing events since 2008. I am just obsessed by the way they bring the dance floor back through their no phone policy. It’s about the music. It’s about the community. When people put that much intention into their spaces, it’s just a wonder to behold.

💉 On injecting your brand’s mission in into your brand’s DNA

Peiman and Mason from Madhappy. I really admire how they’ve been able to grow Madhappy, not just as a clothing brand, but really as a conversation starter on mental health. Not just to support the cause financially, but also through the way they insert it in the ethos and in the DNA of the brand. It’s how they design their stores, or their website, and their clothes.

🏓 On table tennis taking over the LA fashion scene

I love what Little Tokyo Table Tennis is doing and how they’ve built out a global brand through this simple, seemingly, you know, uncool hobby that they have made into, like the “it” hobby the fashion scene and in LA.

You will find the most fashionable young people gathering every Tuesday in this community center gym at the heart of Little Tokyo, playing table tennis in Rick Owens in Dior and Chanel. Their hats have been found in Tokyo, Thailand, Mexico in New York, everywhere.

🔥 On hot takes

My hot take is that there’s nuance to just about everything. Who woulda thought?

🤪 On living life without embarrassment

People are too caught up in the discourse without ever having lived enough to really have the discourse. People are talking about — “Is having a boyfriend embarrassing?” “Is having a girlfriend no longer a thing with young men?” Or “Should you text them?” “Should you triple-text them?” “Never Chase, always attract.” I think that’s all so silly.

People keep following these rules that trap them in cycles of loneliness, isolation, and boredom. I approach my life as if there are no rules. I do whatever brings me pleasure and joy, and I think embarrassment isn’t real. And even then — what? You triple-text? So you showed interest — that’s your PR that you’re scared of, that you showed interest?

🎁 On Gael’s recent favorite things:

Lovelovelove by flea

Problemista Directed by Julio Torres

Stoner by John Williams

Follow Gael on Instagram & check out his Substack here.

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Sam Bail, self-proclaimed “sober party girl,” founded Bright Nights Social, which began as “Third Place Bar,” in 2022, a pop-up series aimed to create more inclusive spaces where alcohol is not the main attraction. Since her start, she has organized over a hundred events, including mixers, dance parties, dinners, trivia nights and alcohol-free mixology classes. She writes a weekly Substack, Bright Nights Social, where she highlights the best sober-friendly happenings in NYC, check it out here.

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✍️ On abstaining from algorithm games

With respect to Bright Nights Social, I’m really excited about focusing more on my Substack. I feel really limited by the constraints of short-form video on social media and all the things you have to consider to appease the algorithm. I use social media and my writing to communicate the things that I find important for others to know (upcoming events, recommendations for spaces or communities in NYC, some great NA drinks I find, thoughts on how to have fun while being sober...) and I don’t want to play algorithm games just for someone to see it.

On the personal side, I’ve started reconnecting with some of my creative work. A couple of years ago I worked on visuals for my musician friend’s live show, using random footage we’d collected, and it was one of the most fun and satisfying things I’d ever done. It’s been super satisfying returning to, I’ve been learning some more techniques like live video feedback and just playing around with video snippets and music and making weird art, for the sake of making art.

☕️ On the 9th St Community Center

I love 9th Street Espresso (the one on 9th and C, not the one on 10th and B, which is a misnomer). I call it 9th Street Community Center, it’s just full of the same regulars every day. The barista with the beanie who hates me. The guy with the cargo pants and the doberman. My buddy Billy, a comedian, who I bump into there sometimes reading antique books. The dude who takes photos of people’s t-shirts and talks about his Alphabet City documentary. Someone needs to make a reality TV show about that place.

🖼️ On “bad” art

I’ve actually been enjoying watching the backlash to AI and the return to kinda low-fi handmade art, like poorly drawn MS Paint flyers, handmade collages, stop motion animation. Maybe I’m a total luddite, but I come from a DIY scene background with hand-made zines and stencils and drying silkscreens in the bath tub, and it makes me happy to see people make intentionally “bad” art to signal that it’s made by humans.

🎶 On inspiring pivots

B.A. Miale, a visual artist from Upstate New York, has been a huge inspiration for me from a creative perspective. I love her colorful video visuals, and seeing them in the actual space where they’re projected makes me more excited to work on my art so I can hopefully one day take it beyond the screen and into a physical space again.

I always love seeing what my buddy Noah Villeneuve is up to. I met him through our work in the non-alc industry, but he’s recently returned to making music and recorded a beautiful album, along with several incredible music videos. I find him pivoting back into making music so inspiring.

🌳 On sober respites

I’d love to work with a non-alc drinks brand to curate a sober space at a festival, a laid-back space with comfy seats, low key music programming, and non-alcoholic drinks that give people some respite from the intense and often substance-heavy festival environment.

I want just more money in the non-alc industry that would allow us to make bigger, bolder, and more visible moves, at the level of what alcohol brands are able to do. There’s probably only a handful of brands in the space that could even foot the bill for the festival collaboration I’m dreaming of, and most of them don’t make products that I actually like. It’s tragic.

🍷 On getting in your vegetables

I’m a big fan of JONI, a Brooklyn-based women-owned brand. It’s a non-alcoholic wine alternative based on verjus that pairs super well with food. The “rouge” reminds me of a sparkling rosé but heavy on the cardamon and rosemary, while the blanc is super herbal - my friend calls it the “celery drink”.

Follow Sam on Instagram & check out her Substack here.

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Emma Lou Cogan is the founder of Substack bestseller DIGITAL FRUITS, a publication and creative studio for weird girls with great taste.

Before DIGITAL FRUITS she was many things; a barista, a vintage buyer, a freelancer in film and fashion as a wardrobe assistant, and co-founder of a femme-fronted genre film collective with some of her friends. Regardless of how corporate or grassroots the project, she constantly felt the pressure to be digestible and contorted into a one-note marketable package. After a chronic illness flare made it impossible to keep performing wellness, she just didn’t have to get booked again; she stopped trying to be uncomplicated.

That decision launched DIGITAL FRUITS, where she didn't have to be one thing anymore. What started as a Substack is expanding into print, a video podcast, and more to come! Make sure to subscribe to DIGITAL FRUITS to stay in tune with what Emma is cooking up.

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🍛 On having a lot on her plate

Currently trying to perfect a recipe for hojicha marshmallows. Also very excited to be consumed by the work of bringing DIGITAL FRUITS into the physical space — a print edition is in the works, and I'm deep in ideating around what a DF party looks like… so far I know I love parties that are multi-sensorial, and I looove a theme, so that'll be fun once it materializes. The DF video podcast also drops this April, which has been its own exercise in practicing being seen (hard sometimes!!!). And on the DL: I'm making a homecoming to filmmaking soon — a retro-surreal psychological horror that's also, really, an excuse to make some fabulous costumes and get messy. Hoping to shoot next year in NYC.

🍝 On sexy like a long bath and a bowl of pasta

I'm obsessed with my heels class right now. Not to mention, I've been fixated on Gen Z graduating from TikTok dances into a full obsession with choreography that rivals the Step Up era — FKA Twigs, the Addison Rae of it all, the Troye Sivan GAP era, Dance Church classes selling out… have you noticed this?

I think it's about, wanting to feel embodied in a way that AI and the internet fundamentally cannot give us. We've spent so long living in our phones and our heads that dance feels almost corrective right now — the culture course-correcting back toward the body, toward aliveness. It's sexy in this internal way. Less about perception, more about expression. Like sexy in the way that a really long bath and a bowl of pasta al limone is sexy.

🌸 On Petra Collins

Petra Collins, always — since the Rookie days! What I admire most is the way her artistic signature shows up unmistakably across every medium she works in — photography, film, fashion, writing — without her ever having to pick just one. I’ve been particularly moved by her work in the sixth edition of Baron, where she turns the camera on herself for the first time. It’s grotesque, confusing, and cool as fuck.

👜 On anti-status being the new status

Have you seen the Jelly Firkin by 9Folds? I love it. 9Folds has me in a choke9hold. It’s an obviously fake Birkin rendered in jelly material — no pretense, pure parody — and I think it’s doing something culturally sharp that reminds me of what Brat did as an album cover: taking the “cheap” aesthetic and making it the most intentional, knowing thing in the room. Owning a Jelly Firkin signals a specific kind of cultural literacy — you have to be in on the joke to want one, which makes it, perversely, more exclusive than the real thing. Anti-status as its own status.

🏃 On anti-celebrity platforms

The Harry Styles x Haruki Murakami conversation in Runner’s World has been glued to my brain since it came out. Two artists of different mediums, walking completely different paths, in real conversation about running, creativity, discipline, and the relationship between physical movement and the artistic spirit — it’s the kind of journalism I’ve been ITCHING for. And! I’m fascinated by it as an album press move on Harry’s part: Runner’s World is one of the most anti-celebrity platforms imaginable, making this piece feel way more fresh than another glossy cover. There will always be glossy covers.

📝 On very important sticky notes

My sixth grade teacher gave me a yellow sticky note with a glittery star sticker (important) on it, that said “Emma, you’re a great writer. Keep it up!” School sucked, but writing didn’t. And that sticky note kept my creative feet on the ground. I think about that teacher a lot! The right person saying the right thing at the right moment can be endlessly alchemical. The little things count. I try to follow suit and give similar gestures to my friends and peers.

👃 On choosing where to hang based on notes

In Portland, if I’m not laying on a rock near a river, I’m probably drinking tea and eating bao at Jade Rabbit. It’s the coziest vegan Chinese spot with the most insane oolong tea menu. Think oolong with notes of popcorn, milk, and peach. Perfect place to turn your phone off.

In NYC, I’m 1000% at Stéle smelling a hot, photorealistic wet dirt perfume. Exploring story through fragrance is my favorite hobby. I’m kind of a perfume sample hoarder. Like my philosophy about having 1000 niches... why not have 1000 scents? One for each emotion and memory.

Follow Emma on Instagram & check out her Substack here.

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Johnny Gaffney is the type of guy you can bring home to grandma, but once you do, you’ll find out they’ve been friends for years. Gaffney has been volunteering at Senior Centers across NYC for eight years. What began as pre-bingo performances with his friend, bandmate, and musical genius John Albano, evolved into Senior Centertainment, an organization he founded that brings artists, performances, and creative programming into senior centers across NYC. This work led him to host the hit new online show Like Old Times, where he invites seniors out to do things they haven’t for years, like disco dancing, bowling, and meeting the temptations.

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@likeoldtimes_showLike Old Times - Episode 3 • Elsa, 78 - Retired Special Education School Teacher •What she misses: Going to concerts HUGE thanks to The Temptations and their team for helping make this possible & for making Miss Elsa the happiest (My) Girl in the world! LIKE OLD TIMES Hosted by @johnnygaffney_ A show by @Snackish Media #likeoldtimes #seniors #concert #thetemptations #mygirl

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👨🏻‍💼 On being a professional white guy

One day I saw a Craigslist casting for a “white man” and I wrote back, “I’ve been a white guy my whole life—I was born for this job.” It was a music video for phenomenal rapper named Cashflow Harlem, and I loved it. Afterward, he asked if he could give my number to other rappers looking for white guy actors. I told him it would be an honor, and over the next few years, I ended up appearing in dozens of videos which helped get me acting regularly. I owe a lot to NYC rap videos.

🖍️ On senior-approved brands

I’m glad you asked this…easy…Crayola. Remember when they came out with a new color, and got kids to vote on what we should call it? Literally inviting us to think outside our current understanding of color, and bringing in the kids for their say? How epic.

I love crayons, and props to Crayola for keeping the product fairly priced, classic, and never doing any BS as far as I know. The seniors I work with use crayons daily, primarily because they are cheap, versatile and now I have become a crayon head. I have the classic 64 pack on my desk and sketch absent-mindedly while on the phone and intentionally at night. Crayola, hit me up i have ideas…seriously :-)

🛹 On the three major park food groups; skateboarding, pull-up bars and dogs.

I am a park head. I love Tompkins mainly because of all the food groups it covers: skateboarding, pull-up bars, and the dog park, so I can be that dogless weirdo gawking at all the pups. I love cafés and restaurants, but I think too many social interactions are predicated on spending money. I am not making a Carrie Bradshaw salary at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to gab with my girls. We just may not be able to do it over martinis or brunch, so how about a spliff and some cupped java at Tompkins? There’s also a bathroom that’s clean! What’s not to love!?

🪦 On portals into the divine

Last fall, a senior we are very close with passed away, and I wanted to help the other center members process their grief creatively. I cold DMd one of my favorite conceptual artists, Ron Baker, who makes existential, spiritual altars that to me feel like portals into the divine. He was incredibly generous, hosting a transformative altar-making workshop with the seniors. I love seeing an artist like Ron share his practice, bounce off the seniors and create lightning in a bottle in these centers.

✨ On beyond the physical sum of your parts

I am very lucky to be a "creative."(that word feels yucky cause its an adjective not a noun) but I am tired of doing work on spec. I am always auditioning, not in the “acting in a movie” way, but in the “send us 100 ideas and we will let you know if any of them, and you, are worth a dime” way. Imagine any other job doing that? Come in and bus these tables for eight hours, and then we’ll decide if we want to pay you next time.

It’s silly, because brands are chasing cachet, and very few things are sold on a product’s “merit”—whatever that even means anymore. Everything is a lifestyle or culture brand. No one buys a product for the physical sum of its parts; they buy it for the vibe. And the vibe is cultivated by creatives, so we should be paid even if our ideas aren’t directly tied to more widgets sold.

Also, it’s funny, in a non-haha way, that the bigger a company is, the harder it is—and the longer it takes—to get paid. What’s up with that? I wouldn’t let a $50 Venmo request sit that long, and these trillion-dollar companies are dodging my calls for chump change. CMON!!!

Follow Johnny on Instagram & check out his Substack here.

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Mariah Barksdale is a Senior Brand Strategist at Hinge. She has been behind some of the most nuanced campaigns centering intimacy, including the No Ordinary Love Campaign for Hinge and the first ads for sex toys on the MTA while at Dame Products. Inside this talented brand storyteller lives a theatre kid who is still calling the shots behind the curtain.

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🎭 On three bucks, two bags, one me

I know we’re just getting started, but I’ll just get ahead of it now: I’m a theatre kid. I get so much joy from every part of the process: writing short plays, rehearsing choreo, singing, making a character my own, bringing it all to life with my castmates.

My theatre experience taught me two things: I love telling a good story, and maybe even more so, I love the process of doing it with other people. I love digging into how people think, what they believe, what inspires them. All in the service of working with a team to create a campaign that feels like a good story: emotional, memorable, transportative.

🏡 On welcoming people to the neighborhood

Rachel Karten, social media strategist and writer of one of my favorite Substacks Link In Bio coined this term, “Mister Rogers Marketing” that’s really stayed with me. It essentially means “posts that sink in, make you wonder, leave you hopeful.” The content, she says, cuts through because it optimizes for kindness (over views), and it “always respects the audience’s attention.”

Besides the episodes of Miss Rachel I watched with my 2-year-old niece during this recent blizzard, the brand campaigns that have been most memorable lately embody this phrase.

@jacquemusI'm very moved to introduce my new bag, named after my mother, Valérie. In this first campaign, a reflection of her spirit, always with a touch of humor and poetry. « Le Valérie » with Charlotte Le Bon Now available on jacquemus.com #Jacquemus

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From the playful reverence of Jacquemeus’ recent Valérie bag campaign to the warm comfort of Ffern’s short film “Some Interesting Apples” to the iconic joy of Miss Piggy’s recent press run.

🍣 On crashout pick me ups

Ki Sushi on Flatbush Ave.

Picture this: a large suburban sushi spot you’d go to as a treat if you scored all 5s on your AP exams…but elevated. I’d go so far as to say, the hottest club in town. Ki is there for me when I need to celebrate something, when I’m crashing out, or just need a pick-me-up. I go like twice a month; the fish is so fresh, the hospitality is fab and familial. My fiancé and I are always sat at our corner booth by the front window.

If I’m feeling flirty, I’ll order the crispy tuna as our starter and suggest going to Bar Goto down the block after for post-sushi gimlets. Perfect night.

🎧 On experiencing things, just as Rosalia intended

I’m a huge fan of Rosalia’s album LUX and got the opportunity to attend a surprise listening party a few months back.

The event was held in a small, dark theater of about 40 people. It’s an experience that sticks with me because never have I had the pleasure of just sitting in the dark and listening to a new, full album in order. With nothing but my colleagues to my left and right, sound blaring and washing over me, lyrics animated on the screen. I’ve not been that focused (mind, body, emotions) in a while. I felt so many things all at once, it was both intense and euphoric.

Once the final song of the album, “Magnolias,” ended and the lights went up, there was almost this collective exhale from the room. I remember being shaky as I got up from my seat, as if my body had been knocked off its axis. I feel lucky to have experienced LUX as a comprehensive piece, in the company of others, just as Rosalía intended.

😭 On getting *wrecked*, and replenishing your aura

I go to the movies by myself! I treated myself to a BAM membership this year and it’s been fabulous. The most recent solo experience was watching Sentimental Value. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas’ performance *wrecked* me.

Another thing I do to stay inspired is get my hair done. You know that feeling when you put on a specific article of clothing or shoe and it almost changes your body language-how you walk, how you stand, how you present yourself, the aura you exude. That’s what getting my hair done does for me. Not only is it a nice scalp massage, but it’s also an opportunity for me to play and ask myself: “what energy am I giving this month?“ Once I align on that and do some Pinterest boarding, I make the appointment.

Huge shout out to my incredible stylist Carter and fab creator,Skylar Marshaifor February’s inspo ✨

🗣️ On having the guts.

Ochuko Akpovbovbo is the writer of one of my favorite Substacks, as seen on. She always has such smart takes not just on what’s happening in culture, but where it’s going. She also asks really good questions.

I’ve also been really inspired by musicians like Doechii, Charli XCX, and Rosalía. They’ve subverted how we experience and talk about music.

Charli and her team have turned an album rollout into a conversation you want to be a part of. Rosalía’s listening parties for LUX ask us to slow down and let go, Doechii is showing up honestly and on her own terms (as a fellow The Artist Way girlie, I’m loving @gutsgritglamour). They’re pushing boundaries and doing some really cool shit. In terms of creative storytelling and innovation, musicians and their creative teams are taking it for me!

Follow Mariah on Instagram & check out her Substack here.

🗯️ Comment below whose thoughts we should feature next!

Julia Harrison has great taste, an enviable career writing for AD, yet somehow still finds time to run Saloon, her part Substack, part curated networking chat-room, part irl event community. How she got to where she is today was not a straight line. Hearing her speak about her journey, with such humor and gentle self-deprecation, was incredibly grounding, especially in times where the job market is as grim as it is.

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🌪️ On international soul searching

This was a strange journey that mostly begins with my leaving college for being slut-shamed for swiping a girl’s open-relationship boyfriend while she was abroad. I had to do some self-searching after that. I did it in New York, in the closet of my brother’s Park Slope apartment. I suspected I wanted to work in publishing, so I got an unpaid internship at a lit mag and a $10/hour job (in 2018, mind you) at a boutique book PR agency. I went back to school later, got my degree, started working as an editor at The Sewanee Review after college and during COVID, at which point I had another crash out and moved to Italy for a few months to help start an artist residency in Sardinia. When my Visa was up, I moved back to New York to work again at the same PR agency. I fell in love, moved to Maine to open a couple restaurants, moved back to the city for the boy I fell in love with, who quickly revealed himself to be an alcoholic. By then I had already signed a new lease and sold my soul to graduate admissions to pay for said lease. I started writing to make sense of my life, which felt then like a failure. I started saloon from the same feeling. I got recommended to a job at AD from there and my life changed. I felt acknowledged by the world, finally; that’s always how I'm describing it.

📖 On swapping Substacks for magazines

I’m loving reading again, thank god. I go through these morose periods of being an idiot, which come often, and I don’t read or watch anything meaningful. Anyway, I started reading i-D, Interview, Wallpaper, NYT, and GQ (and AD, obviously) pretty regularly just to start having any ideas about anything. I think those are all great publications. Even if the writing is bad on occasion, I’m still thinking about something related to it, it’s still some data point later on. I stopped reading Substacks for the most part. I still read Hung Up because Hunter is a crash course in everything, but everything else was starting to make me feel competitive and disillusioned. My algorithm is all fucked up, it's all like My Birkin Is Worth Every Penny and pseudo-existentialism and women hating each other through the economy of tactful restacks.

💼 On failing a lot, publicly

I’m impressed by small businesswomen in New York, like, as a rule. I mean just a handful of examples from my recent inbox: my friend Yuria Kailich is building something bizarre and brilliant with her firm Of Enso. She’s pulling that off from a shared studio in Gowanus.

I don’t know Kathleen Sorbara outside of email, but I love what she’s done with Sorbara’s.

I think she’s created a blueprint for a hundred other businesses. Same with Tumbao, which began as a pop-up in LES and became such a lucrative community—in multiple senses of the word—that it managed to turn itself into a full shop.

That’s the work of several women, all phenomenal. Georgia Baltay, too, who has built her brand Lovethanks out of thin air.

You have to fail a lot and pretty publicly these days to build anything that catches on. It takes a lot of humility and perseverance to do that.

🌳 On Bush Era Redux

I think Kallmeyer is explaining the tension of contemporary women through their clothes, whether they mean to or not. It’s corporate, slinky, rich, and modest at once.

I think that’s clever in this age of ultra-confused feminism. Nobody knows how far is too far at the same time that tradwifery is returning in every avenue it possibly can.

My friend Rona recently introduced me to the term Bush era redux to describe that (or more specifically, to describe the CBK craze). I’m watching rebrands really closely—J. Crew’s ability to captivate NYC’s disposable income through ‘90s nostalgia and careful influencer selection while still raking in most of their cash from middle America is super impressive to me. I’m watching Tory Burch, too—whatever strategy they employed to return with such fury from their Lilly Pulitzer associations...talk about Bush era redux. No one wants to live in the contemporary anymore. I think it’s interesting to see brands cope with that.

📱On the pros and cons of fabulous friends

My Instagram feed is a disaster; it's entirely opulent events I wasn't invited to. That's relatively new. I wouldn't even follow influencers before I started working at AD, but then I started meeting all of them and other fabulous people in real life, so we started following each other, and now my whole algorithm plagues me with feeling lesser than.

🍷 On cheeky little weeknight drinks

I go to Anais maybe twice a week. It’s tiny and tucked away in Cobble Hill, and it has these incredible light fixtures and books along all the walls and a great wine selection, and it almost always has room. It’s a coffee shop that turns into a wine bar so you can work there, write or read without distraction, zone out, and have a cheeky little weeknight drink. We just had a saloon reading there that packed the house; it was the perfect space for it.

🌸 On brand disloyalty

Less brand loyalty. I am super disheartened by the intensity with which you’re supposed to Be Your Brand. There’s—and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here—almost no free spiritedness left, absolutely nothing casual. Everything is your brand, and consequently, you belong completely to whatever or whoever gives you audience.

Follow Julia on Instagram & check out her Substack here.

🗯️ Comment below whose thoughts we should feature next!

This week, we are featuring the consortium of crabs behind one of our favorite marketing Substacks, Silence, Brand!

Ryan: Creative Director @ LOUDMOUTH (a creative advocacy agency) + Managing Editor & Trendspotter of Silence, Brand!

Dayna: Founder of Silence, Brand!, a Substack that covers the intersection of brand, social media, and fandom, and I do a bit of freelance consulting on the side

Dejaih: Sr. Social Community Manager at Sony Pictures, Jeopardy! & Wheel of Fortune, Editor & Trendspotter Silence, Brand!

Benton: Cultural strategist & creative producer, Editor & Trendspotter Silence, Brand!

Janine: Brand Social and Community Manager at IHOP, Editor & Trendspotter Silence, Brand!

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🤡 On keeping luxury weird

Dayna: I’m a big fan of Mugler’s recent social campaign. They launched a digital series starring avant-garde performance artist David Hoyle, positioning him as a sharp-tongued host guiding viewers through the brand’s theatrical, camp legacy through episodic content while introducing their SS26 Pre-Collection. Casting David Hoyle isn’t the obvious choice for a luxury fashion campaign, but when you understand his legacy as a performance artist and drag icon, it’s a perfect fit. He’s fashion-adjacent in a way that takes a legacy to earn.

Dejaih: One approach I’ve seen recently and thought was interesting was Jacquemus making his grandma his first brand ambassador. Something about the familial aspect and all the fun rules has me excited to see how this moment will propel or strengthen the brand as the relationship continues. #SilverfluencersForTheWin

Benton: To signal luxury, you have to be human. AI is now a commodity so accessible that it’s already passé. Brands that prove they have the resources and time to craft impressive campaigns without shortcuts are already establishing themselves as synonymous with this new era of luxury. Hermes’ has led the pack with their illustrated branding on social; last year, Apple TV went viral for its new intro made with practical effects; and in early February, Fortnite revealed their collab with Chappell Roan through stop-motion embroidery.

In contrast, when it was revealed that the Olympics—an institution known for its rigorous brand standards—used generative AI for the Winter Olympics, its legacy of prestige became the butt of the joke.

🦀 On keeping their claws busy

Ryan: I’ve been finally applying my interest in scrapbook activities by using a Hobonichi Weeks Planner (they’re like, big in Japan…) and I’ve been having a lot of fun keeping more than just a boring to do list, but also having ONE place to write down all of my thoughts. It’s been a nice way to turn scraps into something a little more creative than trash.

Dayna: I’m currently building out an influencer strategy for a client that flips the usual campaign model. Instead of casting creators, we’re pulling from over 100 organic brand testimonials posted by regular people over the past two years. I can’t wait to connect with these non-influencers and invite them into a more intentional relationship with a brand they already love.

Janine: I’m looking forward to trying new hobbies for leisure. I recently started playing my ukulele and I’m excited to get more into it.

💫 On being sorta woo woo

Ryan: Okay, not to be too woo woo, but I’ve been obsessed with the solar cycle for a year or two now. Ever since I learned there’s a real correlation (don’t sue me i’m not a scientist) between high solar flare moments and large world conflicts, I’ve been enthralled by it. I keep watching the progression of our solar cycle to know when people might be most angry and flippant. Not foolproof, but it does tell me when to stay inside sometimes!
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression

🤰 On marketing fore-mothers

Dejaih: Ana Anjelic. She’s a renowned brand-builder with rich creative and strategic expertise. Her ideas have shaped how I feel about building a brand universe with your brand’s story plus I am working on a trend map inspired by what I’ve learned from reading her work.

Janine: I’ve looked up to Sharon Pak of Insert Name Here for awhile now. I’ve followed her since her time with Colourpop. She’s proved time and time again that it pays off to take a chance on yourself.

☕️ On where you can go digging for crabs

Benton: Every Friday last year, I held a personal Office Hours at this coffee shop in Athens, GA called 1000 Faces, where I'd order drinks from 8–12 and post an open call on my Instagram for anyone to join me. Aesthetically, it's the textbook definition of what Kyle Chayka describes as "airspace," but the coffee, roasted in-house, is unbeatable. And when 12 of your friends drop by to chat, you're grateful for those big ass community tables. I will be inviting the baristas to my wedding.

🫨 On life-altering shifts in the crab’s timelines

Ryan: January 6th. I was a social media manager for what turned out to be a very right-aligned non-profit. I watched the internet be used as a tool to mount an attack on democracy. Then I watched the attack unfold live on TV only to see all of the same voices come out after and attempt to rewrite history in the same places they made diary entries about facing war.

Dayna: The death of Vine.

Dejaih: This is biased BUT our first Silence, Brand! meet up in LA. We put a lot of heart into it, and it brought us closer, especially realizing how our efforts were connecting us with our ideal audience.

Benton: My life is divided into 2 chapters: Twitter pre-Elon and Twitter post-Elon.

Janine: When Zayn left One Direction.

Ted Gerike is a cross-industry creative who has worked in art museums, ad agencies, and film production before settling into his niche corner of media and experiences. Previously, he was the Director of Content and Strategy at Metrograph. In 2018, he co-founded Now Instant Image Hall, an immaculately curated cinema and bookstore in LA, and is now the Director of the Clay Theatre.

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🐝 On people who have too much going on

I’m inspired by people who have too much going on. Some clarity comes out of that chaos.

Thom Bettridge’stake on i-D is idiosyncratic and refreshing, and he maintains a writing practice and creative direction business (his newsletter Content is worth a follow.) Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff at New Theater Hollywood are staging a new play or performance what feels like every other week. Emmanuel Olunkwa’s November Mag conversations are essential reading, and he stays busy. Filmmaker Aslı Baykal's Airtime World is the only streaming platform that matters.

🖼️ On the good stuff

I feel like good stuff always cuts through. People remain obsessed with Glen Luchford’s ‘90s Prada campaigns or Mike Mills’ and Roman Coppola’s Gap ads from the ‘90s because they’re just good.

Sara Moonves’ tenure at W Mag has been defined by making good stuff. W’s Best Performances and Directors issues are media spectacles that have the impact you'd expect from an old-school magazine launch. I run to a newsstand to pick those issues up, the Tyrone Lebon covers and videos this year were insane, and stylistically totally disparate from Juergen Teller’s in 2024 or Mert + Alas’ last year. It takes execution and openness to stray from a house style and dedicate your business to making good stuff, which says a lot about Moonves’ editorial vision. She doesn’t hold the bat too tightly.

👔 On the best-dressed man on the planet

When I worked at the ICA Philadelphia I would go to this amazing shop Avril 50 every day for coffee. It's tiny and tucked in a little alley right off of UPenn's campus. Every square foot of the inch is covered with the craziest range of publications and products: glossy international fashion and niche magazines, white papers on global policy, imported chocolate and cigars and tobacco, and coffee brewed in-house by the proprietor, John Shahidi, who may be the best-dressed man on the planet. My daily trips to this claustrophobic box of treasures coincided with a mid-career survey of Jeremy Deller and an installation of Wendy Yao’s Ooga Booga at the ICA. I would work shifts at Deller’s Valerie’s Snack Bar and help organize weekly public programming for the installation of Ooga Booga. I couldn’t put a finger on it at the time, but being in contact with these deeply relational spaces and practices made me want to open a shop of my own.

🔨 On restoration with community in mind

I’m currently working to re-open the Clay Theater, a historically landmarked venue in San Francisco that’s been shuttered since early 2020. Normally, events or media businesses take over existing venues and skin them as quickly as possible to start generating revenue, but because the Clay is an empty shell that needs to be re-entitled, it’s an opportunity to take the time required to build a venue that serves a 21st-century audience, and develop an economic model and media product that serves the venue and audience. The Clay will be a platform for screening, conversation, and performance, where live events organized with partners across the cultural landscape are recorded and editorialized, with an editorial staff whose IP and verticals are eventized as ticketed performances.

We’re lucky to have amazing partners on board: I’m working with Perron Studios to craft the experience, aesthetic, and heartbeat of the venue for visitors and talent. I’m working with Arup to create a world-class acoustic experience and the infrastructure needed to realize our programming as editorial content. I’m working with our architects to comply with local code and honor the character-defining features of the building, and Cody Allen of the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project to understand the legacy of the neighborhood and how this project fits into its future.

Kayla Roolaart is the hostess with the mostess; connoisseur of stylish food and delicious style. Formerly Food 52 (shop—then known for its curation, discovery, and storytelling), she then moved to design-led brands like Dansk, Hudson Wilder and is currently managing Buying and Ops at Autumn Sonata.

She is also the founder of No Crumbs where she explores the intersections of food, style and design.

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🎇 On starting the new year off strong

I always start the new year excited–so much potential! At Autumn Sonata, we’re coming off a strong year and heading into product development for upcoming seasons. We’re deep in the creative concepting phase right now, which is my favorite: part data, part intuition, all taste.

Alongside that, I’m working on trend predictions and new stories for No Crumbs—thinking about how people are gathering, hosting, and investing in their homes right now, and what that says about culture more broadly.

🌷 On de-centering consumption from social life

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about decentering consumption from social life. Fewer plans centered around eating out, drinking, or shopping, instead more gatherings rooted in intention. Creative hangs, movement-based plans, or even getting together to do personal admin. It’s been a refreshing shift, and one I’m seeing reflected more broadly in culture through collaging, crafting, and even themed dinner parties that bring people together creatively.

👅 On leading with product and taste

I’ve been loving Glassette, a founder-led, content-driven, UK-based lifestyle brand. It feels like a spiritual successor to Food52, but through a more contemporary, playful lens that also aligns more with my taste. By leading with product and taste, and treating food as a supporting pillar rather than the center, it creates a broader, more compelling lifestyle world.

🖼️ On analogue digital campaigns

Ffern is my current obsession, along with finding my signature fragrance. Their campaigns caught my eye on instagram. They’ve created an incredibly evocative world with their storytelling and art direction, which is especially smart for a product where the most important sense can’t be experienced digitally: scent. I also really appreciate how they incorporate practical and analog elements into their creative process and share behind-the-scenes content.

🍷 On bars for sleepy friends

I routinely visit La Bicyclette bakery, specifically their location at Entre Nous. Between the caliber of the pastries and the space itself, it makes me feel like I’m in Paris. When the weather’s nice, it’s part of my Saturday routine: running/biking to Fort Greene Park, checking out the farmers market, and reminding myself that not far away, things are growing. There’s something magical about that park–maybe it’s the hills, maybe the old trees.

For going out, I love Wine For Me: natural wine, lots of dancing, great music, usually at a gorgeous space. Plus, I love that it starts early (as the designated sleepy friend). More afternoon dance parties, please!!!

🍳 On starting the day with a well plated breakfast

I stay inspired by engaging with creative spaces and drawing from a wide range of sources, whether in person or through physical media. A gallery, a budding vine, a well-plated breakfast, an art book, a cookbook, a concept store, a dusty antique shop, a museum, a sunset, a beautifully designed bathroom in an otherwise unassuming place. I love seeing what people are making in the world, what’s been made, and what the world itself is creating in nature.

🐌 On keeping home goods slow

I worry about home becoming fast-fashion-ified. I wish we could slow things down across the industry, and honor the time and craft behind something. Fewer launches for the sake of novelty, and more space for thoughtful products, storytelling, and longevity. I think people are increasingly craving fewer, better things and are drawn to brands that truly get it.

Ronen Givony has created a lasting impact across the music industry, working at venues like Le Poisson Rouge, labels like Nonesuch, and in classical music at the Lincoln Center. Since 2006, he has been nurturing Wordless Music, an orchestra and concert series merging contemporary and classical music, known for its series with artists like Sigur Rós and Perfume Genius.

The latest in Givony news is his upcoming book Us v. Them, covering the music scene in Brooklyn in the early 2000s to the 2010s. It will feature tales from AdHoc’s own 285 Kent, and will be released on March 3rd. Preorder here!

Givony curated a playlist/primer with some music from the book. He is also posting photos, flyers, and artifacts from Glasslands, Silent Barn, Death by Audio, 285 Kent, and other venues that he wrote about on the Us v. Them Instagram.

If you have visual ephemera that you would like to share, please get in touch: us.v.them.bk@gmail.com.

Additionally, Givony will be hosting a release event on March 5th at 7:30 PM at Greenlight Books with a very special guests Nabil Ayers, U.S. President of the Beggars Group and author of “My Life in the Sunshine,” and music by Dan Friel of Parts & Labor/Upper Wilds.

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✍️On Writing Us v. Them:

In the spring of 2020—when every concert venue, bar, and club in New York City and beyond had closed its doors, and going out to see live music was an impossible luxury, which I suppose it always was—I started waking up and writing in the morning at my desk about whatever came to mind.

I wrote about the shows I saw on blurry nights along the waterfront and on Kent Avenue in the mid-to-late 2000s, in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Bushwick and Gowanus, at Glasslands, Monster Island, Zebulon, Northsix, Studio B, 285 Kent, and Death by Audio.

I wrote about the afternoon I saw the Boredoms between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, accompanied by seventy-seven drummers; the night Parts & Labor played their farewell show (with bagpipes, two drum kits, and brass section) at 285 Kent; the time I got to see Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel play in someone’s loft.

Maybe six months in, I started putting the exercises in sequence. I started looking up the dates of things and put it all in a timeline. It was only then that it occurred to me how almost everything fell between 2004 and 2014—the Bloomberg era in New York, which wasn’t exactly understood to be a golden age for art.

The book evolved in time, becoming less about me, and more about the lives of others: the artists, venues, labels, and impresarios in Brooklyn who made the decade what it was. (There’s still a fair amount of me in there.) It started zooming out and looking at the cultural, political, and technological upheaval of the time: the shifting fortunes of the recorded-music industry, newspapers, and arts journalism; the corporations and brands that would supplant the older forms of patronage; the war on terror, the Great Recession, and the ascendancy of social media, smartphones, and streaming.

🎥 On Rated-R Orchestras

This October, in Los Angeles, the Wordless Music Orchestra will perform the world premiere live score of Ari Aster’s 2018 classic “Hereditary,” along with the composer and saxophonist Colin Stetson. As someone who has known and observed Colin’s career for more than two decades now, it will be an honor to bring this event to the stage.

🔁 On tuning in and turning pages

Alexei Lubimov performing Valentin Silvestrov (ECM)

Rob Mazurek, “Alternate Moon Cycles” (International Anthem)

Shani Diluka, “Renaissance” (Warner)

Magic Castles “The Lore of Mysticore” (Dust and Memory)

Ambrose Akinmusire, “Honey from a Winter Stone” (Nonesuch)

Water From Your Eyes, everything.

Listen to a playlist here

Miriam Toews, “All My Puny Sorrows.”

Terrance Hayes, “To Float in the Space Between.”

Jonas Hassen Khemiri, “The Sisters.”

Barbara Demick, “Eat the Buddha.”

Rax King, “Tacky.”

Elsa Morante, “History.”

David Szalay, “Flesh,” “London and the South-East,” and “Turbulence.”

💼 On putting in the work, week after week

As far as the music industry and arts criticism are concerned, I look up to the people who put in the work, week after week, with little expectation of acknowledgment or reward. I’m thinking specifically of people and publications such as Piotr Orlov (Dada Strain), Joshua Minsoo Kim (Tone Glow), and Larry Fitzmaurice (Last Donut of the Night).

🦶 On keeping your toes in the water

I try to keep my toes in the water. I try to read the newspaper every day (the print edition!), especially the arts section and obituaries, where you will find stories you could never dream up; I subscribe to lots of magazines, Substacks, and news summaries. When I’m deep in the writing of a book, I find that articles and essays about subjects I’m clueless on (science, art history, economics) are illuminating more often than not.

🌎 On a just world where artists get a living wage

I see the best minds of my generation working endlessly, exhaustingly, for platforms that do not deserve their talents or their time. In a just world, the thousands of musicians, writers, and artists who depend on Spotify, Substack, and Instagram would receive something close to a living wage, and access to the funding that our counterparts in Europe and Canada take for granted. It isn’t that the arts in America aren’t well funded; it’s more that donors prefer to give money for new concert halls, as opposed to the artists whose music would presumably be played there.

Anthony Di Mieri is the Executive Producer and Co-Founder of Melted Solids alongside Debbie Saslaw, a political digital media agency. You may recognize their work for their dear friend, Zohran Mamdani.

He is also the Founder of Luce Nera Pictures, where he produces independent films and branded content. His first film as a writer/director, Love New York, debuted in October, and Romance Never Dies, his second film co-written & directed with Kayla Dawn Marcus, should be premiering later this year.

Before his first feature, he directed short film content like Subway Takes and Keep The Meter Running, and more recently was a guest director of Brooklyn Coffee Shop.

The next screening of Love New York is Next Tuesday 2/17 at the New York Comedy Film Festival, grab your tickets here!

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🇮🇹 On Italian giallo films

I'm working with composer/film producer Marcus Foster to bring a script of mine to life. It's called The Blood Stained Claws of the Prying Mantis and is a modern homage to hyper-stylized 1970s Italian giallo films - my favorite sub-genre of horror. I'm also adapting a French Novella called La Duchesse de Langeais and writing a cult film called Starseed about the neuroses that happens to folks in LA on the outskirts of the entertainment industry.

🎞️ On chance encounters with Gaspar Noë

I'm so grateful for the late David Lynch's time as an elder of the art house film community and the permission he gave so many of us to trust in our own ideas, no matter how strange they may be.

Yorgos Lanthimos, Dario Argento, Gaspar Noë, are probably the living filmmakers I most look up to. It's a very long story but a chance run-in with Gaspar at bar in Paris in October 2022 was the spark that set off a chain of events leading to my first film.

🛜 On the best show on the internet

Filmmaker Noah Blau's Errands is the new best show on the internet. I was honored to be an early guest.

🪉 On beautifully curated soundscapes

My algorithm seems to be pushing Prada's Instagram videos on me - and it's working. They're incredible and some of the best branded content on the web. Do you know how many branded content creators pay attention to sound design? Almost zero. When you see that level of craft, it really cuts through the noise (with beautifully curated soundscapes).

I'm biased because we both share a Webby with The Rizzler, but I also deeply admire Ari Ruben's marketing strategy for Air. He's an insane man in the best possible way and continuously going where no branded content has ever gone before.

🧘‍♂️ On entering altered states

When I was 18 I was in a very dark place, paying attention to politics at a deeper level than anyone around me. I sat down, tried meditation for the very first time, and ended up having a revelatory experience. I walked around in an altered, blissful state for maybe 12 hours. I stopped being an atheist that day and I'll never forget it for the rest of my life.

👯 On friends old and new

I've been collaborating with Debbie Saslaw since 2016, Kareem Rahma since 2014, with Chiara Gerek since 2012, with Melanie Chandra and Jason Klein since 2010 - I feel like I'm stuck for life with them all! Arguably the best collaborator of all is now the current Mayor of New York.

As for future collaborators...I'd love to write a dramatic role for Nathan Fielder, I'd love to direct a music video for Poppy, and I'd hope to make a film that feels important enough for Trent Reznor to score.