Good afternoon, everyone.
After sending yesterday’s newsletter, I met Louis Cheslaw (whose newsletter teaches me so much about how men think about getting dressed) for a focaccia sandwich at Gem Home. I like that laptops are allowed in the back, but the front is still a laptop-free zone. Choose your own lunch adventure. I ended my night at Raquel for a facial and audit of my medicine cabinet to switch out some of my products. (Raquel sent out her first newsletter, The Obsessions, this morning!)
Today’s newsletter includes: New York’s newest Nightlife Editor Dani Brand on the role of secrets in the party scene, $28 scrambled eggs, Ari Emanuel answers your questions about AI and work lessons from his wife, the paper hiring an “Information and Influence Reporter,” I asked Larry McGuire why everyone has been texting me about Nine Orchard this week, Peter Rahal likes suffering, Mamdani-Trump III, and tuxedos are getting wackier than wedding cakes.
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This interview is part of a Feed Me feature called Guest Lecture. In this series, I introduce you all to an expert who I’m curious about, and give paid readers an opportunity to ask them anything they want. Past guests have included Alison Roman, Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Kareem Rahma.
This week Ari Emanuel — the agent-turned-mogul who runs MARI (global live events) and TKO (parent company of UFC and WWE), founded the talent agency Endeavor, and served as the inspiration behind Ari Gold in Entourage — answers your questions about execs who inspire him, business lessons from his wife, and why he decided to write a memoir today versus ten years from now. Roll the Calls is out today.
“When you were coming up, which agent or executive did you most respect?” — Teddy
Gavin Polone—incredible taste and relentless. Jay Moloney. Jay, at a very young age, handled incredible clients. And Bill Block—always curious about the next thing, both physically and business-wise, and truly excited for his friends, their happiness, and their success.
“Is there a future for the independent film business? When directors like Sean Baker come out and say they cannot make a living in indie film what advice would you give to young talented people who want to make movies AND make a living. Should they just start their own YouTube channels or find another career path?” — Kathleen
Yes, there’s a future for the independent film business. With AI, it’s going to become cheaper to make movies, which means you’ll have to raise less money, and your slice of the pie—the piece you own—will get larger over time.
You’ve built your career by being very good at seeing where power is moving before everyone else does. What’s an area of entertainment or media today that you think people are fundamentally misunderstanding—and where do you see the opportunity that other people aren’t seeing yet? — Tatayana
“In 2016, we saw where sports rights and valuations were going. I think people are just coming around to it now. Sports will continue to grow. We are seeing that with TKO. Mark Shapiro and I have a point of view on live events and where they are going—it’s why we built MARI.”
“Through Frieze, Barrett-Jackson, and now Collect-A-Con, you’re seeing collecting across very different generations and price points. What did you learn buying Collect-A-Con about younger collectors that outsiders are missing and where does that make you think the biggest opportunity in collectibles is over the next five years? 10 years? What is everyone missing about this space?” — BB
You’re going to see an enormous transfer of wealth to millennials and Gen Z over the next two decades. That means a whole new generation of collectors who want a whole different kind of experience. I think that’s true in the car market, the card business, and the art world, too. That will be a changing of the guard: who’s collecting and what they collect. Collecting is a great space to be in.