Autumn’s greetings! Melpomene here, messenger-CEO bringing you the news from Alexandria.

If Booktok brought reading back to a generation that might have been losing it, it can also expand what this generation reads.

For authors and readers, the trial highlights the importance of knowing about the deeply hierarchical structures through which we get our stories.

In a previous life, I was a film critic and grant writer and I learned how hard it can be to get a film funded. I saw the various ways of getting independent funding for filmmakers who didn’t already have huge box office success under their belts, often supported by larger organizations: campaigns specifically to support underrepresented filmmakers, compilations of emerging artists housed by streaming companies, arts funding from public institutions, crowdfunding from individuals and charities. Often the best way to support work you want made, especially work that requires as much upfront capital as film, is to vote by buying your ticket and hope that the artists will be able to convince funders to support them next time. While buying tickets is imperative, it only allows viewers to support future work indirectly, and artists still need funding before the film is released. Camila Russo created a more direct solution: audiences can support her film from the beginning, and in exchange, they contribute ideas to its creation and reap rewards from its success.