The Box Office is back 🍿
This Week in Review☕️ : Cinemas experience record revenues with Blockbuster Hits | Podcasts are the next big thing | Europe becomes the hub for Digital Nomads | The Quickest way to get a Schengen Visa
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Quick Bites:
Entertainment 🍿 : Cinemas make a rebound.
“There’s no question that we’re coming back”: studio executives celebrate the box office as cinemas get packed with blockbusters like “Top Gun: Maverick", WSJ reports.
Sitting in a closed space in a crowded cinema and queuing up for that buttery movie-theater popcorn? Yeah, gave us serious Corona-anxiety too.
But after two full years and a gazillion vaccinations: theaters are back, bringing much-needed relief to the industry. AMC stock surged on the news.
Us: 300 shares and holding 🚀
Despite inflation and big-budget tentpoles not airing again until the fall, this summer confirmed that people are eager to return to the big screen, WSJ.
We mean, movies like Godzilla vs Kong are getting sold out. Go figure
Our Thoughts💡: Waiting patiently in line for your AMC Popcorn is an extreme sport.
Tech 🎫 : Spotify is entering a new vertical: Concert ticket sales.
The streaming platform is testing a site for artists to sell tickets directly to fans.
This comes after TicketMaster announced a partnership with TikTok which will allow them to sell tickets directly from the TikTok app.
While the prices will be determined by "event partners", Spotify will charge a booking fee, allowing it to gain a new revenue stream.
The music app is additionally working on a new design for its home feed that will separate its feeds for music and podcasts.
While the company says this is to give users better recommendations, in reality it indicates how big podcasts have become to the company's bottom line.
Our Thoughts💡: Amid all the press release about new features, Spotify conveniently forgot to mention their stock is near its 52-week low... Happy August
Climate Change: Today’s children are 30% less aerobically fit than their parents were at their age, CBS reports.
The study points to climate change and rising temperatures adversely affecting childhood obesity.
Yep, this heatwave is causing obesity and not the fact that teens are scarfing down McDonalds and glued to their screens all day. Great piece of reporting here👏
PS. Calories eaten > Calories burned = Weight Gain
Temperature is NOWHERE in this equation 🤷🏻♀️
Having said that, let's face it: Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment.
The Crisis is more urgent now than ever and ANY step to preserve our environment will go a long way.
Remote Work 🌎 : Digital nomads used to be mid 20-year olds taking a gap year and backpacking across Europe. But now, full households are taking to the road.
Yep, you heard that right. Sweatpants have become the official work uniform- even for mom and pop!
With remote work here to stay, a growing number of European countries are trying to entice workers to live out of their country and contribute to the economy.
The idea is to be a digital nomad, but stay longer in a place than your tourist visa allows and nations like Croatia, Greece and Malta all opening their doors.
According to Sifted, the only thing to note is that each country has different criteria.
For example, Iceland requires applicants to prove they earn at least €7,100 a month, while Portugal requires people to stay for a minimum of 16 months in the first 2 years.
Many of these short-term visas also offer a path to citizenship, which is a huge advantage to non-EU residents.
According to Sifted, there are now 10 countries in Europe that have digital nomad visas in place, with another 3 coming soon:
💡Croatia
💡Czech Republic
💡Estonia
💡Georgia
💡Germany
💡Greece
💡Iceland
💡Italy (coming soon)
💡Malta
💡Montenegro (coming soon)
💡Norway
💡Portugal
💡Spain (coming soon)
Our Thoughts💡: Folks already have to deal with higher food prices, unreal inflation, a choppy stock market, sky-high electricity bills, unchecked illegal immigration and a proxy war in Europe.
Many people are fed up of their home countries and don't necessarily want to (or have to) stick it out any longer.
Change is coming for digital nomads and remote workers EVERYWHERE!
Quicker Bites:
VC firm Andreessen Horowitz to invest $350mn in Flow, a real-estate startup led by former WeWork founder Adam Neumann.
Armed Trump supporters gather outside FBI Office after what they call the “unlawful” search of Mar-a-Lago.
UK becomes 1st country to approve an updated Covid-19 vaccine which tackles both original virus and Omicron variant.
Iran denies involvement in Salman Rushdie attack.
Harry and Meghan to visit UK next month for charity events.
Boris Johnson takes 2nd foreign holiday in a fortnight.
Serena Williams on retiring at 41: ‘If I were a guy, I wouldn’t have to choose between tennis and a family’.
Adele covers ELLE’s September 2022 issue.