And We Back
Three things I'm reading (and an update from the Stu)
Hey, Neighbor,
The last couple weeks have been a constant state of moving. Apartments, projects, and yes—I got back from Geneva yesterday, after helping Vicky pack up and return stateside.
A return to lettering comes with its fair share of updates. Scroll down for three things from our archives that I found myself re-reading—and learn more about this month’s event, coming to you live on Thursday, June 25.
— NGL
3️⃣ Things I’m Reading: From The Archives
1. Curry Barker’s Obsession nears $300 million at the box office. Word-of-mouth is a funny, fickle thing—impossible to manufacture, magical to capture.
The moment I realized Obsession would be big: The week after it released, Cris and I were filming in Chinatown and sat down for a quick lunch. I had been telling him about the interview I’d recorded with Curry, and my belief in the film’s sleeper potential.1 Fast forward to lunch, and a girl to our right is loudly encouraging all of her friends that they need to watch it.
Curry told me that in 2023, he and his comedy partner, Cooper Tomlinson, were working paycheck-to-paycheck as they produced comedy skits and wrote horror shorts “whenever they could.” Now, Curry’s debut feature has a real shot to become the highest-grossing live-action original film of the decade.
Sometimes, a great Hollywood story simply writes itself.
2. Is there anything worth watching on YouTube anymore? Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: What’s the point of writing anything online if you’re not willing to publish things with slightly-provocative titles?
In any event, I was thinking back to the core thesis of this piece—that longform creative work is becoming drowned out by a cocktail of slop, big-pocketed entrants, and overall online malaise—as I read that YouTube is supposedly cracking down on “faceless channels.”
Whether ultimately successful or not, the move feels like YouTube’s attempt to maintain a healthy creator ecosystem is genuine; the Partner Program’s magic only works when its media makers are happy, after all. Still, I feel that my conclusion in this essay (i.e. depth—and, by extension, getting butts in seats—will be the key differentiator moving forward) is ringing truer by the day (see: Obsession).
3. Geese have yet to speak publicly on their supposed “psyop”…until now. And yup, we’ll be airing the interview later this week.
First time hearing about this situation? Dive in here. But for a quick refresher, the previously-obscure alt rock band Geese shot up the charts in 2025, with The New Yorker even labeling them “art for an artless era.”
Only problem: They may have used unsavory tactics to get there, such as “burner accounts, comments, and whole ecosystems of interactions…[to manufacture] discourse,” according to an April piece from Wired.
Wanna catch the full investigation, including our exclusive with Geese? Make sure you don’t miss it—subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
2️⃣ Neighbors I’m Hyping: Tying Up Loose Ends
1. Noah Guardado drops his short film Loose Ends. Carrying the logline “If Quentin Tarantino made an A24 movie,” Loose Ends follows a group of morally-compromised strangers colliding over the course of a single night out. Shout-out to the homie Noah for not only creating this joint with just five hundred dollars, but also bringing the Chicago indie film scene together for the Loose Ends & Friends festival last December.
2. Joabe Barbosa finishes running every street in the Windy City. The graduate student, who began his first-of-its-kind project in 2024, was joined by over one thousand Chicagoans for the final run down Michigan Ave earlier today.
1️⃣ Update From The Stu
Next Thursday, we’re teaming up with acclaimed muralist Myron Laban to bring his beloved Lost & Found storytelling series—along with 50 artists, filmmakers, and neighbors—to Studio Powder Blue.
The theme? You guessed it: “NEIGHBORS.”
We have a great show planned, and we’ll be revealing our four storytellers (and musical guest) over the next week.
For now, make sure you snag your spot—there’s only 25 tickets left.
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
Joel Haver has an insightful video, "YouTubers Can Make Movies?!?!", that's in part about the success of Obsession (and also Geese). He mentions that although Obsession has become a big success, there are massive inequalities in who's been rewarded. Some people who were instrumental to the success of the movie reaped very little financial reward, while Focus Features (which had no role in creating the movie) is set to make hundreds of millions of dollars distributing it. His video makes a lot of other interesting points -- I'd highly recommend it.