Good afternoon, and welcome to the fourth issue of Creator Games.

I’m Salil, co-founder of Third Studios, I lead everything creator economy at THIRD, and I’ll be writing and editing this newsletter every week.

Creator Games exists to discover, fund and tell the stories of the next generation of creator entrepreneurs. This newsletter is where we share the ideas, companies and opportunities driving that mission across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

If you’ve got any stories to share or any feedback, feel free to email me at salil@third.group.

— Salil

Today’s lineup:

Lebanon’s media group has a new hire and it’s not human.
This Lebanese founder thinks he can crack the creator economy in the UAE.
Is Jordan quietly becoming a creator economy hub.

Lebanon’s media group has a new hire and it’s not human

Annahar recently announced a shift toward a “digital first” strategy, transforming itself into what Tueni called a “viewspaper” that focused on modernizing its approach while continuing to uphold the principles of free journalism. (Annahar/File) — A shopkeeper reads through An-Nahar, one of Lebanon’s most iconic newspapers

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised when I read the headline. Because the first time I read about it, I thought we’re going to have an AI reporter like we have on Instagram, that’d just share news 24x7, removing the human element out of the journalism. But that’s not what it is, so let’s get into it.

The Business Case →

Annahar Media Group introduced an AI-powered news correspondent this month, called Nahar. Its job is to read thousands of sources in seconds, monitor global developments, translate content, summarise reports, and cross-references information across languages and geographies.

The group was founded in 1993, and is now run by editor-in-chief Nayla Tueni, whose father is Gibran Tueni, also a former editor. It’s a move to make the group tech savvy with the objective of not replacing journalists.

The goal would be to handle volume work so that human editors can focus on verification and storytelling.

My POV: I feel most media houses run on thin margins. This move helps them bring about structural changes. However, if AI handles the throughput and humans handle the judgment, what happens to the junior journalists who were supposed to develop that judgment by doing the throughput first?

This Lebanese founder thinks he can crack the creator economy in the UAE

This story reminds me of two Indian founders, who went through somewhat similar problem statements years ago, and made One Impression, one of the coolest influencer marketing company. So, as they say if a problem statement works for one market, there’s an opportunity for it to work in another. So it did! Let’s just find it how he did it.

The Business Case →

Ali Younes wanted to run influencer campaigns for a brand in Lebanon. There was no platform to do it. Just Discord servers full of Excel sheets and cold DMs going nowhere.

So in 2026, he built Collabfront. It’s the first Lebanese app connecting brands with local creators for paid campaigns and barter activations, where creators take product instead of cash. Three months in, the platform has over 500 creators and 100 registered brands. It’s live on iOS and Android.

The company is incorporated in Dubai, which isn’t incidental. Lebanon was always the proof of concept and MENA the wider market.

My POV: There’s a lot of untapped potential in the markets that don’t make the news. And Lebanon is one of them. But the transition to Dubai and the wider MENA region introduces them to competitors who have been building in this space before them. So, what would differentiate them? One could draw an idea from One Impression’s pivot to deeper levers of creator economy.

Is Jordan quietly becoming a creator economy hub?

The conversations shaping Jordan’s creator economy

There’s something about communities that gets me excited. Think about communities like Hyrox or startup accelerators. They give a sense of collectiveness about doing something creative that makes the world a little more colourful. So, in this edition I thought about Jordan Create.

The Business Case →

Jordan Create is an annual creator economy conference held in Jordan, the first and largest of its kind in the Levant. It brings together content creators, musicians, marketers, brands, and agencies for a single-day event built around panels, keynotes, and networking.

The first edition drew 350+ attendees. Speakers included Mohanad Syoof (1.6M followers), Yazan Abuajweh (2.7M), Rozzah (13.9M), and Saba Sham’a (12M), a combined speaker reach of over 70 million followers.

The event runs three tracks: learning from top creators and marketers, meeting collaborators and commercial partners, and live music and entertainment. The pitch to brands is direct, if you want to reach Jordanian creators in one room, this is where they are.

My POV: Jordan Create solves for accessibility and infrastructure gaps. But what stands out most about community-driven events like this is the opportunity they create for creators to see how others think, discover new possibilities and monetise their work. Being a creator can often be a lonely journey. Spaces like these bring together people from across the ecosystem, spark new conversations and open up opportunities for collective growth.

🗞 Creator Gossip

Disney and TikTok just made the crossover nobody saw coming. Disney is bringing fan-made TikToks featuring its biggest franchises, from Marvel to Star Wars, onto Disney+, while creators get access to Disney’s content library and a new ambassador programme. Basically, your TikTok fandom might now have a seat on Disney+
Hasan Minhaj, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia are bringing Bollywood vibes to Netflix with Best of the Best. The coming-of-age comedy follows two childhood best friends as they enter the cut throat world of collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance, where friendship, ambition and competition collide. With a story rooted in South Asian culture but made for global audiences, Best of the Best hits Netflix on September 18.
YouTube is making views easier to get. Starting August 24, simply starting a video will count as a view across long-form and live content too. The catch? Your shiny new view count might go up, but YouTube will still be keeping the real tea “engaged views” separately.

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Hasan Minhaj Goes Bollywood