News

A new short-form video app dubbed Firework has emerged from beta today, which is backed the same venture capital firms who funded Snapchat and Musical.ly, and which claims to have surpassed 1 million users during its beta run at a faster rate than any other social media app -- within just five months.

Firework, which is being developed by California-based parent company Loop Now Technologies, hosts user-generated content as well as videos from premium publishing partners and native creators -- including Refinery29, NBCUniversal, Frankie Grande, and early Vine star Marlon Webb. Other creators on the platform include YouTube comedian Dang Matt Smith and model-influencer Olivia Jordan.

The app, which is available on both iOS and Android, aims to connect creators and audiences with 30-second videos. And the platform, whose top execs include Snapchat and LinkedIn alumni, also features numerous patent-pending editing tools -- and it is adding to that arsenal as it emerges from beta.

Hey, "Fortnite" fans. We've got some pretty serious an interesting news for you guys today. It turns out that Epic Games, who are the creators behind the popular "Fortnite" video game you've all grown to love, have just gotten slammed with a lawsuit! That's right, guys. Fortnite is headed to court. According to the folks over at Polygon.com , a rapper that goes by the name 2 Milly (real name: Terrence Ferguson) is trying to sue the company for selling in-game emotes of his dance moves called,"Milly Rock" without his permission. So, Epic Games is being slammed with a copyright infringement lawsuit. The details of 2 Milly's lawsuit claim that the "Swipe It" emote that was featured in Fortnite's Season 5 Battle Pass is identical to his "Milly Rock" dance, and Epic Games sold it without his consent or credit. The lawsuit was filed back on December 5, 2018 in the U.S. District...

Zeus, the subscription video service co-founded last year and launched in July by digital comedy vets King Bach, Amanda Cerny, and DeStorm Power has a new tech partner on the back-end.

Vimeo’s white label Ott technology is now powering Zeus, which is priced at $3.99 and available via mobile apps as well as a desktop site. The service houses scripted and unscripted originals in a variety of content categories, including comedy, drama, dance, talk, and fitness.

Vimeo will power Zeus across all platforms and apps, and will bring new features to the table -- including the ability to preview content before subscribing. The service’s most notable content to date includes Power’s Streamy-winning Caught series -- a next-generation take on R. Kelly's Trapped In The Closet -- as well as Marlon Webb’s The Lab Ratz, in which two broke losers volunteer as test subjects for clinical drug trials.