Open Gardens: A Quick Note From the Team

We’ve been genuinely blown away by the response to Open Gardens. The readership has grown faster than we ever expected, and the conversations it’s sparked have been both humbling and energizing.

The truth is, my frustration with the pace and inflexibility of legacy media started long before the fires. Working on my own shows and movies, I began to develop theories—and eventually strategies—about how to better engage people. Not as passive audiences, but as communities. I started asking: how can legacy media look and feel more like social platforms, without losing the craft and emotional resonance that make it special?

I tried implementing those ideas in my work, and saw as much success as one can without the full support of traditional infrastructure. To be fair, legacy systems have their own incentives and timelines—and change isn’t easy. But I started seeing opportunity everywhere. This shift in mindset opened new paths for how to create, connect, and build.

Then came the fires.

They didn’t start this process, but they did accelerate everything—especially as the crisis laid bare the fragility of our legacy business. I had already moved out of LA, and during that period of dislocation and uncertainty, I realized I couldn’t sit on this any longer. Open Gardens became a way to name what I was seeing—and share it.

That’s when Mitch and Fernando came in to help shape the thing with me. What started as a personal inquiry grew into something more.

On one of my first trips back to LA, I made the rounds to studios and producers and told them about this little Substack I was writing. Most subscribed out of curiosity more than conviction. But now? The pace of convergence between the traditional and creator economies is undeniable. Every week there’s a new announcement: a creator-fronted show, a showrunner teaming up with a YouTuber, a legacy studio tapping TikTok talent for development. The ground is moving.

And interestingly, no one’s exempt. I was listening recently to Colin and Samir—two of the smartest podcasters covering the creator economy—discussing their anxieties around AI and how it could disrupt their business. And it hit me: we’re all in the same storm. We might be in different boats, but at the end of the day, we’re all storytellers trying to connect. Seismic change doesn’t care where you started. It forces convergence whether you're ready or not.

That may sound simple. But in this landscape, nothing is.

Now, a couple quick notes.

1. We’re launching a community chat.

We want Open Gardens to be more than just a newsletter. If you're up for it, we’re opening a space where we can share articles, ideas, questions, fears, and opportunities—together. A kind of digital park bench for the curious.

We are hosting it on Whatsapp, join us HERE.

2. Tell us what you want us to explore.

While I write most of the longform essays, Mitch and Fernando pitch in on those too and occasionally write pieces themselves. Mitch also curates our OG: Approved (a creator of the week), and Fernando runs the The Reading Garden. We’ve got a few sharp interns backing us up, too.

Now we’d love to hear from you.

What topics do you want us to investigate? What trends or shifts are keeping you up at night? How can we help you think more clearly about your career, your craft, your next move?

Instead of a full essay today, just hit reply on the email (or scroll down to the comments section on this post) and tell us:

What should we explore next?

Thanks for being part of this.

—Ben and the Open Gardens Team

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