The Reading Garden: 2/28/25
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Reading Garden, where every Friday we spotlight three must-read articles (now videos too!) that we’re paying attention to, and break down what they mean for legacy media.
Let’s dive in.
1. Why Social Media's Future is Feature Length
Traditional media often sees user-generated content as the death of storytelling, but as TV writer and fellow Substacker Jon Stahl argues, social platforms might actually be on the verge of a long-form narrative boom.
Rather than resisting the shift, studios could embrace it. Who knows… blending Hollywood’s proven expertise with UGC’s spontaneity might just spark a new golden age of long-form storytelling.
How is it that in 2025, fully entrenched in the digital age, physical bookstores are making a comeback? One word: community.
Trends don’t move in one singular direction, it’s more of a spiral. So as we think about where content is going, this article inspires us to think about how things that became old can become new again.
3. Is This the End of Hollywood? (Video)
Forget what the dramatic name suggests. This isn’t a doomsday speech.
Cinema innovator Michael Cioni argues that Hollywood’s long-standing advantages are no longer enough. When a scene shot on an iPhone looks indistinguishable from one shot on a $100K camera to the average person, the playing field has officially leveled.
But he invites us to rethink tradition, embrace change, and, instead of competing, find ways to collaborate with creators to shape the future of entertainment together.