RARESTNDRD

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

GAME TIME. 🪡🪡

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

Meet ANNA ISATOY, the first artist signed to @thisisClubZero, led by our partner @brandonbrigante.

Her debut EP, “Late Bloomer,” is coming soon. Raw, intimate, and a little bruised.

Club Zero x RARESTNDRD. This is just the beginning.

We loading... 🚀🚀🚀

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

The joke is that a WWE highlights announcement had people spinning the fuck out about AEW all day, even though it doesn’t change AEW’s television contract or answer the renewal question.

Yes, Bleacher Report sits under the WBD umbrella. I still don’t think this announcement means a fucking thing about where AEW’s next rights deal lands.

And I’m speaking from firsthand knowledge of being in these rooms with these executives. Last year, alongside another colleague, I was spearheading conversations with Bleacher Report on behalf of clients including Ray Lewis, Aaron Donald and Punk, Iverson, and others we worked across and I’m still involved with a number of those clients. I know what Bleacher Report is because I’ve actually had these conversations.

But who the fuck am I? Just someone who spent 17 years in Hollywood, with two dozen or so articles across Variety, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, recognition in THR’s 35 Under 35 a decade ago and its inaugural Top 35 Sports Agents list last year. My résumé is pretty fucking rock solid, and this is a business I’ve worked in.

So, as promised, I tried to put all the information in one place, along with my analysis, so you can understand what you’re actually reading. What Bleacher Report is, who runs it, its shows and available audience numbers, the other sports it has digital rights for and where those live rights actually sit. I go through the WWE announcement, give you 3 AEW scenarios, best case, middle case and worst case, and break down what you’re reading from @Fightful.

You don’t have to agree with me. Read it and make up your own fucking mind. But I think today demonstrated pretty clearly that a lot of you are listening to the wrong fucking people.

[https://t.co/zEaQ9d9wFy)

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

(1/3) On PAC, the USCIS. WWE, AEW, and work visas. 🧵

I got on my Air Fade Ones. Strap in.

David Bixenspan (@DavidBix), “he walked out on his visa” isn’t an explanation of an immigration violation. It’s a dramatic phrase doing the work your reporting’s supposed to do. You’ve accused WWE of sabotaging PAC’s ability to work in America without identifying the violation, explaining the relevant paperwork, or showing what immigration authorities actually decided.

I spent 17 years in the agency business. When I was at Paradigm, actors and directors would leave all the time. We had international clients working under 3 year O-1 approvals. Someone could leave Paradigm and sign with CAA, the appropriate new petition could be filed & approved, & the lawyers handled the paperwork. This was part of doing the job.

Let’s distinguish agencies from employers, because the distinction matters.

An agency can serve as the petitioner for an O-1. That doesn’t necessarily make the agency the actor’s employer on a film. The production company or studio can be the employer, with the agency petitioning for the covered engagements. Studios also often want to sponsor talent themselves and handle the immigration paperwork for their own projects. I deal with that distinction in the business.

Changing an actor’s representation and changing the employer covered by an immigration petition aren’t necessarily the same event. You look at who actually petitioned, what work was covered, and what changed.

You don’t determine someone’s immigration situation by looking at which company announced that they signed a contract.

PAC was contracted to WWE and subsequently to AEW. That’s the situation we’re discussing. My agency experience explains the process. It doesn’t make an agency relationship identical to his WWE or AEW relationship. If WWE held the relevant petition, that approval didn’t automatically authorize work for AEW. The new work needed appropriate authorization through a new employer or an authorized agent.

A contractual release and immigration authorization answer different questions. WWE releasing a performer doesn’t itself authorize the next company’s U.S. bookings. AEW signing a contract doesn’t supply that approval either. That’s what the new petition’s for.

That distinction doesn’t rescue your thread. It identifies the paperwork your thread needed to explain.

Here’s the O-1 process:

The talent’s the beneficiary. A qualifying employer or U.S. agent files Form I-129. The filing establishes the person’s eligibility for extraordinary ability or achievement classification and describes the proposed work. Supporting material includes contract terms, dates and activities, an itinerary where required, and the applicable consultation. USCIS reviews the petition. Fame alone isn’t paperwork.

An initial O-1 petition can be approved for up to 3 years, according to the work being authorized. That approval doesn’t give the petitioner ownership of the beneficiary’s career. It also doesn���t give the beneficiary unrestricted permission to take any American job. The approval covers the authorized arrangement. When that arrangement changes, you address the immigration consequences properly.

Now distinguish the petition from the visa from the person’s status.

USCIS approves the petition. The State Department issues the visa used to seek entry when a visa’s required. CBP decides admission at the border, and the I-94 records the authorized stay. A visa’s expiration date isn’t the same thing as permission to remain in America until that date regardless of what happens to the underlying employment.

Those are separate decisions, separate documents and separate questions.

“Visa issues” tells us nothing about which one you’re discussing. Was a petition withdrawn? Was a new petition denied? Was a visa revoked? Was admission refused? Did someone cancel a booking bc they were worried? You can’t bundle all of it into one phrase and call the explanation complete.

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

After much strategy and consideration, Ely will lead RARESTNDRD’s Latin American, South American, and Spanish-speaking initiatives across all companies.

Her international experience includes Ibiza and Miami.

The search took 11 seconds.

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

WE DON’T REALLY CARE IF YOU CRY. 🪡🪡

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

RARESTNDRD is coming

Talent management uniquely built on United Artists model;
Brand scale;
Club Zero, full service music label by Eminem’s ex A&R @brandonbrigante;
Film finance + production;
Above the Cap NIL for the athlete not the booster;
MENA capital bridge;
VCs + more 🪡

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

THIS SHIT IS RIGGED, MIGHT CATCH A KINGPIN BID FOR THINKING THIS BIG. 🪡🪡

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

@Fightful @TonyKhan RARESTNDRD is coming

Talent management uniquely built on United Artists model;
Brand scale;
Club Zero, full service music label by Eminem’s ex A&R @brandonbrigante;
Film finance + production;
Above the Cap NIL for the athlete not the booster;
MENA capital bridge;
VCs + more 🪡

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

TRYNA COPY WHAT WE DO, YOU IS NOT A PRINTER. 🪡🪡

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

RARESTNDRD is coming

Talent management uniquely built on United Artists model;
Brand scale;
Club Zero, full service music label by Eminem’s ex A&R @brandonbrigante;
Film finance + production;
Above the Cap NIL for the athlete not the booster;
MENA capital bridge;
VCs + more 🪡

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU. 🪡🪡

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

RARESTNDRD is coming

Talent management uniquely built on United Artists model;
Brand scale;
Club Zero, full service music label by Eminem’s ex A&R @brandonbrigante;
Film finance + production;
Above the Cap NIL for the athlete not the booster;
MENA capital bridge;
VCs + more 🪡

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

@nicklopiccolo 👀

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

@RARESTNDRD_ WHO THE FOOK IS THAT GUY.

[ProWrestleTimes @prowrestletimes]

Ass Me Anything is frying me 😂

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

Taking the @streamonmax approach, let’s do a survey. What podcast name do you prefer? Are these names too long? Are these butts too thick? What would get you to watch this and not keep scrolling?

REARSTNDRD
ASSES & ANSWERS
ASS ME ANYTHING
THICK TAKES

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

Taking the @streamonmax approach, let’s do a survey. What podcast name do you prefer? Are these names too long? Are these butts too thick? What would get you to watch this and not keep scrolling?

REARSTNDRD
ASSES & ANSWERS
ASS ME ANYTHING
THICK TAKES

[Nick LoPiccolo @nicklopiccolo]

Maybe I should start a podcast with the softball PAWG

@JDfromNY206 @AndrewBaydala
@stevecarrier_ @prowrestletimes

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

LOUDER 📢📢📢

[RARESTNDRD @RARESTNDRD_]

@nicklopiccolo @MJJTruthSeeker @tarekttohme @MartytheFactguy Herrrooooo I am lost. I think I am in the wrong neighborhood. Can somebody kimdly help me with directions to the bank where Nick wait to receive a wire?

I got lost bc I was so busy telling everyone Michael did those things - MJ loved @AEW and @PublicEnemy so much!

- Not nick