THE REDLIST [ ISSUE 003 ]

In This Issue:

- Article on "Being Creative In A Post-Authenticity World"

- AI Grifters

- Cool Creative Resources [Subscribers Only]

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ARTICLE BEING CREATIVE IN A POST-AUTHENTICITY WORLD There was a time when “being authentic” meant showing your real face.  But the internet got wise, and so did the wolves. 

Now, here we are, living in a world where even your vulnerabilities are optimized.  Influencers tearfully confess their sponsored heartbreaks, bots write the captions.  I mean, damn, you can basically download vulnerability as a plugin now.  Authenticity has become another layer of branding and just another mask to sell the same old shit. I've been wrestling with this fact for a while now. I've been paralyzed by the feeling of being inauthentic, no matter what I do. If it's being shared, it feels it will be perceived as though there is an agenda behind it rather than just a human sharing their humanity. 

So what is authenticity anymore, and how do you stay real when “real” is the new mask? We’re smart enough to see through the theater now. The audience knows when they’re being manipulated, and they resent it. They can sniff out a forced “real talk” caption faster than they can double-tap it. So if you’re chasing “relatable,” you’re already losing.  In this post-authenticity era, the real trick is not to posture as real, it’s refusing the performance altogether. 

Create work that’s so unapologetically yours that the audience’s trust is earned through consistency, not salesmanship.  Stop trying to be perceived a certain way, and start focusing on what you’re actually saying. There’s no need to overexplain, overshare, or spoon-feed your soul in every caption. Sometimes, a single sentence, free from the weight of strategy, cuts deeper than a paragraph of planned transparency. It shouldn't be about being raw for the algorithm. It should be about being rooted in your own voice, even if you contradict yourself sometimes or even if you change your mind. Maybe realness isn’t something you prove; it’s something you practice. Quietly and repeatedly, with no audience required. 

And if someone happens to witness it? Cool. But you weren’t doing it for them anyway.

 - Mitch

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AI AGENCY GRIFTERS

Are You Getting These Emails Too? Right now, AI companies are reaching out to people like us. They want to steal our talent, plain and simple. They want the raw material of our skill and vision to train AI that will, without question, be used to replace us.

And they’re offering a small fee. A one-time payment. No royalties. No residuals. No long-term stake in what’s being built. Just a quick payout for them to learn everything they can from your labor, only to then turn around and sell tools that will make your job obsolete. 

 I’ve gotten at least one email a week from different companies and agencies.

We cannot allow them access to our work just to endlessly rip it off.

If you give your work to train AI for cheap, you are not just giving away your past; you’re undermining your future. You’re making it easier for studios and clients to say, “Why hire an artist when the AI can do it faster and cheaper?” even though, without us, it wouldn’t even be possible.

This industry already runs on tight budgets and tighter deadlines. We’ve fought for recognition, fair pay, and credit. Now we have to fight again to protect our values in a world being reshaped by automation.

Refuse to participate in this exploitation. Do not sell your art, your name, or your data for pennies. Demand residuals. Demand transparency. Demand ownership. And most of all, speak up. Tell your peers. Call out the companies doing this. Push back.

We are not just tools, we are creators.  If we don’t stand together now, the ground beneath our careers will vanish before we even realize it.