Netflix wants to reinvent movies in the same way it did TV, according to its Q2 earnings letter posted Monday.

In the letter, Netflix focused on the importance of shaking up the movie business, which has seen dwindling numbers of people going to theaters.

"Just as we changed and reinvented the TV business by putting consumers first and making access to content more convenient, we believe internet TV can similarly reinvigorate the film business (as distinct from the theatrical business)," Netflix's letter read. "This year we will release 40 features that range from big budget popcorn films to grassroots independent cinema."

That parenthetical implies that while Netflix has a plan to boost the movie business, the traditional movie theater may or may not be part of it.

Netflix has sparred with old Hollywood over its release strategy, and commitment to having movies play online the same day they play in theaters. While its rival Amazon has played nice and respected the theaters by not streaming movies until the allotted 90 days after their theatrical run, Netflix has refused to do that. This has lead all the major movie chains to refuse to screen Netflix movies.

Most recently, Netflix's model got folks at the Cannes Film Festival upset as two Netflix titles, "Ojka" and Noah Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories," were added to this year's esteemed competition lineup, though it was unclear if either title would play theatrically in France. The festival quickly announced that beginning in 2018, a film would only qualify for its competition lineup if it has a theatrical release in France.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings responded to the ruling on Facebook by characterizing it as "the establishment closing ranks against us."

In its Q2 letter, Netflix implies both that movies will be a big part of its future, and that it plans to disrupt the business — with or without the help of theaters.

SEE ALSO: "Dunkirk" is a very different Christopher Nolan epic — and it's his best movie in years

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We got a behind the scenes look at QVC's massive broadcast facility in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The e-commerce giant recently announced that its parent company will purchase a controlling interest in rival network HSN in a deal worth $2.1 billion.

Founded in 1986, QVC grew into a multi-billion dollar empire, with $8.7 billion in sales in 2016.

The network's live broadcast runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We talked to QVC insiders including on-air talent, broadcast producers, and executives to get an inside perspective on how it all comes together. 

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The new Netflix show "Castlevania" is a surprising delight.

The show is based on the game series of the same name, most well-known for beguiling children in the late '90s with bad translation from the original Japanese. Moreover, the last major game in the series dropped back in 2014, and it was received pretty poorly by critics.

All of this is to say one thing: "Castlevania" isn't exactly a hot property just waiting to be adapted to TV and film. It's got its fans, sure, but it's no "Uncharted" (for instance). And that's just part of why it's so amazing that the new "Castlevania" show is so good. We're talking about a video game adaptation after all — a genre littered with failures, from "Double Dragon" straight through to the "Super Mario Bros." themselves. 

Beyond just being good, the new "Castlevania" show is a success.

It's such a success, in fact, that Netflix has already approved a second season of the show and doubled the episode count from four to eight. "It's a blessing that they greenlighted season two right before one dropped," Adi Shankar, showrunner for "Castlevania," told me in an interview last week. "Because they were like, what you guys created is awesome. Then they doubled it, which is even more amazing."

So, what's next for "Castlevania"?

Without spoiling the events of the first season, Shankar spoke to the big picture. "I know what the story is. I know what the beats are. I can say that it's gonna be more expansive than [season] one," he told me.

Season two will no doubt see the return of Dracula, Trevor Belmont, and many others — it's unclear how their fates will play out. Shankar's looking at broad strokes; he sees the first season as foundational, and the second season as a means of diving into the world he and his team created. "We've had the opportunity to create this language — it'll be fun to deconstruct it at some point," he said. 

That said, Shankar's plans are certainly more definitive than he's letting on. "I'm not a fan of the make it up as you go along type of storytelling," he said. "There is a master plan for the show."

SEE ALSO: Netflix somehow managed to make a great TV show based on a video game

DON'T MISS: The excellent new video game show on Netflix only exists because of a chance encounter

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Anaheim, California — often called "Anacrime" by locals — is the home of Disneyland, but it's far from being "The Happiest Place on Earth."

This week, The Guardian reported that Disneyland's low wages are putting their employees at risk and contributing to the homeless epidemic in Orange County. That, combined with the repeated police killings of unarmed Latinos, have led to some of the loudest protests and civil unrest that the community has ever experienced.

Local fine-art photographer William Camargo shows the city's lesser-seen side in his "Anaheim: The Happiest City on Earth" photo series.

"I wanted to show people that this city is not just made of this one entity, which is Disneyland," Camargo told Business Insider. Below, see a local's perspective on Anaheim.  

Lyanne Alfaro contributed reporting to an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: How an oil company created an American suburb in Saudi Arabia

This strip of stores is across the street from where an unarmed 25-year-old, Manuel Diaz, was shot dead by an Anaheim police officer in 2012. With a liquor store, bakery, taqueria, and pizzeria, strip malls like these are a common sight in Mexican neighborhoods.

Several months after Diaz's shooting, friends and family gathered in his former neighborhood for a 5K run and demonstration.

At this Del Taco, car washes are often held as fundraisers for the funeral costs or medical bills of those caught up in gang-related violence. This particular location holds great significance to Camargo: One of his close friends was hit by an SUV on this corner in 2005.

After an explosive Buzzfeed report alleged that R. Kelly is holding women captive in an "abusive cult" Monday, the daughter of the concerned parents at the center of the story has spoken out and denied being "brainwashed" by Kelly, as her parents claimed in a police report. 

Jocelyn Savage, the 21-year-old daughter of the parents identified as "J." and "Tim" in Buzzfeed's report, told TMZ in a video interview that she's in a "happy place in life" and has "never been held hostage."

"I just mainly want to say that I am in a happy place with my life," Savage said. "I'm not being brainwashed or anything like that. It just came to a point where it definitely has gotten out of hand. I just want everybody to know — my parents and everybody in the world — that I am totally fine. I'm happy where I'm at, and everything is okay with me."

Savage went on to say that she's "heartbroken" about the situation, and seemed to blame her parents — who she hasn't "spoken to ... in about five to six months, on and off" — for the allegations that she's "been held hostage."

When TMZ pressed her on her current location, Savage refused to reveal where she was and wouldn't say whether she could leave the location at her own free will. The report alleged that Kelly banned her and the five other women in his "cult" from coming and going from his two properties in Chicago and Atlanta without his permission.

Savage's parents reiterated their allegations in a press conference Monday afternoon that their daughter was being held captive. 

On Monday night, Kelly's lawyer released a statement saying that the R&B singer "unequivocally denies such accusations" and plans to "clear his name" on the matter.

Kelly has a history of allegations of sexual misconduct with women. He was acquitted in 2008 of 14 charges of child pornography after a six-year trial, which centered on a videotape that prosecutors alleged showed him having sex with a young girl.

Watch the interview with Savage below, via TMZ: 

SEE ALSO: R. Kelly is holding 6 women against their will in a 'cult,' according to their parents

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"The Room," which came out in 2003, is known as one of the worst movies ever made. But over the years, it has developed a cult following because people love how bad it is.

And one of those people is James Franco, who directed "The Disaster Artist," based on the best-selling non-fiction book about the disastrous making of the movie. The book (also called "The Disaster Artist") was written by one of its stars, Greg Sostaro. 

In the movie, which comes out in theaters December 1, Franco plays director, writer, and star Tommy Wiseau. His brother, Dave Franco, plays Sostaro. The film's cast also includes Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, Bryan Cranston, Zac Efron, Alison Brie, Kristen Bell, and many more. 

The film's first teaser finally came out on Tuesday, and it looks hilarious. The teaser highlights Wiseau's inability to remember lines (even the simplest ones), and features the Franco brothers and Seth Rogen. 

You can watch the trailer below:

This poster, featuring one of the most memorable lines from "The Room," was released on Monday:

SEE ALSO: 'Dunkirk' is a very different Christopher Nolan epic — and it's his best movie in years

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NOW WATCH: Everything we know so far about season 7 of 'Game of Thrones'

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Twitter is holding discussions to acquire the UK digital streaming rights to the 2017 US PGA Championship, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Financial Times.

Securing the PGA Championship rights would be the first live-streamed major golf tournament for Twitter — it has only previously streamed smaller PGA golf tournaments. 

The discussions are a blow to British broadcaster Sky, which has exclusively aired the event for the past 10 years. Additionally, the loss of rights present a hit as Sky recently announced the launch of a dedicated golf channel, and claimed itself as the “home of golf” in the announcement. 

Here’s why the discussions being held between Twitter and the PGA are important:

• Twitter continues a year of its aggressive push to acquire sports content. In June, the company signed deals with the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) to stream 19 games, and the Canadian Football League to stream a weekly live show. Twitter can monetize this content through in-stream ads, which are ads run during live streamed events.
• This isn’t the only struggle Sky is facing with sports broadcasting. The Premier League, England's top soccer league, suffered the biggest decline in viewership on Sky TV in at least seven years, Financial Times reported earlier in June. This is not surprising as consumers continue to cut the cord in favor of digital platforms to consume video content.
• The potential reach of digital platforms could be what is luring the tournament away from Sky. PGA of America executive Jeff Price stated scale of distribution and reaching consumers through new platforms were areas of focus. This could signal that Price and PGA of America didn’t believe Sky's reach would be as effective as a platform like Twitter's, in reaching their targeted demographic. For reference, UK TV audience numbers for the Sky broadcasted final round of The Open Championship last year reached a high of 1 million. Twitter boasts 328 million monthly active users, with roughly 16 million being in the UK. It received between 2 million and 3.1 million viewers during its NFL games streamed last season. In the end, the PGA may look to sell rights to multiple digital platforms — like Facebook, YouTube, and Snap — as bigger reach ultimately makes the tournament more attractive to advertisers.

The causes behind the decline of live sports viewership are varied and complex. In addition to cyclical issues at play, sports programming is falling prey to the wealth of new content produced by the rise of new media platforms.

And as more and more TV viewers cut the cord, live sports content itself is moving off the TV screen and onto other devices.

Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the digital disruption of live sports that:

• Assesses the evolving live sports landscape.
• Examines how ESPN's business model is threatened by the decline of live sports.
• Profiles the promising new players in the space. 
• Looks at what's next for legacy broadcasters.

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"Super Mario Bros." is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Little Super Mario sits alongside Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald as one of the modern world's most recognizable characters.

And yet, even with something as popular and straightforward as "Super Mario Bros.", the Hollywood movie industry adapted it into something hilariously bad.

This is the norm for video game adaptations taken on by Hollywood, whether it's a TV show or a film — few expect their favorite game to get turned into a good movie or show.

The recently released "Castlevania" on Netflix, an animated show centered on the "Castlevania" video game series, is an incredible exception. It's smart, funny, and manages to turn a largely uninteresting game series (story-wise) into a compelling narrative.

We caught up with "Castlevania" showrunner Adi Shankar over the phone last week to ask how he and his team managed to pull off what so many others in Hollywood could not. Shankar said the reason so many video game adaptations are terrible is because of the approach taken by Hollywood: Rather than diving in on what makes the game's world interesting to the people who already love it, adaptations tend to broaden the scope too far in an attempt to draw in a larger audience.

"Let's say the game sold 5 million copies, right? [The studios] look at it as, 'Those are 5 million people who are gonna show up on opening weekend anyways. So let's get more people to show up,'" Shankar said. "But what they didn't get is no, no, no, no, no — that's like your marketing department. Those 5 million people? If you love something, you want everyone else to love it. You want to share that fandom with other people."

To Shankar, "Old Hollywood" is represented by that old approach: Take a property that people already love, and broaden it instead of appealing to its core. And it's "New Hollywood" that gave him the chance to make "Castlevania."

"I was done," Shankar said. He'd made a handful of successful but — by their very nature — unprofitable films on YouTube. He made what are essentially fan films that he dubbed his "Bootleg Universe": short films based on stuff like "Power Rangers" and "The Punisher." Since they're properties owned by major corporations, he was unable to profit from the films (lest he get sued). 

"After that came out, 'Old Hollywood' was kind of like, 'What is this guy smoking? What is wrong with this dude?'," Shankar said. "But then I guess 'New Hollywood' — the internet crowd — embraced me as one of their own at that point. Maker Studios gave me a three-picture deal. And there's a bunch of stuff that happened behind the scenes that wasn't even public knowledge. I was in kind of a weird spot because I wanted to leave, and I was like I'll try out this whole 'Hollywood Career version 2.0' for me." 

With one foot out the door, Hollywood pulled Shankar back in. 

"I shut down all the infrastructure I'd set up. I applied to graduate school. And then different brands just started hitting me up. It was kinda weird," he said. "Those same corporations that I was like 'Ugh, go away!' — they were calling me. There were rumors of maybe he'll direct this movie, maybe he'll produce that thing. And I'm like, 'What is going on? I'm literally out the door.'" 

It was around then that, through a chance encounter, Shankar learned of an opportunity to lead production on a show based on "Castlevania," a classic video game franchise close to Shankar's heart. He jumped at it, and the show we have now is the result of that chance encounter.

But Shankar sees his role in Hollywood as similar to that of Joss Whedon (who directed "The Avengers"), James Gunn (who directed "Guardians of the Galaxy") and Jon Favreau (who directed "Iron Man"), only with video games as the medium being adapted rather than comic books.

Here's Shankar:

"The way I see it is comic book adaptations were really bad for a very long time. And really what it took was a bunch of kids who loved comic books growing up, who were then pissed off at how bad the comic books movies were, to be like, 'I'm gonna change that.' Right? They went out and made 'Iron Man.' They went out and made 'The Avengers.' They went out and made all these now-great comic book adaptations."

And he's not wrong. Before comic book movies took over as the modern blockbuster, there were dozens of whiffs. Do yourself a favor and don't watch "Batman Forever," for instance. It took decades of misses before Hollywood figured out how to consistently make hit films out of comic books. And even then, it wasn't a measure of the film industry figuring out how to do it — they simply handed the keys to directors who grew up with comics, who love those comics. 

Shankar put it as such: "It's on our generation to fix this problem." His next project, unsurprisingly, is another video game adaptation: "Assassin's Creed." 

SEE ALSO: Netflix somehow managed to make a great TV show based on a video game

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NOW WATCH: What happens to your body when you binge-watch too much TV

At Disney's D23 Expo this past Sunday, attendees were shocked to see Captain America (Chris Evans) — or, Steve Rogers — sporting a beard in the new "Avengers: Infinity Wars" trailer. 

While Disney has not yet made the "Infinity Wars" trailer available online to the general public, MCU exchange reported that Captain America is in fact flaunting some new facial hair.

MCU Exchange speculates that this new look is an indication that Captain America's identity will shift drastically in "Infinity Wars," and that we'll see Rogers take on the identity of Nomad.

Nomad is the character that Rogers adopts in a series of "Captain America" comics that were released in 1974. They take place shortly after "Civil War" leaves off, when Rogers becomes disillusioned by the current state of American politics, and chooses to distance himself from a country whose values he feels have changed. The Nomad comics were released right after Nixon's Watergate scandal, and most likely served as commentary on the political climate of the time.

This isn't the first time that Nomad has been brought up in the last few years. Shortly after the release of "Captain America: Civil War" in 2016, the directors Joe and Anthony Russo spoke about the somber ending of "Civil War," in an interview with HuffPost.

“I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity," Joe said, in reference to Captain America leaving his shield behind at the end. "[It’s] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making.”

The Russo brothers indicated that Captain America's identity changed at the end of "Civil War," and may very well have been alluding to Rogers' eventual transformation into Nomad.

Nomad isn't known for being a bearded superhero, but perhaps the change in the otherwise meticulously groomed Captain America's appearance is meant to signify Rogers' transformation into the less patriotic Nomad.

But we won't know for certain until "Infinity Wars" makes its way to theaters May 4, 2018.

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NOW WATCH: Here's everything you need to know about Azor Ahai — the legendary savior on 'Game of Thrones'

When a company relies almost exclusively on subscribers for revenue, it would make sense that there would be a saturation point where the company had all the subscribers it is going to ever get.

Investors thought Netflix was nearing that point yesterday, and short interest grew ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings, meaning more investors were starting to bet against the streaming service. Those investors were wrong.

The company actually missed slightly on earnings, reporting $0.15 compared to the $0.16 expected by Wall Street, but knocked its subscriber growth numbers out of the park. Netflix reported 5.2 million subscribers when investors were only expecting 3.2 million.

So how was Netflix able to prove all its doubters wrong and grow its business? Here's RBC Capital Markets:

"In Q2, it released 14 new original series seasons, 13 original comedy specials, 6 original documentaries, 2 original documentary series, 9 original feature films, and 7 seasons of original series for kids. It continues to invest in programming to please its members, with shows like Stranger Things, Cable Girls, and 13 Reasons Why. It also noted that this year it is releasing 40 feature films including Bright (one of its largest productions to date, with Will Smith) to increase its exposure to Original Films." 

Even though the company had to push back a big release of the latest "House of Cards" season, it still is producing content its subscribers love.

Netflix was recently nominated for 91 Emmys, which is double the number from last year.

RBC said, in a recent note to investors, that Netflix has underestimated the popularity of its original content internationally, which is "not a bad problem to have." The popularity of its content has turned into surprising profits on top of subscriber growth.

For the first time ever, Netflix is expecting to make a profit on its international subscribers, according to RBC. International subscribers now make up more than half of the company's subscribers. Domestically, Netflix has boosted its contribution margin, a measure of profitability for a product, for domestic subscribers from 16% in 2012 to 36% in 2016, according to RBC.

Huge subscriber growth, better content and better profitability led RBC to raise its price target for the company from $175 to $210, a 20% increase.

Netflix popped nearly 11% after crushing earnings on Monday, and is trading at $182.55 on Tuesday.

Click here to read more about Netflix...

SEE ALSO: Netflix's surging stock is destroying short sellers

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On Monday, Netflix revealed that it had added over five million new subscribers last quarter, blowing past its own estimates.

Part of the reason people keep signing up is that Netflix is still a really, really good deal compared to traditional pay TV.

How much of a better deal?

In a recent report, UBS analysts found that an average pay-TV package costs over three times as much, per hour of viewing, as Netflix.

And since 2013, it's only been getting worse for cable and satellite customers. The cost of traditional packages per-hour has risen from $0.35 to $0.42, while the cost of Netflix remains about the same at $0.10.

It's quite impressive that Netflix's rate is so low, considering it frequently turns out high-quality original series and movies, with big stars attached including "House of Cards," "Stranger Things," "Okja," and "To the Bone."

These aren't cheap, with Netflix spending $6 billion on content in 2017. But Netflix's thesis has been that it can grow big enough, especially internationally, to be able to keep costs down (per subscriber).

Check out this graph below to see how much you're paying for cable and Netflix:

SEE ALSO: Netflix soars past growth targets with over 5 million new subscribers, and the stock just hit an all-time high

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NOW WATCH: Here’s the first trailer for 'Inhumans' — the Marvel movie that was turned into a TV show

Netflix crushed its growth targets for the second quarter, adding over five million subscribers worldwide, and was rewarded with a stock price that soared to an all-time high Tuesday.

The party is in full swing for Netflix investors.

And they have reason to be jubilant, since Netflix said it expects much of the Q2 momentum to carry forward.

But there is one area that still has some analysts concerned: Netflix's large negative free cash flow, which it expects to continue "for many years."

On Monday, Netflix updated its estimate for negative free cash flow for 2017. While previously the company had said it would be $2 billion, Netflix now says it will be $2 to $2.5 billion (versus $1.7 billion in 2016).

What's the source of the cash burn?

"When we produce an amazing show like 'Stranger Things,' that's a lot of capital up front, and then you get a payout over it over many years," CEO Reed Hastings explained Monday. "And seeing the positive returns on that for the business as a whole is what makes us comfortable that we should continue to invest."

Put more formally: "With our content strategy paying off in strong member, revenue and profit growth, we think it’s wise to continue to invest," Netflix wrote in its letter to shareholders. "In continued success, we will deploy increased capital in content, particularly in owned originals, and, as we have said before, we expect to be FCF negative for many years."

This strategy gives some analysts pause.

Here's a good expression of the concern from MoffettNathanson’s Michael Nathanson (via Deadline):

"We’ve mused that the current model is akin to a new restaurant serving the best filet mignon for $10 per steak and watching happy patrons fill every seat. At some point, the restaurant’s owners (and lenders) will start asking about a path to generating cash flow on that investment ... we just don’t believe that Netflix is building an impenetrable moat that justifies its $80 billion in market cap."

Netflix management, however, sees its high cash burn as a sign of success, since it means its original content strategy is working.

"The irony is the faster we grow, and the faster we grow owned originals, the more drawn on free cash flow that will be," Hastings said. "In some senses the negative free cash flow will be an indicator of enormous success."

SEE ALSO: Netflix put out 17 comedy specials this quarter, and Dave Chappelle's was its most-watched of all time

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NOW WATCH: Here’s a look at the final bloody trailer for the new 'Wolverine' movie

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Jay-Z dropped 4:44, his 13th studio album, at midnight on June 30. Though the album has only been out for a few days, the release strategy behind 4:44 provides insight into the business of music streaming, as well as a glimpse of Jay-Z’s thinking for capitalizing in this space through his own streaming platform Tidal:

• Tidal exclusive, with stipulations. Predictably, 4:44 was released exclusively on Tidal — but with certain restrictions. The album was only available to Tidal subscribers who had signed up before June 26. The only new subscribers who could stream the album after its launch were those who are also customers of Sprint, which invested $200 million in Tidal for a 33% stake in January. 
• Boosting listens on the airwaves. Beyond Tidal, 4:44 was getting extensive radio play via iHeartRadio. The full album was broadcast on numerous iHeartRadio stations in the Urban, Rhythm, and Pop categories, as well as through the company's "The Beat" streaming channel online — helping to extend the reach of Jay-Z’s new album to listeners nationwide.
• Temporary free downloads for all. On Sunday, the album was momentarily available to non-Tidal subscribers to download for free. All people had to do was go to a designated Tidal URL and enter the voucher code “SPRINT" along with their email address to get a download link. This free download offer was available worldwide until it suddenly went offline before the end of the night.  
• Spread the word via social media. Elliott Wilson, editorial director of culture, content, and hip hop at Tidal, first divulged the free album download page via his Instagram, while the voucher code circulated on Reddit. The rest of the internet — music blogs and publications, Facebook, Twitter, and others — predictably lit up on the announcement of free 4:44 downloads, and the news spread like wildfire. 
• Building up a customer database. The thinking behind making Jay-Z’s 4:44 available for free for a limited time probably went as follows: people were unlikely to sign up for Tidal if they hadn’t already within the 48 hours after 4:44 dropped. Instead of giving people a reason to pirate the album, Tidal made it free — and in the process built a database of emails that they could then use for marketing purposes later on.  
• Windowed release cycle elsewhere. Billboard reported that 4:44 will soon be added to Apple Music and iTunes following a one-week window of exclusivity on Tidal. There's quiet speculation that the album will be made available on other platforms as well, including Spotify. Interestingly, 4:44 debuted on Tidal before any plans for CDs were finalized, reflecting the current state of the music industry.  
• Music streaming wars are starting. There are legions of people worldwide that have yet to join music streaming services. Spotify had 50 million paying subscribers as of March 2017 and over 140 million active users worldwide as of June; Apple Music is slowly closing the gap, with 27 million paid subs last month. But to put this in perspective, Facebook has over 182 million daily users in the North America alone.

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Forget credit cards — Kevin Bacon is a cash guy.

"I never walk around with less than $200 or $300," he told Wealthsimple.

He traces his affection for cash back to his early days in the workforce, when he moved to New York City after high school to work as a busboy and waiter.

"My relationship with money was very loose," the actor, currently starring in the Amazon series "I Love Dick," told Wealthsimple. "I had no budget, no savings, no credit cards, and no bank accounts. I was a cash-only kind of guy."

He continued:

"I'd get paid out at the end of the night, spend some of it at the bar, wake up the next day, and check my pockets to see how much money I had left. There was never a budget or any kind of longer-term financial plan. I'd make money, spend it, pay rent, spend more money, and hope that when the end of the month came around, I'd have enough to put up another month's rent."

There are two schools of thought when it comes to carrying cash: One argues that since it's more psychologically difficult to part with the paper rather than swipe a card, it makes you think twice about purchases and spend less over all.

The other school finds the built-in spending tracker element of using a debit or credit card incredibly handy. Wondering where your money went? All you have to do is log into your bank's site. (As far as debit versus credit, credit cards are generally considered preferable because they're insured, and because you get rewards. Just as long as you're paying them off every month in full!)

Bacon told Wealthsimple that he's made a real effort to understand how his money is managed, rather than outsourcing it. "Understanding money may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but it's a necessary evil," he said. "If you're a creative person who doesn't understand money easily, you may not want to admit how essential it is. But ultimately if you stick your head in the sand, you'll be sorry."

Read the full interview at Wealthsimple »

SEE ALSO: Jon Hamm explains how working as a waiter changed the way he sees the world

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NOW WATCH: 5 ways retailers trick you into spending more money

Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz and former OJ. Simpson lawyer stopped by Business Insider to talk to senior editor Josh Barro in September 2016. Dershowitz discussed how "The People v. O. J. Simpson" failed to include key information about the trial.

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The in-flight safety video is an important, but commonly overlooked part of the flying experience. To overcome this challenge, airlines often use gimmicks such as colorful animations or in Virgin America's case, an elaborate musical number.

And then there's the always trusty celebrity cameo. That's exactly the route British Airways has chosen. 

On Tuesday, the airline released its new star-studded in-flight safety video in conjunction with the charity Comic Relief. 

"It’s extremely important to us that customers engage with our safety video, and involving some of the nation’s most well-known personalities has given us the chance to create something fun that we hope people will watch from start to finish - and remember," British Airways chairman and CEO Alex Cruz said in a statement. 

"We’ve worked with Comic Relief since 2010 and our customers have already helped us generate £16.5 million for great causes. We hope the new video will enable us to exceed our goal of raising £20 million by 2020."

The new video will make its debut on British Airways flights in September. 

Here's a closer look at British Airways' new safety video:

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The video is built around the premise that the celebrities are auditioning for comedian Asim Chaudhry.

First up is Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor who auditions to do the introduction.

This is followed by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who asks the public to not block the aisles or exits with their hand luggage and...

Joshua Green, author of "Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency, explains how Trump lost his high favorability among African-Americans and Hispanics when he expressed doubts about Obama's birth certificate.

Trump had shockingly been very popular with Hispanic and African-American viewers of “The Apprentice,” more so, more popular than he was with white viewers. And as I went and talked to people, African-American executives at advertising agencies, they told me, it’s not surprising to us that Trump was really popular with African-American voters back then because if you look at their portrayal on prime time television in the mid-2000’s, they were still by and large presented as gangsters or rappers or entertainers, but on “The Apprentice,” African-Americans were treated as ambitious entrepreneurs, coequal with everybody else, and Trump was the guy overseeing all of this. And that is one of the things that made “The Apprentice” and Donald Trump such a favorite of corporate America. He had all the big Fortune 500 companies advertising on “The Apprentice” because they wanted to be associated with this positive, multicultural television show. They could really appeal to the broadest swath of the American electorate or the American consumer.

So, there was a moment in 2010 where Trump really could have run as a different kind of Republican candidate. He could have embraced the critique that was later at the center of the GOP autopsy. The idea that the Republican party is too old and white and crusty. It needs to modernize and broaden its appeal to young people, to minorities, to all the types of people that are allergic to the Republican coalition.

But instead, Trump decided in 2010, 2011, to launch off on his birther rant which immediately plunged his favorability ratings with African-American voters, Hispanic voters soon followed, and he transformed into the hard right anti-immigrant politician that he is today.

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The penultimate, seventh season of "Game of Thrones" premiered Sunday night, raking in the biggest live audience of any of its premieres.

"Game of Thrones" snagged a huge 10.1 million live viewers, per Nielsen ratings, as reported by Variety.

Although "Game of Thrones" has historically done well when it comes to season premiere ratings, the latest numbers show how much its audience has grown over the years.

Season six's premiere was the only time when the ratings took a slight dip, but a 0.75% decrease in premiere viewership should hardly have concerned anyone at HBO.

And Sunday's ratings were something for HBO execs to get excited about. They showed a 27.2% increase in live viewers from the season six premiere.

Here's a chart that shows the progression of each season premiere:

The live audience ratings, however, don't account for the number of DVR and streaming views from HBO's streaming platforms, HBO GO and HBO Now. Streaming numbers for "Game of Thrones" don't really begin to appear in the reported Nielsen numbers until the "Game of Thrones" season five premiere in 2015, which was the same year that HBO launched its streaming service, HBO Now. 

With the addition of the streaming and DVR views recorded by Nielsen for "Game of Thrones" (seasons five through seven), the numbers go up. Season five's season premiere numbers bump up to 9.8 million viewers, season six's numbers to 10.7 million viewers, and season seven's to a massive 16.1 million viewers.

So while the "Game of Thrones" season seven premiere was a record-breaking milestone for HBO, it also showed how many viewers are now turning to streaming platforms, and DVR, rather than watching on the traditional linear channel.

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It was a blockbuster day for Netflix on Monday, as the streaming giant said it added 5.2 million new subscribers in its second quarter, handily beating its own estimates and sending its stock soaring to an all-time high.

And as this chart from Statista shows, the company reached a couple of milestones in the process. First, it surpassed the 100-million subscriber mark. Second, it saw the number of international Netflix subscribers edge past their US counterparts for the first time.

The rise of that international base has been Netflix’s biggest boon for the past couple of years. It’s generally accepted that the company has just about emptied the bottle in its home country, but still has plenty of wiggle room left worldwide. (Its eternal struggles in China notwithstanding.)

The company is still ripping through cash to produce the exclusive shows that differentiate the service — and it will still have to deal with growing competition from Amazon, Hulu, and now Apple— but enough of those shows are hits, cord-cutting should only grow, and Netflix itself expects its current rate of growth to continue. 

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Something you'll never see on Snapchat's daily news show with NBC: anchors sitting behind desks wearing suits and ties.

Starting Wednesday, NBC News will produce the show, which is called "Stay Tuned," twice a day for Snapchat's 166 million users. Each edition will cover the biggest news stories of the day and be a crisp two to three minutes in length.

As the first daily video series to air on Snapchat, "Stay Tuned" is the latest development in parent Snap Inc.'s nascent efforts to become a destination for exclusive shows. It also represents an increased focus for Snap on the specific genre of news, according to the company's head of original content, Sean Mills.

“Our ambition is very much that when something happens in the world or there’s a news event, that our audience would turn to Snapchat increasingly to get that news," Mills told Business Insider during a recent interview. 

Reinventing the news for Snapchat

Since the beginning of 2015, Snapchat's Discover section has been home to a hand-picked and ever-expanding list of publishers, from The Washington Post to The Daily Mail. These outlets show often-repurposed stories and videos in their channels that are tailored for Snapchat's vertical video format and swipe-heavy interface.

A team of in-house editors at Snapchat also pulls together videos and photos willingly submitted by users for stories around breaking news events like elections and terrorist attacks. These so-called "Our Stories" live next to stories from outside publishers in Snapchat's Discover section.

With "Stay Tuned," NBC News will get prime real estate in the newer "Shows" section of Snapchat, which has already been home to other NBC-owned shows like "The Voice" and E! News' "The Rundown."

NBC's interest in doing a news show on Snapchat came after its reporters used the app to cover the 2016 US presidential election, according to head of digital Nick Ascheim. NBC reporters started sharing videos from their personal accounts that would occasionally be picked up in one of Snapchat's Our Stories and get "unbelievable amounts of traffic," he said.

“We wanted to do a news program that really felt like news as opposed to dumbing down for a different audience," Ascheim told BI in an interview. "And that was very much in line with what Snap wanted.”

A big part of Snapchat's draw for content partners and advertisers is its highly engaged, young audience. The average Snapchat user opens the app 18 times per day and 75% of daily show viewers are between the ages of 13 and 24, according to the company. 

For NBC, that represents an opportunity to reach a highly sought-after demographic in a new way. A dedicated team of 30 reporters and editors will produce the show each day and air breaking news updates throughout the day if a big enough story breaks.

“It’s an audience that we want to reach and we want to understand better," according to Ascheim.

A source of inspiration for both partners was "Good Luck America," a politics show produced by Snap and hosted by the company's head of news and former CNN reporter, Peter Hamby. Since the 2016 presidential election, the show's viewership has grown by 53% in its second season and now averages over 5 million unique viewers per episode.

And while Snapchat's Discover section has been criticized for often looking like the digital equivalent of the tabloid rack at a grocery store, "Good Luck America" episodes cover issues like immigration, gun violence, and the decline of American manufacturing.

"The truth is that when we talk about Snapchat being a camera company, we talk about it being a lense into the world," said Mills. "We feel a sense of responsibility that lense applies into all facets of peoples’ lives. When we first did news coverage, I think it was a surprise to a lot of us. Now it’s become very expected."

Snap's partnership with NBC on "Stay Tuned" is an indefinite commitment, according to Mills. NBC will sell ads for the show and Snap will take a share of the revenue. Snap's internal production team will continue to help NBC develop the show and work on best practices for shooting and editing.

“We’re not thinking about it in terms of seasons," he said.

Developing a sense of trust

Snap's decision to go head-first into news now comes as Facebook is preparing to unveil its own slate of original shows. Serious news coverage is one area that Facebook is shying away from with its first slate of shows, according to people familiar with the matter.

And while Facebook has been heavily criticized for its role in spreading fake news and misinformation in recent months, Snap has managed to largely avoid the issue. When asked why, Mills credited the company's approach from the beginning to only work with select publishers.

"We’ve always been a bit more of a closed platform when it comes to content and content partnerships," he said. "That has allowed us to really, I think, control and maintain the credibility and the trust of our audience. That’s kept us out of some of the difficulties that other platforms have when they’re open and there’s less of a sense of trust in the information that comes over."

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