#TheWeeklyRoundUp - 15.10.21

Reservoir joins $12M series B funding round in podcast company Audio Up (MBW)

New York -headquartered Reservoir Media has made an investment in audio entertainment company and podcast content production studio Audio Up. As one of the “key contributions” in Audio Up’s recently announced $12 million Series B close, which was led by SiriusXM, Reservoir says that its investment will help Audio Up further build its ecosystem of premium entertainment content within the music and audio space. In addition, Reservoir and Audio Up are working together on collaborative audio entertainment projects using Reservoir’s catalog of copyrights.

Established in 2020 by Jared Gutstadt (formerly of the Jingle Punks creative music agency), Audio Up is a podcast content production studio that has built a slate of distinctive, original scripted audio entertainment featuring names across music (Machine Gun Kelly, 24kGoldn, Miranda Lambert, Nelly), Hollywood (Anthony Anderson, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Alexander, Shea Whigham, Gael Garcia Bernal, Taye Diggs) publishing (James Ellroy, Stephen King), and more. Unscripted properties include the riveting top 20-crime podcast Where The Bodies Are Buried, and Michael Cohen’s chart-topping podcast Mea Culpa.

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Hybrid AFI Fashion Week set for Joburg this October (BizLounge)

AFI Fashion Week Joburg 2021 is set to take place as a hybrid event on 29 and 30 October 2021 at the recently launched Alto 234, Africa's highest urban bar on the 57th floor at the Leonardo building in Sandton. AFI stated that this year's theme 'Be You, Be Truly African' will celebrate all the unique and multifaceted expressions of being African in a globalised world. "In coming together, after a long period of isolation, we are presenting a renewed outlook on who we are and what makes us unique.

Driven by lifestyle and fashion, the emerging and established designers will showcase their latest collections, having reimagined new trends to complement the new way of living," AFI said. Guests can expect an expressive blend of fashion, cuisine, cocktails, live music and a 360-degree view of the city of Johannesburg. In-person and virtual guests can Shop the Runway with House of Nala, which has curated offerings from pan-African ready-to-wear and luxury brands. The Shop the Runway experience will travel to Durban and Cape Town, bringing fashion enthusiasts African luxury fashion to their cities. Growing on the success of last year’s event, AFI will again partner with Anglo American Platinum to showcase this year’s PlatAfrica Jewellery Design and Manufacture Competition finalists as part of AFI Fashion Week Joburg 2021.