SAN FRANCISCO & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 13, 2026--
AI media technology company Chronicle Studios and Academy Award-nominated animation production company The Hive Studio (“Letter to a Pig”) have entered into a YouTube channel partnership on two animated series: goth musical comedy “The Vampair,” from creator Daria Cohen (“Hazbin Hotel”); and teen comedy “The Normal MFer,” from CC0 Studios, Joe McNaney and Alex Orrelle (“Space Jam: A New Legacy”). The announcement was jointly made today by Aaron Sisto, Co-Founder and CEO of Chronicle Studios, and Amit Russell Gicelter, Founder and CEO of The Hive Studio.
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Chronicle Studios’ AI-driven social content intelligence platform will oversee YouTube channel strategy, content optimization, global audience discovery and monetization for both original series. Built to autonomously identify and match content with high-value audiences and grow engagement for top global creators and brands, Chronicle Studios’ AI platform uses cross-platform, multimodal AI agents to automate the full content lifecycle on social, including viewer acquisition, distribution, growth and monetization across social platforms.
Regarding the announcement, Sisto said, “Daria, Joe and Alex are fast-rising stars in the animation arena. ‘The Vampair’s’ distinct style, charming stories and irresistible music, along with ‘The Normal MFer’s’’ irreverent commentary on young adult life, have helped make these two digital-first series stand out in an incredibly crowded space. We're honored to be partnered with them, Amit and CC0 Studios to help grow their global awareness and position them for even greater success on YouTube and beyond.”
Expressing his excitement about the partnership, Gicelter said, “Chronicle’s technology is exactly the innovative solution we need to grow our audience and expand the reach of our series globally. We’re excited to partner with a team led by such experienced professionals who truly understand our industry and share our vision for scaling bold, creator-driven content.”
Cohen added, “I'm really happy for the opportunity to collab with a studio like Chronicle. In a world where creators get their stories constantly tampered with by various industries, I'm happy I was able to find a studio that supports my work and allows me the freedom to tell my story the way I intended it to be told. With Chronicle’s support, I can see ‘Vampair’ making it further than I ever thought it was capable of and my hope is for the community to get to see the story unfold in its fullest potential.”
“The Vampair” originated on YouTube in 2016 as a collection of animated music videos about the adventures of the vampire Duke (voiced by goth singer/songwriter/animator Aurelio Voltaire, “Land of the Dead”) and his teenage friend Missi (Lauren Jennings, “The Dolls of New Albion”). The first video, “ The Night,” has generated more than 60 million views to date. Cohen, who has more than one million subscribers on YouTube, and The Hive have since launched a Kickstarter campaign that has raised over $270,000 to develop a pilot based on the original concept for a full animated series that will reunite Voltaire and Jennings and is planned to premiere late August. The project will feature all-new music by Voltaire and composer Paul Shapera (“The Dolls of New Albion”), with Krystal LaPorte (“Hazbin Hotel”) also starring and Emmy and Annie Award nominee Maxwell Atoms (“The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy”) co-writing with Cohen.
“The Normal MFer,” created by CC0 Studios and co-produced with The Hive Studio, centers on a terminally online man’s desire to grow up against the forces that keep him from leaving home: video games, web-influencers, unreasonable wealth expectations, social anxieties, a disappointed father, a mother who treats him like he’s 11 and pets who secretly harvest his data for an AI startup. The series was created by Alex Orrelle (“Space Jam: A New Legacy”), who serves as Showrunner and Supervising Director, and CC0 Studios founder Joe McNaney, and is written by Emmy Award nominee Jennifer Skelly (“The Lion Guard”), with Amit Gicelter’s team producing.
In addition to animation, Chronicle Studios is identifying and partnering with content creators, studios and brands throughout the creative community worldwide, spanning animation, live action comedy and drama, lifestyle, video games, music, video podcasts and consumer brands, to name a few.
Last year, the company entered its first YouTube creator channel partnership with animator Gabe Hordos (“How to Train Your Dragon”) on his animated short film series “The Old Knight.” In under one month, Hordos’ YouTube channel grew from approximately 500,000 monthly impressions to more than six million, resulting in two million new views, 41,000+ watch hours and a 100x increase in brand revenue with virtually zero ad spend.
ABOUT THE HIVE STUDIO
Founded in 2010, The Hive Studio is a world-renowned animation studio, specializing in the development and production of animated episodic programming, short films, and commercial content. With four branches in the Mediterranean region, the studio is powered by a team of 40 highly skilled artists, led by founder Amit Russell Gicelter, an Oscar®-nominated producer with over two decades of industry experience. The Hive Studio is a creative hub known for visually diverse, technically accomplished animation, internationally acclaimed and broadcast worldwide. Alongside developing original IPs, the studio also provides high-quality service work for partners and clients around the globe.
ABOUT CHRONICLE STUDIOS
Chronicle Studios is an AI-driven media company that automates social media audience growth for content creators, brands and studio partners across animation, gaming, music, podcasts and more. The company’s agentic AI platform autonomously manages the full content lifecycle, including channel strategy, audience discovery, content optimization and cross-platform distribution – driving audience acquisition and unlocking revenue streams. Founded in 2025 with backing from Patron, Point72 Ventures, Z Ventures, Sands Capital and other prominent investors, Chronicle Studios is based in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and London. For more information, please visit https://www.chronicle.studio.
The Vampair, from Daria Cohen and The Hive Studio
MILAN (AP) — At the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, winning medals isn’t the only thing making hearts swell. From the ice rinks to the snowy hills, love is in the frozen air.
Some competitions already seem to have Cupid in attendance.
Dutch skater Jutta Leerdam set an Olympic record in the 1000-meter race, then turned to find her fiancé Jake Paul in the stands; both visibly weeping, they made heart signs to one another with their hands. And downhill skiing champion Breezy Johnson ’s longtime boyfriend proposed to her near the finish line Thursday while surrounded by members of the U.S. Ski Team.
Valentine's Day for athletes and attendees at the Games doesn't usually mean grand gestures, but it's no less special.
Valentine’s Day is the finals for the women’s skeleton event. That means that Kim Meylemans of Belgium and Nicole Rocha Silveira of Brazil — an international couple who play for their separate national teams — will be too busy for a romantic dinner. They told The Associated Press they didn’t even bring gifts to exchange.
But since they are together all the time, “It’s always a bit of a Valentine's Day," Meylemans said. “It is part of our sport every day, our love.”
The two feel fortunate their national Olympic committees arranged for them to bunk together at Cortina's Olympic village, since typically only teammates share housing. Half their room is decorated for Belgium, the other half Brazil.
Rocha Silveira was new to the sport in 2019 when Meylemans was already competing in World Cup races. They fell in love during the pandemic while sharing short-term rentals, since many hotels closed.
Fast forward to 2024, and they unknowingly bought identical engagement rings and planned proposals for the same boat trip in Brazil while on vacation. They married last August.
When they compete, they high-five and kiss before each run, wishing the other well.
“It doesn’t matter which one is on the podium. At the end of the day, it’s a victory for our team," Meylemans said.
Rocha Silveira said it’s important their relationship appears during these Games in Italy, where same-sex marriages aren't recognized and only married heterosexual couples are allowed to jointly adopt.
It’s a great place to “show it even more,” and “encourage and inspire people that they can be themselves,” she said.
Lori and Curtis Brown have been married for over 30 years and will be spend Valentine's Day at the skating arena where they are volunteering for this year’s Winter Olympics.
About 18,000 volunteers are spread across the venues in northern Italy — a sea of navy blue uniforms keeping the Olympics running around the clock, with duties such as giving directions, accompanying athletes to venues, crowd control and medical support.
Curtis, 60, said neither of them had realized they were scheduled to work. Now, they're hoping they can coincide their breaks to have dinner together, perhaps surrounded by the rest of the volunteers, he joked.
“This is the most special Valentine’s Day of our lives,” Curtis said. “Because we’re both here, we’re both on the same page, we’re both enjoying this adventure together.”
While presents are neither’s love language, Lori, 61, told the AP she bought boxer briefs from the official Milan Cortina souvenir store. Curtis hadn’t bought anything for her.
“It’s not so much about gift giving, just going out and doing something together,” said Lori, 61. She spoke while sitting beside Curtis, so perhaps she’ll be surprised on Saturday.
Canadian hockey forward Laura Stacey and her wife, team captain Marie-Philip Poulin, have a different kind of date: playing Germany's team in the quarterfinals in Milan.
“We have a game, we have a big game, so spending it together. We’re pretty lucky,” Stacey said. “Most people don’t get to do what they love, chasing their dreams together, and we do. So I think on February 14th, I think it’s important for us to just appreciate that and not take it for granted."
Aside from taking on Germany, they don't have plans — but Stacey said they will surely at least give each other cards.
Many other couples are at the Olympics, some teammates and others competing against each other.
— U.S. alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin — that sport’s all-time wins leader — is engaged to Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who returned to racing this season after dealing with major injuries.
— Latvia’s luge team includes the husband-and-wife pair of Martins Bots and Elina Bota, both single sliders.
— Italy’s luge team Dominik Fischnaller and the U.S.'s Emily Sweeney married last year after dating for almost 15 years.
— U.S. bobsledding has a power couple with reigning women’s monobloc world champion Kaysha Love engaged to men’s push athlete Hunter Powell. She’s in the Olympics for the second time, while he's making his debut.
— American figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates were married in 2024 and won a silver medal on Wednesday.
—Curling may have the most well-known couples of any sport. Norway’s Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien have been together since 2008 and won bronze in Pyeongchang. Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant of Canada married in 2022 and were favorites this year. There are Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwalller-Huerlimann, too; they brought their baby and photos of him carrying a curling broom twice his size went viral.
He looked like a curling Cupid.
Associated Press writers Jennifer McDermott in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy and John Wawrow in Milan contributed to this report.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Belgium's Kim Meylemans, right, and Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira, left, embrace at the finish during a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Belgium's Kim Meylemans, left, and Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira react, at the finish during a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Brasil's Nicole Rocha Silveira arrives at the finish during a women's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Belgium's Kim Meylemans starts for a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Belgium's Kim Meylemans, left, and Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira react, at the finish during a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
