Happy Friday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know…

A MESSAGE FROM META

This muscle car business started with a single Facebook post.

Muscle Car Jr. connects 230,000+ car lovers across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. That community helped its owner, Peter, turn a passion for restoring muscle cars into a thriving business.

Meta apps help over 35 million U.S. businesses, like Muscle Car Jr., grow.

Learn more.

Meanwhile, on the pods…

HOLLYWOOD

Can a federal tax credit for film and TV stem the exodus of productions to the U.K., where incentives can reduce costs by a third? The U.S. senator from California tells me he’s got bipartisan support, but his plan almost certainly needs the Trump seal of approval…

WASHINGTON

Donald Trump’s so-called “military operation” against Iran is rapidly beginning to mirror Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine misadventure—overconfident, poorly planned, and sliding toward a drawn-out quagmire.

SPORTS

The streaming giant invested in a lightweight MLB package to see whether it could fully eventize the industry’s most tonnage-friendly sport. So far, the jury’s out.

A MESSAGE FROM META

Meta apps help over 35 million American businesses grow. 

Muscle Car Jr. is one of them. From a single post, it’s grown into a community of over 230,000 car lovers on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — and a thriving business.

“Restoring cars started as a hobby," says Peter, Muscle Car Jr.'s owner. "Now it's a full-time job."

See Peter's story.

A.I.

The A.I. Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist offers an unflinching view of the nascent industry, including its goriest and most uncertain elements. A candid chat with the producers, however, reveals an optimism often missing from the narrative.

FASHION

The historic-but-niche brand owned and operated by the Della Valle clan is having a moment. But what does the future hold for a designer-dependent business that makes €100 million in the era of superbrands? Or is it better understood as Diego Della Valle’s ultimate plaything?

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by United States Senator Adam Schiff (D-California) to discuss his recent hearing with entertainment industry and labor leaders on the challenges facing the film industry and the importance of instituting a federal tax incentive to bring film and TV production back to California. They talk about how the production slowdown has hurt the city of Los Angeles, why California is not as aggressive in offering tax incentives as other states and countries, and what the federal tax credit would entail. They also discuss where Schiff stands on the Warner Bros.–Paramount merger, the Los Angeles mayoral race, and more.

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