Yes, it’s true: "That part of the industry, once dominated by amateurs making funny viral videos with smartphones has blossomed into a formidable entertainment force, where video creators are setting up real businesses with large studios in Southern California funded through advertising by major brands. - Los Angeles Times
The “slow-mo effect,” is retrospective, a trick of memory. Still, it indicates a remarkable theatricality, a cinematic flair, on the part of our brains. “We might experience almost everything in some form of slow motion if we thought that we were always dying." - The New Republic
“Omar, (an) Afghan minesweeper tasked with protecting Green Berets, … was allegedly tracked down from a scene in Retrograde. … The estate accused the documentary’s producers of exploiting Omar’s identity for ‘commercial gain while knowingly placing him in grave danger’.” The producers say they’re protected by the First Amendment. - The Hollywood Reporter
“The problem started with Facebook pivoting away from the news in 2022, and has accelerated in recent months as Google makes seemingly corrosive changes to its search algorithm while rolling out the innovation that will one day replace traditional search results: AI summaries.” - New York Magazine (MSN)
The gambit to chase Netflix with a service called Max didn’t work. Warner Bros. Discovery’s leaders eventually recognized the tremendous value in the HBO name, and sheepishly brought it back for an encore. - Los Angeles Times
Alphabet has to acknowledge not only the downsides of AI, but its potential to overwhelm platforms that rely on user-generated content—in other words, rein in instances of repetitive, inauthentic slop created with the very technologies that it’s investing so heavily in. - Fast Company
As with the dual strikes in 2023, artificial intelligence was a big sticking point in negotiations. As such, the new contract establishes performer safety guardrails and gains around AI, including consent and disclosure requirements for artificially generated digital replica use. - Deadline
M2 appears to be an end-run around this issue, allowing ByteDance to pour in those ingredients but then step away to let Americans run the kitchen. Will we still be as hungry? Less clear. - The Hollywood Reporter
“Is there a chance the fog surrounding the company’s quest to sell itself to Skydance Media is about to lift? So far, it’s not entirely clear — not even to executives at Paramount Global.” - Variety
“The 11-month strike waged by the performers’ union was brought to a tidy end on Wednesday as members voted overwhelmingly to ratify a labor agreement with major interactive companies, which collectively are behind franchises like Call of Duty and Marvel’s Spider-Man.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Festivals are also answerable to funders and to different stakeholders’ interests. Cancellations of planned films raise questions about festivals’ roles and accountability to community groups who find certain films objectionable, the wider public, politicians, festival sponsors, audiences, filmmakers and the films themselves. - The Conversation
The brand’s voice is embedded in the content, as are its products, but there’s no overt pitch, no awkward energy of a sponsored partnership. The videos are seemingly unpolished, even if they may have been meticulously planned. And, in many cases, viewers may not even realize they’re being marketed to. - The New York Times
