I have to interrupt the normal newsletter flow for some self-promotion this week. I'm super proud to announce that a film I produced (along with Frank Hall Green and Joseph Stephans) - The Outside Story, directed by Casimir Nozkowski - premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. This one is a true indie, with no brands involved, and I can't wait for my friends and colleagues to see the premiere. The cast - partially listed on the graphic above - is amazing, especially Brian Tyree Henry. Stay tuned on our FB page for updates, but here's the synopsis:
After many acclaimed supporting roles, Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Eternals) takes on his first big screen lead character as Charles Young, an introverted video editor, trying to recover from a broken heart. Perceiving a betrayal of trust as a sign his girlfriend Isha (Sonequa Martin-Green, Star Trek: Discovery) is leaving him, Charles pre-emptively blows up his relationship and sequesters himself at home. The fates do not comply and Charles accidentally locks himself out of his apartment. Stumbling into a life-changing odyssey exploring his building and opening himself up to his community, Charles meets a world of previously avoided neighbors played by Asia Kate Dillon (John Wick 3, Billions), Sunita Mani (GLOW, Mr. Robot, Madeline’s Madeline) Olivia Edward (Better Things) Maria Dizzia (Orange is the New Black) and Michael Cyril Creighton (Spotlight) among others. In a nearly real-time experience, Charles is forced to re-evaluate his choices when he sees his life in parallel with the people around him. From his recently widowed neighbor next door, to the curious swingers upstairs, to the piano prodigy hiding out on the roof, Charles moves from one neck-snapping tableau to the next, disrupting and being disrupted in the process. With no shoes, no money, a phone running low and the stars aligned to keep him physically separated from his comfort zone, Charles discovers in The Outside Story we’ve all got issues and it never helps to keep them locked up inside.
I'm also excited to announce a few other client projects premiering soon - and there's more to come with about 12 client films premiering this Spring/Summer (!) - which I'll list once the fests announce their schedules.
Also at Tribeca, is FRIES! from Zero Point Zero productions and director Michael Steed. As I've been telling folks, this one is going to change the world one fry at a time! Ok, it's just fun, and informative, and a crowd-pleaser. But it's been a pleasure to work with ZPZ, who joined Chrissy Teigen, Malcolm Gladwell, Eric Ripert, Sir Kensington's and others on this fun film.
And launching at CPH:DOX is Project Debater - a film by Epic Magazine's Josh Davis and Harry Spitzer, about an AI developed by IBM that can debate a human. This one will premiere with a live debate between a champion debater featured in the film, and the AI - augmented with power from the intelligence of the audience! Click here for more info.
And over at SXSW, you can find another client film - We are As Gods - by Jason Sussberg and David Alvarado, about counter-culture legend Stewart Brand, the creator of the Whole Earth catalog, who is changing how we think about extinction, climate change, and time.
SXSW also premieres ZPZ's Radical Love - a great short about Michael and Eleanora Kennedy, a husband-wife legal team who represented a who’s who of the politically subversive class in the 1960s and 70s. I didn't work on this last one, but have been following it while ZPZ has been a client, and it's a must-see project.
Back to my rants on the week's news next week. For now, mark these films on your calendars/queues and please help spread the word.
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Film/Streaming
Rian Johnson says Apple won't let "bad guys" have iPhones on camera - brand protection taken to the extreme.
Roku is in talks to make shows- kinda like Amazon, but being quiet about what they want to do, kinda like clueless bureaucrats with a vague, copycat idea.
Quibi Closes Upsized $750 Million Second Round of Funding for Mobile-Video Launch - Quibi raised more than it thought this round - is this a good thing, or a sign of over-spending or over-enthusiasm? We'll find out in just weeks.
YouTube TV adds a big missing piece of the cord-cutting puzzle with HBO deal - FastCo reports that YouTube has made a big deal with HBO, making it another bundle of sorts.
Disney streaming falters due to lack of adult programs, experts say - Has Disney's growth slowed because they've gotten all the kids, but have nothing else for adults? That's the theory from the NYPost.
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Gaming/VR/AR/AI
Push-button warfare: How artists use games to capture drone strike horror - ArsTechnica reports - “It is ongoing, it is growing, and it is horrifying.” That is how digital media artist Joseph Delappe described the military use of drones" and why he's focusing his art on this issue. More artists are doing the same. Will this bring more public outrage than film has been able to do?
More Than 100 VR Games Have Exceeded $1 Million in Revenue- Maybe these things will work after all. RoadToVR Reports
The Pentagon now has 5 principles for artificial intelligence Wait...the Pentagon has principles?! These seem toothless, but you gotta start somewher
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Misc.
Perhaps the cloud isn't such an energy hog - A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the climate impact of cloud computing and how our shift to this - and how it overlaps with Netflix, gaming, etc. - could be a bad thing. Well, turns out the NYT reports recently that while we are shifting to the cloud, these companies are increasing their capacity while decreasing their impact. I'm wrong, Wired is wrong, not all is lost.
Is TikTok just Spyware? Yes, says Reddit's CEO in FastCo
Musicians Algorithmically Generate Every Possible Melody, Release Them to Public Domain - this was a pretty genius move. No one seems sure whether it will hold up in court, but it proves the absurdity of these copyright claims.
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