The New York Film and Television Union Coalition is praising a pair of identical bills pending in New York State that would “prohibit applicants to the Empire State film production credit from using artificial intelligence that would displace any natural person in their productions.” The coalition is made up of SAG-AGTRA, the WGA East, the
Technology
UPDATED with report of lawyer’s letter: Actual fisticuffs between longtime tech industry rivals Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have recently become a looming possibility. Now, Musk could be expanding the conflict to the courtroom. Hours after Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms launched Threads, a new service billed as a “Twitter killer,” a lawyer for the Musk-owned service
Editors note: Anthony McCarten has been nominated for two adapted screenplay Oscars, for The Theory of Everything and The Two Popes. Here he writes about AI, a big issue in the WGA talks with studios that broke down, leading to the current writers strike. We now have a new name for writers: SLMs, Small Language
Disney has eliminated a small business unit focused on exploring the metaverse, part of its initial efforts to reduce its workforce by about 7,000 employees. About 50 workers were part of the group dedicated to “next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences.” The elimination of the unit, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was confirmed to
Imax Corp. has acquired Ssimwave, an Ontario-based AI-driven tech firm whose clients include media giants from Disney and Paramount Global to Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCU parent Comcast. It’s a cash and stock deal worth $21 million. Imax has also worked with Ssimwave, an expert in enhancing on-demand and live visual imagery for broadcast and
UPDATED with delay news: Blue Origin said Thursday night that it has delayed the launch of its 20th mission, which was scheduled to take place March 23. The shift, the company said, means SNL‘s Pete Davidson “is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission.” No reason was immediately given for him
P-MRC Data, a joint venture of Deadline parent Penske Media and MRC, is being rebranded as Luminate. The company powers the Billboard charts and provides data on music sales, consumption and consumer engagement as well as extensive production metadata on TV and film. Clients include virtually all top-tier entertainment companies. “We re-conceived this brand as