Leveraging All of Entertainment’s IP

“Nobody ever wins the games. Period. There are survivors. Theres no winners.” – Haymitch Abernathy, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate, 2013 We’re not really a gamer…

Death Star

“Look, I can’t get involved. I’ve got work to do. It’s not that I like the Empire; I hate it, but there’s nothing I can…

People Need to Come First When We Use AI

“It’s just surviving. Life’s very existence requires destruction. Calvin doesn’t hate us. But he has to kill us in order to survive.” – Hugh Derry, “Life,”…

Zero in on one that says yes (and no)

Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos For content creators the most difficult job is to pitch and “sell” a video story idea. The same is…

Sports Production, Delivery is Big Biz at NAB

Hero image source: NAB One of the neat things about trade shows is you get to forget about politics and pretty much everything that is…

Even at CES AI Isn’t the Answer to Everything

Gary Shapiro (r), CTA CEO and Kinsey Fabrizio, CTA President, opened CES 2026 for more than 140,000 attendees from over 120 countries. CES used to…

Beauty, Value is in the Eye of the Beholder

“You know, that’s good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we’d never get anywhere. Sam Spade, Maltese Falcon, Warner Bros,…

Streaming Bosses Know The Other Guy Has It Easier

“People Are Making Apocalypse Jokes Like There’s No Tomorrow.”  Bill, The Last of Us,  HBO Max, 2023 Only time will tell if John Stankey (CEO of AT&T) made…

Creative Content is Better Because it’s Global

Above image source – “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” Paramount “That’s what we do. We make mistakes. Sometimes, out of those mistakes come the most amazing…

Multi-Generational Team Can Aid Growth

“But you don’t know. You just assume. One for one. What everyone’s been taught to believe. One for one.” – Logan, “Logan’s Run,” MGM, 1976 The…

Tax Credit Incentives Are Just One of the Project Location Tools

“We were gonna make a whole world like this. Now, everyone used to come here, but you know… you know what it feels like when…

A Little Creative AI is Fine, But…

“There have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender…

Exploring a Better Answer than Good Enough Before IBC

Remote Work – As with nearly all sports coverage today, Paramount’s Chilevisión uses a healthy mix of cameras to capture all of the action and consolidate it…

Personal Data Protection Could Be Job One

“When I’m done, you won’t even be a memory of a memory.” – Luke Wright, “Safe,” Lionsgate, 2012 After months of watching people rush to…

Social, Streaming Don’t Compete, They Compliment

“I think we’ve all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.” – Jack Sparrow, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,”…

Hopefully, the Path to More, Better Entertainment

“Somebody please beam me out of here.” – Stevie Wayne, “The Fog,” Revolution Studios, 2005 Okay, April 2025 didn’t exactly start out as we envisioned, but…

Tax Incentives Won’t Solve Hollywood’s Problems

“Taking the wrong boy was a lucky break. In other words, this doesn’t count. But you have to pay anyway. You’re a fool to pay,…

People Want Ads as Intelligent as their Content

‘In situations like this, carelessness, mistakes–they will haunt you. I know this from experience.” – Walter O’Brien, “Scorpion,” CBS, 2014- 2018 There’s nothing harder to…

Getting the Right Creative Content in Front of the Right Audience

“Just relax, darlin’. This is the Big Easy. Folks have a certain way o’ doin’ things down here.”  — Remy McSwain, “The Big Easy,” 1987,…

CES on Content Creation, Rebuilding Tomorrow

“I can’t lie about your chances. But you have my sympathies.” — Rook, “Alien: Romulus, 20th Century,” 2024 A few short weeks ago, we made…

Franchise Projects Shouldn’t be a Makeover

“I’m going to tell you a story. It’s going to sound ridiculous. The longer I talk, the more rational it’s going to appear.” Cage, “Edge…

Creator Economy Isn't Really Like Film/Show Entertainment

“Come on Barry, you’re good at this sort of stuff. Think of something.” – Nathan, “Misfits,” Clerkenwell Films, 2012 A few weeks ago, we walked…

AI Is a Tool, Not a Creative Solution

“What you men call ‘work life’ is full of flattery and peer pressure. I can be part of those, too. I’m just appalled by them.”…

Production Location Options Are Now Global

“Once loyalty begins, it does not have an end. Otherwise, it would not be loyalty.” – Mariko, “Shogun,” FX Productions, 2024 A lot of people…

Use AI Where It Improves Workflow, Workload, Entertainment Value

“An A.I. is like any intelligence. It has needs. It will start to evolve, to influence, perhaps the entire world,” Max Waters, “Transcendence”, Warner Bros,…

We’re Entering Untested Entertainment Territory

“Ventress wants to face it. You want to fight it. But I don’t think I want either of those things.” – Josie Radek, “Annihilation,” Paramount,…

Horror Films Are Good for Body and Mind

“We’re a statistical improbability. And now they want to see who will be the luckiest among the lucky.” – Zoey Davis, “Escape Room,” Columbia Pictures,…

The Educational, Informational Side of IBC

“The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Main Title Announcer, “Dragnet,” Mark VII Productions,…

Toronto, Amsterdam Take Center Stage

“Still waiting for the technology to catch up with the idea. I mean it’s not easy, there are a lot of moving parts.” – “Night…

Films and Shows Should Never Lose the Personal/Emotional Touch

You should try building a boat with hand tools after a couple of shots of Jack.” – Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, “NCIS,” Belisarius Productions,…

Video Entertainment is Global, Local

“There are places out there you can’t find on any map. They’re not gone, they’re just lost.”  – Nate, “Uncharted,” Columbia Pictures, 2022 Folks, just…

The Content Creation, Consumption Shift Continues

“Philanthropy isn’t tossing a bone to a hungry dog; it’s sharing when you are just as hungry.” – Necia, “Winter Sleep,” Adopt Films, 2014 The…

Content Creation is a Semi-Glamourous Business

“They worship everything, and they value nothing.” – Sebastian, “LaLa Land,” Lionsgate, 2016 One of the toughest jobs in the world is to be a…

Does Your Smart TV Have an Ulterior Motive?

“I suggested a rather unbelievable possibility. Since then, I’ve come to believe that possibility – however unbelievable – is now more a probability.” – Elijah…

A Good Movie Is a Good Movie No Matter Where It’s Seen

“The life we enjoy is very much worth the sacrifice.” – Rudolf Hoss, “Zone of Interest,” A24, 2023 Shortly after the end of CinemaCon, we…

The Lines of Entertainment Could be Blurring

“Millions of girls, like from the university mostly. If we could get one to dance, just one, then that was it. We’d get out on…

Neat Tools Are Needed to Help Creatives Deliver Fantastic Films, Shows

“Turns out, in my Matrix, the worse we treat you, the more we manipulate you, the more energy you produce. It’s nuts. I’ve been setting…

AI Benefits Come at a Cost

“After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever…

The Power of Making Great Projects Shouldn’t be Wasted

“I love you, Molly. I’ve always loved you,” Sam.  “Ditto,” Molly. — “Ghost,” Paramount, 1990 We had wrapped up the business part of a video…

Time for NAB Reality Check

Above image source – “Allegiant,” Summit Entertainment             “Great leaders don’t seek power. They’re called by necessity.” Johanna, “Allegiant,” Summit Entertainment, 2016 The great thing…

Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux

“My empathy is creeping towards what I would describe… a contemptuous rage.” – Bella Baxter, “Poor Things,” Disney, 2023 For an organization – and industry…

Video Games Round Out the Entertainment Package

“By this, I take it you think everybody is who they say they are.”– Evelyn Salt, “Salt,” Sony, 2010 Say the word entertainment and immediately…

Second-guessing Viewers is a Tough Business

“When two hunters go after the same prey, they usually end up shooting each other in the back. And we don’t want to shoot each…

The Best News Coverage is Real, Live, Balanced, Professional

Hero image source – “News of the World,” Perfect World Pictures “My name is Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, and I’m here tonight to bring you…

Not Everyone Likes the Same Video Content and Tastes Change

Hero image source – “Dream Scenario,” A24 “Maybe you should take a minute and think before you do anything drastic.” – Janet Matthews, “Dream Scenario,”…

Creators, Services Need to Be Multi-lingual

Hero image source – “The Gambler,” Paramount “It’s either victory, or don’t bother. The only thing worth doing is the impossible. Everything else is gray.”…

Industry AI Guidelines Don’t Have to be Arbitrary

Hero image source – Adobe Stock “I don’t want to be just one thing. I can’t be. I want to be brave, and I want…

The Glitz, Hopes, Promises, Questions Were Back at CES 2024

Hero image source – CES Opening Day – This year, Gary Shapiro, CEO of CTA, marked the 100th anniversary of the organization and the opening…

2024 Has a World of Potential for the Industry

“Without the burden of memories, we’re a clean slate, we can have a fresh start. Nobody can tell you who you are but you yourself.…

AI – A Very Useful Video Entertainment Tool Kit

Hero image – “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” Warner Brothers To the logical conclusion… that Blue Fairy is part of the great human flaw to wish for…