“Set up in the 1960s via international treaty, Intelsat SA has played a critical and often-overlooked role providing connectivity infrastructure for more than a half century so that humanity could witness everything from Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon in 1969 to Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ recent victory in [this year’s] Super Bowl. But thanks to technological evolution, shifting FCC priorities and the latest COVID-19 pandemic, the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Category: media
Next-Level Zoom – The Virtual Reality Version
“The weird feel of us meeting in a virtual fishtank, with real people able to peek in, makes me think of a possible future where performers work in VR, while directors or creators observe in video panels, able to provide more emotional nuance with their faces. VR isn’t able to blend moving around and using real facial expressions yet, which makes VR theater performances feel more like dance and puppetry than real living, talking faces. But this hybrid of VR and video chat feels like something new.” – CNET
AI Is Already Changing How Big Movies Are Made
Here’s how studios are currently using artificial intelligence to manage operations and workflow, editing, analysis of finances and moviegoer preferences, and “digital humans.” What’s more, predicts a senior researcher at Google, “Decades from now, an AI algorithm will make your movie simply from the text of the script.” – The Hollywood Reporter
AT&T’s $4 Billion Gamble On HBO Max
“The investment is the biggest bet to date made by AT&T to realize the promise of its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. … The hope is that HBO Max is built up over the next few years to be a multipurpose platform for the global distribution of WarnerMedia content as well as an engine for bundling subscriptions to AT&T’s wireless and data services. The fear is that an underwhelming HBO Max would tarnish or, worse, be a financial strain on HBO proper.” – Variety
Twitter Tells Its Employees They Can Work From Home Forever
The company will “never probably be the same” in the structure of its work. “People who were reticent to work remotely will find that they really thrive that way. Managers who didn’t think they could manage teams that were remote will have a different perspective. I do think we won’t go back.” – BuzzfeedNews
Why Do We Miss Cannes So Much?, Ask New York Times Movie Writers
A.O. Scott, in conversation with Manohla Dargis and Kyle Buchanan:
“For 11 or 12 days, the festival becomes a cinematic universe in its own right. When you’re inside it, the rest of the world seems unreal. From outside, it looks like a strange snow globe full of movie stars. But it matters because, behind all the frantic photo calls and yacht parties and swanny red carpet marches is an almost religious devotion to cinema, an ardor for the art that isn’t snobbish or cynical.” – The New York Times
Does It Make Sense For Amazon To Buy AMC?
“Everybody thinks about it one way. They think, Okay, Amazon is going to buy movies or produce movies. AT&T or Comcast is going to start skipping theater distribution and go straight to your TV set. It makes sense, right? But there are opportunities to go the other way. And that is, I think, if Amazon owned AMC, it might release the first four episodes of season three of Jack Ryan in the theater.” – New York Magazine
Zoom Etiquette: What Your Bookshelf Says About You
The bookshelf has become the background of choice on Zoom calls from home. These aren’t random choices. The books and objects on your shelves say things about you. And now the game of figuring out what you’re saying… – The New York Times (Video)
How A Soap Opera Institution Is Returning To Shooting While Maintaining Social Distance
“They stand five feet apart, cannot hold hands, kiss or simulate a brawl, but the cast and crew of Neighbours — a long-running Australian soap opera that returned to production in late April amid coronavirus restrictions — still hope to convey the same heightened conflict, intimacy and drama that the show’s fans have come to love. … [The series] could set an important precedent for the global screen industry as it tries to figure out how a phased reintroduction to shooting television series and films might work.” – The New York Times
Movie Theatres In UK Won’t Open Until At Least July 4
“[A] 60-page document, entitled Our Plan to Rebuild, sets out that cinemas are part of a ‘high-risk’ group of businesses that will be the last to reopen from July 4 onwards” — and even that date is not guaranteed. – Variety