🖐🏼 on Friday - the top five film industry stories of the week!
We'RE BACKKKK!!
It’s been a LONGG MINUTE since I felt like the industry was really buzzing with news that wasn’t just complete doom x gloom … although most of the stories below feel like doom and gloom tho! SORRY GUYS, good news just doesn’t sell!!
Excited to hear everyone’s thoughts on this weeks five on Friday!
A week in the life of a baby writer
As always thanks to
for the inspiration for this little tidbit section!Meeting & Project Updates:
Had a financier AND a producer reach out about Better Luck Next Time, very random and haven’t heard back but always nice to get a read from a new industry connect.
Job!!
Absolutely love it. LIKEEE the excitement factor has not worn off at all and I’m just learning so much everyday.
I’m doing a series on instagram and tiktok where I discuss the lessons I am learning from the writer’s room so make sure to find me there if you’re not already following!
I also dropped a tiktok and will be doing a series about the jobs in the writer’s room, talking with the actual people in the jobs!!
Here’s the deadline about the show, KINGMAKER!
Writing:
90 day feature - in … still a fun way… I am rebreaking act one and act two, but I think it’s in a good way!
I’ve been toying on a few pilot ideas but really want to focus on this feature!
Book - I need to put some time aside for this!
The Hollywood Hang Pod:
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The step-by-step multiverse guides
Five on Friday
1. LA Tax Incentive Passed, Will it save LA or is it too late?
The News:
My takeaways:
The key takeaways from the incentive breakdown
Increased Incentives: The per-project tax credit cap is raised to $120M.
Higher Credit Percentages:
Projects filming in Los Angeles can now receive up to 35% back on qualifying expenses (up from 20%).
An extra 5% bump is possible for productions in economically disadvantaged areas.
Boost for Indies: Funding for independent films is tripled from $26M to $75M.
Expanded Access: Broader eligibility and partnerships with nonprofits aim to open up job pathways for more workers.
But*** there’s still no incentive for the ABOVE THE LINE talent which is what folks seem to think would be the necessary incentive to really pull productions back here.
Also the corporate socialism is not lost on me but it in someway is a trickle down effect… if it actually works, it seems like some productions are already approved for the incentive which is very exciting!! I’d love to see these lots bopping.
2. Tubi the TV savior
The News:
Marketing Brew - Why Tubi is beefing up its creator program
My takeaways:
Tubi is getting serious about not only growing their portfolio beyond their licensed and nostalgic titles but reviving the original television model WHICH WAS NEVER BROKEN IN THE FIRST PLACE… (thanks a lot streaming) and I’m here for it.
They’ve got the ads, which are generating revenue for them to buy these killed too soon shows. They are debuting them as “Tubi Originals” which I’m not entirely sure what that means but I’m ready to watch it all unfold between using their ad money for purchases of unique buys that they clearly believe in and want to revive.
They’re focusing on genres that already perform well—horror, teen drama, and comedy.
And now it’s expanding into creator-led content. The program is starting by licensing content from six major YouTubers—Dan and Riya, FunnyMike, Jubilee, Kinigra Deon, Mythical Entertainment, and Watcher—bringing 1,200 episodes to the platform.
They’re going to be helping short-form creators shift to longer content. Which means future phases will include production support and original content funding, aiming to attract more long-form creators.
3. The Paramount Sale
The News
Deadline - Paramount-Skydance: Latest 90-Day Merger Extension Kicks Off Today
THR - ‘South Park’ Creators Threaten Legal Action Over Interference on Streaming Deal (Exclusive)
My takeaways:
With Trump at the helm who even knows if he’ll let it go through. He is close with Daddy Ellison so that is in their favor but it’s already getting messy with the South park creators annoyed with baby Ellison toying with the deal points that they are trying to lock in before the sale.
The sale to me is just another bummer in the way that i feel like there used to be 70+ tv channel operators and now there’s what… 6? I’m too braindead to do the math but you get it, the shrinking means there are less places to hire and it’s all very small and insular and… BORING.
4. AI won’t stop coming… for our jobs and our brain functioning power.
The News:
AI Firm Moonvalley Releases “Commercially Safe” Marey Video System To General Public
ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, According to a New MIT Study
My takeaways:
I still think that AI is going to find it’s place in some world where people can choose to watch it like they might choose animation or to play a video game.
I absolutely think it’s eroding critical thinking skills LOL and the commercially safe is interesting because as I chatted with work friends today I was explaining just how hard it actually is to create a “GOOD PROMPT” that delivers exactly what you’re enviorining.
Prompt creating is a skill unto itself and I think there’s something of talent involved in that BUT the risk of it taking human jobs means it’s a NO from me, dawg.
5. Odds and Ends
I saw Together - 10/10 recommend. Equal parts scary to funny which i was not anticipating.
SAG-AFTRA video game strike finally over.
Wednesday trailer just dropped!
New Jersey productions are still popping off.
EW…. Another AI studio…
Something I’ve been thinking about since last december is Pandora… and the death of a “good algorithm”… think-piece coming soon.
What has you sitting up in your industry seat this week? Let me know in the comments and as always, stay delulu…. with a plan!
Hey, I’ve started an account where I collect some out of context captions of great films in cinema history. Just wanted to share it with the cinephiles around here : https://substack.com/@pariscinema?r=1x6h4r&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile