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We're into October, and over in Europe that means colder days and longer nights. Not that it's stopped the flow of big news from the international TV and film worlds. Jesse Whittock here to guide you through the main talking points. |
Tilly season: If a week ago, I wrote in this column that the most talked-about actress in the world was called Tilly Norwood, I'd have expected concerned calls from colleagues, friends and family. That's certainly not the case now, and they can hold the phone. Norwood, a wide-eyed young woman with a yearning for Hollywood success, burst into the collective consciousness over the weekend when Mel's report from a Zurich Summit panel in Switzerland exploded online. Speaking on stage, actor, comedian and technologist Eline Van der Velden revealed talent agencies were circling
the first creation from her new AI studio, Xicoia – 'actress' Norwood. In the same session, Van der Velden and Luma AI's Verena Puhm both suggested studios and other media and entertainment companies were quietly embracing AI under the radar, leading to a huge reaction from the creative community. Melissa Barrera, Emily Blunt, SAG-AFTRA and
Equity
were among those criticizing the creation, as fury around what it all means for the future of the business grew. Van der Velden, who surely could not have predicted the chaos Tilly's introduction would create, later said the AI character is "not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art." As the week progressed in the week, Ferrari producer Andrea Iervolino announced FellinAI, an AI director that will helm feature film
The Sweet Idleness
, which then prompted Directors UK to issue a statement voicing skepticism. What's next? AI catering staff? Virtual reality runners? The AI tide is rising, and the time to pick a team feels like it's fast approaching.
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Studio system: Everyone's favorite AI star wasn't the only one making headlines in Switzerland this week. Deadline Studio came to town and welcomed the likes of film sales guru Vincent Maraval, Golden Globes President Helen Hoehne, Conclave director Edward Berger, Sony Pictures Classics Co-President Michael Barker, 193 CEO Patrick Wachsberger... I could go on. We've got video interviews of all of them ready for you right here
, and you could do worse things with your Friday than to sit back and lean in. Many were in Switzerland for the Zurich Summit. As the event came to a close on Sunday night, Neon CEO Tom Quinn defended the right to freedom of expression, which is bitterly raging in the U.S. and continues to fuel fires elsewhere. Collecting a Game Changer Award, he used his speech to call out executives
, "people who are far more powerful than I am," for failing to "hold the line." His words came in the aftermath of Disney's brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Several others, including Mk2 Chairman Nathanaël Karmitz and Wachsberger, voiced concerns that division and vitriol are hurting cultural pluralism and risk-taking. All our Zurich Summit content is here.
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Spained expressions: Deadline was back at the Matadero in Madrid this week for Spanish TV conference Iberseries & Platino Industria. Actor Eugenio Derbez gave an insightful talk yesterday, revealing how nobody wanted his feature Radical as his ideas were "too Mexican" until he appeared in the Oscar-winning Coda. "Look at the irony... It became the most popular drama in Mexico’s history," he told enthralled delegates. A day earlier, I reported on
a fun keynote talk from Silicon Valley
co-creator John Altschuler, who didn't pull his punches either. He slammed Europe's creative sector for undervaluing writers and almost wilfully misunderstanding the role of showrunners. Altschuler claimed that even the U.S. studio world, which "despises" writers, knows that script is everything. However, he wasn't in town just to amuse/shock the locals, but to talk about an international co-production for a book he wrote with writing partner Dave Krinsky and Irish actor Richie Stephens. While Europe might not get writers, they also display "a feeling towards art and culture we don’t have in America," said Altschuler, and the best of both worlds might be the answer. "Bringing them together is something a little more interesting, and that is how I
believe we will succeed in the marketplace," he said. All Iberseries coverage can be found here.
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You're making him Cross: The row that's broken out over American comedians performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival might have long-lasting ramifications. The issue first began dividing the U.S.'s funniest towards the end of September when the Saudi Arabian fest began offering huge money for them to perform, despite the country's poor human rights record. (Those familiar with the Red Sea Film Festival or major sports might recall similar instances.) This week, David Cross called out
the likes of Bill Burr and Dave Chapelle, who had signed up, telling his former "heroes" in no uncertain words, “Clearly you guys don’t give a shit about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again?” Burr, who performed last Friday, responded to a barrage of criticism from the comedy community by calling the fest a "mind-blowing experience" and said the Saudis are "just like us.” His words were rather undermined by Atsuko Okatsuka, who
revealed she had been approached to perform and shared terms of a contract that dictated she could not perform any material about the Saudi royal family or several other hot-button topics. You might argue Donald Trump is no fan of comedy critiques of his behavior either, but with many comics pointing to Saudi officials’ alleged roles in 9/11 and the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, this feels more existential to comedy's biggest players. The festival runs until Thursday next week. |
india cinema under the microscope |
There Khan never be another: The week began with this interesting report
on Indian cinema's last 25 years. I got my hands on the IMDb study first and found some notable trends from Bollywood and beyond. The seemingly unstoppable rise of South Indian movie-making was put down to Indian cinema-goers' desire for mass-market features that reflect the entire country. Those further north have, broadly, moved away from that sort of storytelling as they make more "urban-centric" films, IMDb's study suggested. Perhaps more startling was the suggestion that India will never find another star who shines as brightly as Shah Rukh Khan. The study, which assesses IMDb's gigantic database across several metrics, showed Khan-starring films topping the charts as India's most popular pic each year from 2000 and 2004, and that he was in 25 of the top 130 films over
the full 25-year period. Compare that to the last five years, where 23 male leads have appeared in the top 25 films. Shorthand: Stars make fewer movies, so they don't have as many hits. Still, at least they've got more social media follo... No, can't say that either, given his Instagram account has just hit 48.6 million followers.
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