Latest news with #ArcanaAI
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ex-Prime Video Exec To Rainbow; AI Film ‘Echo Hunter'; MGM Alternative Makes BBC Show; HiddenLight Producer Joins Sky News Unit
Ex-Prime Video Italy Boss Joins Rainbow Group Marco Azzani, the former Country Manager for Prime Video Italy, has joined Rainbow Group as Executive VP of Digital Channels and Distribution. He had exited Amazon in February after a decade and his appointment at Italy-based animation house Rainbow comes at a crucial time following investment from TEC Movie, an indie vehicle formed by members of The Equity Club, which operates on behalf of ultra-high net-worth individuals connected to Mediobanca. The cash injection was part of a plan to expand internationally. Azzani, a 20-year industry veteran, led Prime Video between 2021 and 2025, having previously joined as Country Manager for Audible. He oversaw the local launch of comedy entertainment format LOL: Last One Laughing and acquired UEFA Champions League rights. 'The arrival of Marco Azzani represents a very important step for our group, which for years has undertaken a path of expansion and development in terms of quality and content offering,' said Iginio Straffi, founder and President of Rainbow, which is best known as the company behind the Winx Club brand. 'His experience in the digital and international media sector will be extremely valuable in developing new business lines and pushing Rainbow towards unprecedented goals in the world of entertainment.' More from Deadline 'Doctor Who' Ratings Dive, Supercharging Uncertainty About Future Of Sci-Fi Series BBC Content Supremo Latest: Banijay UK Boss Patrick Holland Out, Kate Phillips Person To Beat BBC Unveils 10-Strong Comedy Slate Featuring Diane Morgan, Michael Palin, Mackenzie Crook, Lenny Rush, Rob Brydon, & Guz Khan AI Filmmaker Kavan The Kid Making Dystopian Thriller EXCLUSIVE: A 30-minute dystopian sci-fi thriller from AI filmmaker Kavan Cardoza, aka 'Kavan the Kid', is headed to a new artificial intelligence-powered streaming platform. Echo Hunter will roll out after production on Arcana AI, a new platform operated by Arcana Labs that provides provides production tools. The film will be set in a dystopian future, where the elite harvest clones for spare parts. Per the synopsis, it follows a relentless clone hunter, who begins to unravel when echoes of his former life surface, leading him to a harrowing truth that could destroy the very world he protects. Cardoza's AI films have generated millions of views to date. Breckin Meyer (Robot Chicken) stars, with Taylor John Smith (Warfare, Where the Crawdads Sing), Danielle Bisutti (God of War, Insidious), Gedeon Burkhard (Inglourious Basterds), Hanna Balicki (The Wolf and Lamb), and Xander Bailey among the cast. Meyer is represented by IAG, Artists First, Danis, Panaro, Nist Talent, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. 'Echo Hunter is a project I hold deep in my heart,' said Cardoza. 'Telling this story through the combined power of Arcana AI and traditional filmmaking – alongside phenomenal performances from an incredible cast – has made this experience truly unforgettable. This film not only highlights what AI can achieve, but also offers a glimpse into the future of cinema and the emerging voices shaping its direction.' Let's see if the industry agrees. The film is powered and produced by Arcana Labs in association with Phantom X, with Mike J Mitch serving as producer and Arcana Labs CEO Jonathan Yunger as executive producer. Footage from the film played at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday with a digital premiere expected later this month. Last month, we revealed Arcana Labs had secured $5.5M from a funding round that allowed the company to launch Arcana AI. MGM Alternative Making BBC Daytime Series MGM Alternative UK's latest series is a BBC Daytime series, The Marvellous Miniatures Workshop (working title). BBC TV and radio presenter Sara Cox will front the series, in which professional model makers bring place, people and iconic moments to life via miniature models. MGM Alternative is planning to use new tech and microscopic cameras to get up close to the mini-models, as audiences are introduced to the people who want their special moment captured. The series will run on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Rob Unsworth, Head of BBC Daytime and Early Peak Commissioning, ordered the show. Nicki Stoker is the series producer. MGM Alternative, which is part of Amazon MGM Studios, already makes The Apprentice and Gladiators for the BBC. 'This show taps into our fascination with the tiny, from fantasy film to classic literature and as a naturally very nosey person, I personally can't wait to find out the beautiful backstory that inspires each creation,' said presenter Cox. HiddenLight's Siobhan Sinnerton To Lead Full Story Films Siobhan Sinnerton, the HiddenLight Productions producer with credits for Netflix's In Her Hands, is joining a new long-form doc label within Sky News. She will be Creative Director of Full Story Films, reporting into Sky News Group Executive Chairman David Rhodes. The unit will focus on developing long-form programs out of Sky's new coverage and archive. Sinnerton will shape and implement the editorial and creative strategy, working to complement the Sky Documentaries division and strike partnerships with talent from across the doc industry. 'This new production unit with Siobhan Sinnerton at the helm will epitomise the premium offering from Sky News,' said Rhodes. 'We see tremendous editorial and commercial opportunities in long-form journalism online and on TV. We're very fortunate to have Siobhan guiding and developing a slate of bold projects as the new Creative Director of Full Story Films.' Besides working at the Clintons' HiddenLight, Sinnerton was a commissioner at Channel 4 in the UK, where she commissioned the BAFTA-winning Myanmar's Killing Fields and the Oscar-nominated For Sama. Best of Deadline 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'The Testaments,' Sequel Series To 'The Handmaid's Tale' So Far
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Talking Baby AI Meme, Arcana's $5.5 Million AI Movie Pipeline, IR's Secret Backers Revealed
The talking baby meme below took the social media world by storm after Canadian comedian Jonathan Lajoie posted it on Instragram Monday. There is a serious side to this hilarious meme, writes technology consultant and influencer Shelly Palmer. 'We're just months away from living in a world where any given image (especially in media, marketing, ecommerce, and presentations) has a high likelihood of being AI-generated.' He writes. 'The political, cultural, economic, and creative implications will be massive.' WESTWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 08: Actor Jon Lajoie attends the premiere of FXX's "The League" final ... More season and "You're The Worst" 2nd season at Regency Bruin Theater on September 8, 2015 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic) I wrote to Lajoie for comment, but have not heard back yet. It looks like a clever combination of Google's Notebook LLM podcast maker and one of the realistic avatars created by app like Captions, but that's speculation on my part. Lisbon , Portugal - 12 November 2024;c John Acunto, Co-founder & CEO, Infinite Reality; on Marketing ... More Summit Stage during day one of Web Summit 2024 at the MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo By Carlos Rodrigues/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images) Infinite Reality's $3B Mystery Deepens Amid Lawsuits and Scrutiny. In a follow-up to its January funding announcement, Infinite Reality now says its $3 billion investment came through Sterling Select, though confusion, lawsuits, and denials persist. A Forbes investigation reveals mounting skepticism about the Florida-based metaverse startup's financial claims, valuation, and governance. The company has faced SEC subpoenas, unpaid vendor lawsuits, and murky investor disclosures. Questions remain about whether Sterling Select controls sufficient capital and why multiple entities cited in IR's press materials—such as Ashcroft Law and Google—distanced themselves. The company has acquired over a dozen firms in all-stock deals, boosting its self-reported valuation to $15.5 billion despite only $75M in 2024 revenue. Former partners, investors, and insiders expressed confusion or disbelief about IR's scale, while a former board member sued for financial documents. Infinite Reality says funds are arriving from offshore accounts and insists the valuation is justified. Trading on Nasdaq Private Markets is planned but hasn't begun. MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 20: Executive Producer Jonathan Yunger attends the "EXPEND4BLES" ... More Miami Premiere at Regal South Beach on September 20, 2023 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by) Arcana Labs has emerged from stealth with $5.5 million in funding led by SEMCAP AI, introducing Arcana AI—a comprehensive AI-powered content production platform. Founded by industry veterans including CEO Jonathan Yunger, known for producing blockbuster franchises like Expendables and Hellboy, Arcana AI offers over 21 integrated tools for image, video, and audio creation, aiming to streamline the filmmaking process. The platform is designed to address real-world production challenges, providing features such as hyperrealistic rendering, character consistency, and seamless integration with models like DALL·E and Stable Diffusion. Currently, Arcana Labs has over 20 films in development, including a fully AI-generated sci-fi epic featuring SAG actors and the first entirely AI-produced horror movie. The company is also launching Arcana Productions to assist with content creation and Arcana Academy to educate filmmakers on AI-driven production techniques. Riffusion, a San Francisco-based AI startup, has launched a free web platform that enables users to create original music using artificial intelligence. The platform features a new AI model named Fuzz, capable of generating complete songs from text descriptions, audio clips, or visual prompts. Fuzz distinguishes itself by learning individual users' musical preferences over time, offering a personalized creative experience. Co-founder and CEO Seth Forsgren emphasizes the platform's aim to democratize music creation, stating that everyone has inherent creativity. Unlike competitors that charge subscription fees, Riffusion's platform is freely available worldwide, appealing to both professional musicians and casual enthusiasts. The technology builds upon the company's previous work in applying image diffusion techniques to audio spectrograms. Industry professionals, including The Chainsmokers' Alex Pall, have joined Riffusion's advisory board, highlighting the platform's potential in the music industry. With a small team of 10 artists, engineers, and researchers, Riffusion aims to make music creation more accessible and enjoyable for all. Numidia Valley is focused on creating a infrastructure for education, gaming, entertainment, and IP ... More ownership in an economy that skipped many of the analog systems of the 20th century. Numidia Valley Taps Lamina1 for Web3 Creative Economy Pilot. In a bid to accelerate digital transformation, Algeria's Numidia Valley is launching a pilot with Lamina1, the blockchain platform co-founded by Neal Stephenson. The project aims to establish a regional Web3 creative economy by providing infrastructure and support for local artists, storytellers, and developers. Built on Lamina1's decentralized protocol, the initiative will include training, NFT marketplaces, and smart contract frameworks for media rights and distribution. It's part of a broader strategy to position Algeria as a center for blockchain innovation in North Africa. Asteria Launches AI-Enhanced Animated Series 'The Odd Birds Show.' Asteria, a generative AI film and animation studio, has launched The Odd Birds Show, a short-form adult animated series created by Swedish animator Arvid Tappert. The series debuts across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and follows a dysfunctional bird family hosting their own talk show. Tappert developed a hybrid production pipeline combining hand-drawn art, 3D modeling, LoRA fine-tuning, VR puppeteering, motion tracking, and AI-assisted animation. Asteria says the approach enables high-quality output with small teams. The studio is also expanding the project into a longer-form series. Asteria's proprietary AI model, Marey, was trained on ethically licensed content. SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 19: Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., speaks onstage during the Snap ... More Partner Summit 2023 at Barker Hangar on April 19, 2023 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo byfor Snap, Inc.) Snap CEO Evan Spiegel to Keynote AWE 2025 Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel will deliver a keynote at AWE USA 2025 on June 10 in Long Beach, marking his first appearance at the XR industry's flagship event. Spiegel is expected to outline Snap's distinct approach to augmented reality, centered on Spectacles smart glasses and its in-house tools, Snap OS and Lens Studio. Unlike Meta's gaming focus or Apple's productivity push, Snap emphasizes social, location-based AR experiences. The keynote comes as AWE expands its programming with new initiatives like the Builders Nexus and AWE Gaming Hub to support XR creators. The 2025 conference will feature over 6,000 attendees, 400 speakers, and 300 exhibitors, including Qualcomm and XREAL. Snap's ecosystem has often placed it outside mainstream XR circles, but Spiegel's presence at AWE signals growing engagement. Full event details and ticket information are available on the AWE USA 2025 website. The 2025 Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, today announced its Immersive program, titled In Search ... More of Us, a genre-defying exhibition spotlighting 11 groundbreaking projects—including six world premieres—by visionary artists working at the forefront of immersive storytelling. Tribeca Festival Announces 2025 Immersive Lineup 'In Search of Us.' Tribeca Festival has unveiled its 2025 immersive program, In Search of Us, featuring 11 XR and AI-driven projects, including six world premieres. Presented in partnership with Onassis ONX and Agog, the exhibition explores themes like memory, identity, and collective imagination. Projects range from a haptic VR experience about electroshock therapy to an AI-generated installation on media violence. Notable creators include Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Cameron Kostopolous, Idris Brewster, and Meghna Singh. The works will be presented at Water Street Projects at WSA, a Lower Manhattan arts hub. General admission tickets go on sale April 29 at Stay: Forever Home for the Quest 3 was created by Windup Minds, a team led by Bernard Yee, the ex-Meta lead who was responsible for all the first-party Quest showcase apps you know and love like First Steps and First Contact. Using an AI-powered personality engine, Ember will react and learn from your interactions and develop a unique bond with their owner over time This column serves as the script for the news segment of our weekly AI/XR Podcast, co-hosted by former Paramount futurist and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap, Mako Robotics, and Synthbee AI. This week's guest is Sam Liang, CEO of Otter AI. You can find us on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube. What We're Reading The 50 Best Selling Titles on Meta Quest Store (Road to VR). The top five titles might not surprise you, but the rest of them might.
