Latest news with #Can'tLookAway:TheCaseAgainstSocialMedia
Associated Press
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Jolt Powers New Era for Independent Film Distribution With Slate of Impactful Releases
Jolt, the AI-driven platform helping independent films reach audiences and generate revenue, today unveiled its latest slate of bold, socially resonant films—including the highly anticipated premiere of Can't Look Away: The Case Against Social Media, a documentary feature film that exposes the real-world consequences of dangerous social media algorithms that exploit and endanger vulnerable young users. Other films joining Jolt's roster include Jon Glassberg's Girl Climber, showcasing renowned climber Emily Harrington as she defies expectations by taking on the challenge to free climb El Capitan in under 24 hours, all while confronting the relentless pressure to prove herself in a male-dominated sport; Wendy Lobel's ANXIETY CLUB, a funny and relatable exploration of anxiety and treatment methods through the lens of some of today's most brilliant comedians; and Dan Algrant's Cathedrals, following the filmmaker on a journey to reconnect with two Black collaborators from a film made nearly 50 years ago. Jolt is creating a new industry standard by transforming the way independent films are distributed and restoring creative sovereignty to filmmakers. As traditional streaming services have lowered the barrier to entry for the film and television industry, the resulting explosion in content has threatened both the creation and discoverability of independent films. Documentaries, especially those with political and emotional depth, have found themselves increasingly crowded out by commercialized algorithms. Jolt is building a critical alternative: a platform where original voices and complex topics are amplified, not buried. Launched by a team with deep roots in independent film—including former Sundance Chief Digital Officer Tara Hein-Phillips, Accel founder and long time Sundance Board Member Jim Swartz, and Academy Award-winning producer Geralyn Dreyfous—Jolt offers a new path forward for filmmakers. Through a first of its kind Interest Delivery Network, Jolt leverages advanced data and machine learning to deliver films directly to highly engaged, values-aligned audiences, ensuring creators see meaningful returns. Filmmakers receive 70% of their earnings, and retain complete ownership of their work and all future rights. Contrary to traditional distribution methods, Jolt strategically curates, markets, and distributes films, ensuring artistic voices find the audiences most receptive to their vision. 'Independent films and documentaries are at risk of disappearing into the void of content overload,' said Tara Hein-Phillips, CEO and Co-founder of Jolt. 'Jolt exists to change that. We're building a new model that empowers filmmakers with creative control, data, and a direct line to the audiences who care deeply about their work.' Bloomberg's Can't Look Away, directed by award-winning filmmakers Matthew O'Neill and Perri Peltz, joins Jolt's growing collection of vital and thought-provoking films, available as of today. The documentary investigates the real-world harms caused by social media platforms and the legal fight to hold them accountable, exemplifying Jolt's commitment to films that confront today's most urgent challenges. In addition to Can't Look Away, Jolt's 2025 lineup includes: Girl Climber (launching June 15), from Red Bull Studios, professional climber Emily Harrington has summited Everest, 8000-meter peaks, and dominated the competition circuit but her greatest challenge extends beyond the physical. Caught between the pursuit of personal ambition and the ticking biological clock of life, a near-fatal fall forces Emily to reckon with what she's willing to risk, ultimately proving she isn't just the best 'girl climber' but one of the best climbers. Period. ANXIETY CLUB (launching August 15), an insightful, heartfelt and humorous documentary that explores anxiety through the lens of some of today's most brilliant comedians, including Marc Maron, Tiffany Jenkins, Mark Normand and others. Through stand-up, sketch videos, exclusive interviews and private behavioral therapy sessions, they candidly share their personal struggles with anxiety, the world's most prevalent mental health condition. Cathedrals (launching May 15), a powerful exploration of the bonds that tie us together and the experiences that shape our identities. Through the lens of a creative collaboration spanning nearly fifty years, the film illuminates the struggles and triumphs that define life in a close-knit community, ultimately reaffirming the importance of human connection and the power of collective memory. Recent titles Hollywoodgate and Zurawski v Texas, which have garnered critical acclaim for their fearless storytelling, as well as The Bibi Files from Oscar-winning filmmakers Alex Gibney and Alexis Bloom, a gripping investigation into power and corruption at the highest levels of Israeli politics, set the tone for the kind of urgent, high-caliber storytelling that Jolt was built to support. 'While legacy streamers prioritize commercial appeal, often avoiding politically complex or emotionally challenging content, Jolt is creating a space where independent creators can thrive—without sacrificing ownership, revenue retention, voice, or impact,' said Accel founder Jim Swartz. 'Jolt exists so independent non-fiction narratives can find and challenge their audience, distinguish their voice amongst their peers, and make their collective impact,' said Geralyn Dreyfous. 'Jolt's model is exactly what our film needs,' said Matthew O'Neill, director of Can't Look Away. 'Through Jolt, we're getting a critically important story out to an audience that cares deeply about these issues in the timeframe when they are most hungry for knowledge. Parents everywhere can learn from this film.' 'In an era when tough stories are too often sidelined, we're grateful to partner with a platform that trusts filmmakers first,' said Perri Peltz, director of Can't Look Away. 'Jolt is making room for films that ask difficult questions—and giving them a place to be seen.' ' Can't Look Away tells so many stories in which young users have been left vulnerable by the digital practices of tech companies,' said Kristin Powers, Executive Producer of Can't Look Away. 'Jolt will reach the audiences who need to see this film—including parents—and, hopefully, provoke meaningful conversations.' For interviews, press screening access, or additional information on Jolt's upcoming releases, please contact [email protected] to learn more. About Jolt Jolt is transforming the way independent films are distributed, while restoring creative sovereignty to filmmakers. Through proprietary AI-driven audience discovery, Jolt connects extraordinary films to audiences with strategic curation, marketing and distribution. Co-founded by former Sundance Chief Digital Officer Tara Hein-Phillips, Accel founder Jim Swartz, and Academy Award-winning producer Geralyn Dreyfous, Jolt helps independent films achieve their full potential while empowering film teams with data, marketing tools and all future rights for their work. Jolt's curated platform features exceptional independent films like The Bibi Files, Hollywoodgate, and more. INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OTHER COMMUNICATIONS ENTERTAINMENT ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT FILM & MOTION PICTURES SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL ACTIVISM LICENSING (ENTERTAINMENT) SOURCE: Jolt Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 04/04/2025 11:00 AM/DISC: 04/04/2025 11:01 AM
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bloomberg Doc Reveals Social Media, Teen Drug Deaths Link: 'This Is a Public Health Crisis' (Exclusive)
There's nothing new in claims that social media platforms as they target young users cause children a host of mental health issues, from unhappiness and depression to online bullying and even teen suicides. But a Bloomberg News feature documentary, Can't Look Away: The Case Against Social Media, set to premiere April 4 on Jolt, has spotlighted a link between online drug dealers and social media algorithms that allow the sale of fake pills to young people online, and a resulting epidemic of drug overdose deaths. More from The Hollywood Reporter Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief Apologizes After Outlet Broke Evan Gershkovich Prisoner Swap Embargo Reggae and Remembrance Take the Stage at New York's City Winery A Whitesell Brother's Ex Is Pitching a TV Show 'This is a public health crisis. We're facing a mental health emergency. It is tied in many ways to social media,' Perri Peltz, who co-directs the feature doc with Matthew O'Neill, tells The Hollywood Reporter. Can't Look Away will also have a theatrical run at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema in New York City and will appear on Bloomberg Media platforms starting in July 2025. The doc includes a David vs. Goliath legal battle by parents whose children died from consuming fentanyl-laced pills to potentially hold tech giants accountable for the harm allegedly caused by their negligence and threatening algorithms. Can't Look Away, in part, focuses on the Social Media Victims Law Center and its lawsuit against Snapchat on behalf of families whose children met tragic ends after consuming counterfeit prescription drugs acquired through the disappearing messaging app run by parent Snap. O'Neill argues the increasing trade in harmful pills sold on social media sites results from drug dealers now being able to move from street corners to online sites where preset algorithms are designed to become addictive to young people. What's more, online drug pushers can easily keep their illegal activities away from the eyes of parents or the authorities by using disappearing or encrypted messages. The social media sites themselves could do far more to protect young users, not least by allowing greater regulation of their platforms. As O'Neill put it, 'these social media platforms consistently choose profits over real harm to children, and these are things a social media company can target.' The Bloomberg News film includes interviews with parents involved in efforts to secure wins in the courts and the halls of power in Washington D.C. to regulate social media platforms. The Can't Look Away trailer includes an interview with Jaime Puerta, who lost his only child after his son contacted a drug dealer on Snapchat and died from fentanyl poisoning. 'They have the best distribution system in the world, and nobody has stopped them,' Puerta, who in a lawsuit alleges Snapchat had a role in his son's death, declares from the steps of the U.S. Congress. Can't Look Away, based on investigative reporting by contributing producer Olivia Carville, warns at one point about the use of Snap Map, which identifies a user's geographical location. That potentially allows drug dealers to more easily target potential customers. Peltz, whose earlier credits include Axios on HBO and 'Surveilled' with Ronan Farrow, countered prevailing myths about young people making bad decisions on social media sites. She argued that, too often, teen users see what's offered to them by preset algorithms. 'Your kids are looking at content they didn't ask to see. They're looking at content that an algorithm decided they should see because the algorithm knows what is most 'sticky' for young people, and that's a euphemism for addictive,' Peltz insisted. All of which underscores an urgent call to action from the Can't Look Away film for industry reform and political action around social media and its use of algorithms to target and potentially exploit and endanger vulnerable young people. That campaign has been dealt a blow by the increased lobbying by social media giants with the new Donald Trump administration, with an eye to turning a once adversarial relationship between government and Big Tech to their advantage. 'You saw, as we all did, so many leaders of tech companies in an unprecedented way appear at President Trump's inauguration, and obviously one of the biggest tech leaders in the world, Elon Musk, is a very important element in this administration,' O'Neill conceded. But he added that politicians on both sides of the aisle in Washington, D.C., increasingly see common causes to work for parents and families to lessen the harm social media sites can cause young users. And O'Neill, a two-time Oscar nominee, dismissed any talk about Silicon Valley giants needing fewer guardrails, and not more, to protect U.S. dominance in digital technologies against global competitors like China. 'The United States managed to dominate the automobile industry and innovate with seat belts, and I don't see why we can't do the same with technology and with communications and social media,' he insisted. Ultimately, O'Neill sees young people forcing politicians to impose real regulation on tech giants. 'Kids aren't suckers and a lot of young people as they discover the ways in which social media companies are taking advantage of them are fueling a backlash. That's not the power of regulation. That's the power of public conversation,' he said. The film is also produced by O'Neill and Peltz, and executive produced by Kristin Powers. It is Bloomberg News' second original feature documentary after Ruin, an earlier original doc about Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
