Latest news with #JasonMitchell
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Appalling handwritten letter that 'Florida teacher wrote to fifth grader' made mother's blood run cold
A Florida mother has recalled her horror at finding a 'love letter' addressed to her 11-year-old daughter which she says was sent by a teacher. Ann and Jason Mitchell, the parents of the unnamed student, reported concerns of grooming to the school's principal in March after discovering the two-page letter in their daughter's bedroom, WWSB News reported. The sheriff's office has confirmed that an investigation is ongoing and a harassment charge in relation to bullying is expected to be filed soon. Daily Mail is choosing not to name the teacher unless they have been charged. 'You know I truly love you no matter what, that will never change,' the letter said. 'I really love being your teacher and more importantly, I love how close we have gotten this year.' '[It was] incredibly upsetting as a father,' Jason Mitchell told Fox 8 News. 'What more could he have done to my daughter?' On Tuesday, the Manatee County School Board held a meeting to discuss the matter, at which Ann described the teacher's alleged classroom behavior as 'serious and egregious misconduct', WWSB reported. '[The teacher] led my 11-year-old daughter into his classroom and spent 45 minutes alone with her while the rest of the students went to the library ... on Valentine's Day,' Ann said during the school board meeting. Ann has accused the teacher of unwanted physical contact with her daughter and recounted the 'nightmare' of discovering the letter two months earlier. 'In my hands I have a copy of the two-page, handwritten textbook grooming letter that was written by this teacher and given to my 11-year-old daughter,' she said at the school board meeting. Aside from professing love for the girl the letter describes how 'deeply' the writer claims to have known the student. 'We have had a lot of fun this year and made memories that I will always remember,' it read. The letter goes on: 'On another note, I will say that it bothers me when you look directly into my eyes and lie to me. You forget that I know you pretty well. When you put your head down, ignore me, etc. I know something is wrong. 'You then will typically talk to all of your friends right after you tell me 'I just don't feel well' which is a lie. Why do you do that to me?? 'I don't think you are that weird any more :). I am glad that you like school and I hope that I play a huge part of that. 'Starting today I will try my best not to smile at you anymore. I know you 'hate it' when I smile.' After signing off the writer adds: '(Your favorite teacher "Only because I have to be") 'PS I'll keep our notes between us and won't show your friends. So, you do the same.' After making the board aware of the details Ann Mitchell asked at the school board meeting: 'Where is the accountability?' 'She has nightmares and wakes up having cried in her sleep,' she added. 'This teacher stole a piece of her innocence.' Members of the board were left visibly shaken over the revelations, appearing unaware of the full extent of the alleged incidents. 'This is horrific', Board Chair Chad Choate said, WWSB reported. 'I learned more about this case from public comment than I did from the superintendent,' Board Member Cindy Spray said. Heather Felton, another board member, applauded the fifth-grade girl for her courage in speaking out against the teacher. 'I commend her bravery to speak up, because she has probably saved a lot of other children,' Felton stated. Michael Barber, the School District of Manatee County Director of Communications, released a statement detailing the steps taken to address the allegations against the accused, Fox 8 reported. According to the statement, the letter was reported to the school on March 9. The very next day the teacher was reassigned to a non-instructional facility where he had zero contact with any students. On April 23 the teacher handed in his resignation letter. After a board meeting the school approved the resignation. However, Jason Mitchell firmly believes that the teacher should have been fired over his alleged conduct, calling the school's response insufficient. 'To us, we felt termination was tougher language attached to somebody we would hope would never be in a classroom again,' he told Fox 8. 'I would ask [the teacher] to take a good, hard look in the mirror, truly self-reflect. I would ask [them] to get some help,' he added. The child's mother agreed, adding: 'We would want [the teacher] to read the two-page letter out loud to us as parents, and I want [them] to look into my husband's eyes, father-to-father, and read that letter about our little girl.' 'We are often as parents teaching our children to listen to teachers, to be respectful, to follow directions, so that's what I taught my daughter,' Ann Mitchell said to parents during the meeting, Fox 8 reported.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI Set to Transform Production Industry, Mip London Panel Says: ‘This Is the Most Exciting Time in TV History'
In a spirited panel discussion at Mip London, leading production executives shared insights on how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming content creation while highlighting opportunities for independent producers to gain competitive advantages over traditional studios. Jason Mitchell, founder of The Connected Set, demonstrated a $50-per-month animation tool that converts scripts into storyboards through generative AI. 'What it's going to do here is basically turn your script into a storyboard that you could then give to your human animator, although their product roadmap is to eventually do the animation in the product itself,' Mitchell explained. More from Variety Chinese TV Formats Eye Global Expansion, Industry Leaders Reveal at Mip London Philippine Game Show 'Save Your Cash' Tops MipFormats Pitch 2025 - London TV Screenings/MIP London Briefs David Beckham Says 'It Wasn't Easy' to Convince Victoria Beckham to Do Her Own Netflix Docuseries, but It's 'Really Special': 'It's So Emotional and the Drama's Real' Eline Van Der Velden, CEO of Particle6, revealed her company is taking AI implementation even further. 'We're starting to generate short films completely using AI… everything from synthetic humans. We're talking drama series completely in AI,' she said, adding that production costs are being reduced by up to 90% compared to traditional methods. Avi Armoza, CEO of Armoza Formats, pointed to economic pressures driving adoption. 'There is less and less money for production and everybody is looking to do shows in a more cost-effective way,' he said, mentioning how his company's game show 'Family Piggy Bank' utilizes CGI for its set. 'We have the show 'Family Piggy Bank' with all the sets based on CGI. Then it's easy to also generate post production with AI.' The panelists expressed optimism about AI enabling small production companies to challenge industry giants. 'This is the most exciting time in TV history that I've been alive for, because the traditional ones, like BBC Studios, Universal, Disney – because they are ring fenced and they have to have all these enterprise agreements – they cannot do what we're doing as small indies,' Van Der Velden said. 'It is the time for small companies to take over and become the next big studio.' Mitchell highlighted ongoing resistance from broadcasters regarding AI in live productions. 'We're definitely not using them in live productions, because, frankly, broadcasters just freak out if you want to include it in a production at the moment,' he said, suggesting AI is currently more accepted in development and post-production phases. On potential job displacement, opinions differed. Armoza predicted fewer staff would be needed in certain roles, providing the example of writing room personnel potentially reducing from 10 to 2-3. Meanwhile, Mitchell maintained that AI would ultimately create more opportunities: 'There's almost like an infinite amount of content we can put out there… so I still think there was a lot of opportunity for people working in the content industry. I don't think we're going to cut roles overall.' Regarding intellectual property concerns, Mitchell dismissed fears about AI-generated content ownership: 'The amount of prompts that go into making a new piece of content, there's so much work and creativity in it. I just don't think you could say it's the computer that did the work.' The panel concluded with all speakers emphasizing that production companies should embrace AI now to gain competitive advantages. 'For us, more veterans [in the] industry, we were lucky to live in a time where creation and creativity and format was on the rise. Now it's kind of going down,' said Armoza. 'I think the AI is our opportunity to shift the curve again and be on the upside.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
