Latest news with #ShawshankRedemption
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Automotive
- NZ Herald
Rising fuel prices, carless days, and Kiwi ingenuity
Where peak bureaucratic genius met peak Kiwi bloody-mindedness, and somehow … it kind of worked. For those lucky enough to be born after the glory days of Spot On, carless days were New Zealand's bold attempt to wrestle with the global oil crisis. Fuel was scarce, and money was tighter than your mate Stan when it's his round at the pub. So, the rule was simple: every vehicle had to sit still one day a week. You picked your day, stuck a sticker on the windscreen, and hoped no one dobbed you in. Woe betide anyone caught joyriding on their no-go day without what the authorities called a 'very good excuse'. Imagine ending up in the clink for Reckless Wednesday Wandering in a '74 Kingswood. One minute you're popping to the dairy, next thing you're in a cell carving chess pieces out of rocks and laundering money for the prison warden. (I've seen Shawshank Redemption, I know how prison works.) It was chaos. Glorious, innovative, and unmistakably Kiwi chaos. People turned into tactical masterminds overnight, plotting sticker days like wartime operations. Sarah ruled out Wednesdays because it was bowls day, and she'd rather miss her own funeral than miss her triples match. Dave couldn't do Mondays because that's when the TAB opened early, and someone had to put a tenner on No 3 in the third at Te Rapa before the odds shifted. Choosing your carless day became a mix of strategy, local politics and good old-fashioned stubbornness. Some clever types even hid a second car behind the shed like an automotive mistress, just in case an 'emergency' trip to the shop became necessary. Carless days didn't last long - like Georgie Pie, Think Big projects or the hope that Gloss was going to make us the Hollywood of the South Pacific. But they left their mark. A slice of New Zealand history that's as quirky as it is strangely inspiring. And maybe there's a lesson in there for us now. Back then, we didn't just shrug our shoulders and cope. We got creative. The same ingenuity that gave us No 8 wire, the pav and the electric fence kicked in fast. So maybe it's time to get creative again. If we can brew beer in an old chest freezer in the garage, maybe it's time we looked into motoring moonshine - some sort of backyard distillery-fuel hybrid powered by homebrew and optimism. Sure, it might void the warranty, but it'll get you to the dairy and back. Or maybe it's time to take inspiration from KZ7, our fibreglass underdog that almost stole the America's Cup, and bolt a mast to the tray of the ute. Wind power to the rescue. Picture a fleet of Hiluxes and Rangers tacking their way through rural New Zealand, trays creaking, kids acting as ballast, and the odd driver yelling 'Tacking now!' as they swing wide past the school bus. And if wind power's not your thing, maybe it's time for a collaboration between two icons of low-frills mobility: the Trekka and Hanna-Barbera. For those unfamiliar, the Trekka was New Zealand's one and only homegrown car, a boxy brute built in the late 1960s with all the finesse of a filing cabinet on wheels. These days, most have floorpans so rusted out you can see daylight - and that's not a problem, that's potential. Rip out what's left, embrace the chaos, and go full Flintstones. Feet through the floor, legs pumping, jandals flying: low-emission transport powered by Weet-Bix and pure Kiwi grit. Maybe we slightly reimagine the electric car or ute. The problem's not the tech. It's that old nemesis: range anxiety. And that's where we take a cue from the humble tram. Or more specifically, the bit that connects it to the power source: the trolley pole. In our case, it's a repurposed fishing rod strapped to the window frame, ready to hook onto a roadside electric fence. Instant power. Just ease alongside a paddock, cast wide and feel the sizzle of sweet, sweet current. Sure, it might fry the stereo and give the dog a fright, but who needs charging stations when you've got No 8 wire thinking and 8000 volts of pure rural ingenuity? We might not control oil prices any more than we can control the weather, but we can control how we respond. Times like these separate the innovators from the whingers. And if there's one thing Kiwis excel at, it's turning adversity into opportunity.
Associated Press
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Dark series 'The Institute' adaptation gets author Stephen King's thumbs up
NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen King has a rule for anyone wanting to adapt one of his books for the big or small screen. It's basically the Hippocratic oath for intellectual property — first, do no harm. 'When you deviate from the story that I wrote, you do so at your own risk,' he says in a recent interview from his home in Maine. 'I know what I'm doing and I'm not sure that screenwriters always do or that producers and directors always do.' Not everyone has listened to King, who has enjoyed hit adaptations — 'The Shawshank Redemption,' 'Stand By Me,' 'Misery,' 'It' and 'The Shining' — as well as flops — 'Salem's Lot,' 'Graveyard Shift' and 'The Lawnmower Man.' The industrious novelist has lately watched as a wave of adaptations are crafted for theaters or streaming platforms, a list that includes 'The Life of Chuck' and the upcoming 'The Long Walk,' 'The Running Man' and 'It: Welcome to Derry.' It also includes the eight-episode series 'The Institute,' which debuts on MGM+ on Sunday. It's about a secret government facility where kids with special talents — telekinesis and telepathy — are imprisoned and put to dark geopolitical uses. Their bedrooms are faithfully re-created and creepy posters — 'Your Gift Is Important' and 'I Choose to be Happy' — line the halls. Does this small-screen adaptation of his 2019 book get King's approval? 'I'm talking to you which is a pretty good sign,' he says, laughing. He even signed on as executive producer. 'When I write a book, it's a single-person sport and when these people do a TV show or a movie it becomes a team sport. So you expect some changes and, sometimes, man, they're really good.' What's 'The Institute' about'? 'The Institute' stars Mary-Louise Parker as a sinister scientist and Ben Barnes as a small-town cop on opposite sides as the group of children are kidnapped and exploited. The series is faithful to the book, but includes some changes, like setting it entirely in Maine and aging the hero up so as not to appear too sadistic. That hero — 14-year-old Luke Ellis, played winningly by Joe Freeman — is the latest youngster with special powers that King has manifested, a line that stretches back to the heroine of 'Carrie,' Danny Torrance in 'The Shining' and Charlie McGee in 'Firestarter.' 'I thought to myself, what would happen if a bunch of kids that had psychic powers could see enough of the future to tell when certain moments were going to come along,' he says. 'But the kids would be wrecked by this process and they would be kept in a place where they could serve the greater good. It was a moral problem that I really liked.' King has a special respect for young adults, who he says can be brave and behave nobly under pressure but who can also be mean and petty. He says he was inspired by William Golding, who wrote the iconic 'Lord of the Flies,' a dystopian novel about a group of schoolboys who while trying to survive on a remote island unlock their own barbarism. 'He was talking to his wife before he wrote the book and he said, 'What would it be like if I wrote a story about boys and the way that boys really acted?' And so I tried to write a book about kids the way that kids really act,' says King. Executive producer and co-writer Benjamin Cavell says King resists the impulse to be overly involved in the process, instead identifying people he trusts to do right by the material. 'So much of the pleasure of King's writing is the access he gives his reader to the deepest, darkest, most private thoughts and dreams and desires of his characters; the adaptor's task is to make all that external and cinematic,' says Cavell. 'Monsters inside of us' Jack Bender has become something of a King whisperer, helping adapt both King's 'Mr. Mercedes' and 'The Outsider' to the screen. This time, he helped direct and executive produce 'The Institute.' 'I count my blessings to be in the position of someone he creatively trusts,' says Bender. 'He is a genius at tapping into the fears we all share of what's hiding under our beds. For me, both 'Mr. Mercedes' and 'The Institute' deal with those fears by focusing on the monsters inside of us human beings, not just outside in the world around us.' The first thing Bender and Cavell had to figure out was what form 'The Institute' would take — a standalone film or a series. 'In the case of 'The Institute,' which was a 576-page novel packed with rich, fascinating characters that would need time to connect and be with each other, I didn't want to shrink it into a 110 minute movie that would've become the 'X-Kids,'' says Bender. King says that while Hollywood has a seemingly insatiable appetite for his books, he hasn't gotten more cinematic as a writer — he always has been. 'I am one of the first writers that was actually influenced by television as well as movies. 'I grew up with the idea that things should be cinematic and that you should look at things in a visual way, a very sensory way.' King was also pleased that the adapters of 'The Institute' made sure not to change the name of Barnes' small-town cop, Tim. 'I named him Tim because I read somewhere that no great thing was ever done by a man named Tim. And so I thought to myself, 'Yeah, well, OK, I'll call him Tim and he can do great things.''
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why An Inspiring Mission Beats Pay When Recruiting Tech Talent
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman sitting outside on the benches playing checkers and talking in a ... More scene from the film 'The Shawshank Redemption', 1994. (Photo by Castle) Getty Images Sam Altman fired back at the departure of four OpenAI researchers by emphasizing that purpose, culture, and mission will win in the long run over compensation. These four researchers left OpenAI for Meta, some with reported compensation packages up to $300 million over four years. In the long run, talent wars are not won at the bank, but in the hearts and dreams of the people who choose to stay. Meta's recent investment of $14.5 billion for 49% percent in Scale AI shows the company is racing to do whatever it takes to build AI super intelligence. Scale AI Chief Executive Alexandr Wang will become a member of a newly established AI research laboratory at Meta, with the aim of advancing "super intelligence." One of the near-term objectives is to use AI to offer fully automated advertising campaigns. Since advertising was 95% of Meta's total income in 2024, Meta will be motivated to poach whatever talent it needs to meet its near term and long-term AI goals. Tech talent compensation packages soaring Initially, Meta's compensation packages to AI researchers seemed to be on a par with NFL sports, but in fact, they have exceeded them. As a New York Giants fan, I enjoy tracking the 2025 draft. For example, the number 3 draft pick, Abdul Carter, recently signed a four-year contract valued at $84.7 million, far shy of the reported Meta compensation package. As an HR consultant to both Fortune 500 firms and start-ups over the past 25 years my question is this; will pay win out over purpose and for how long? Sam Altman made a compelling business case to stay and Open AI's chief research officer, Mark Chen, made the visceral argument that 'it feels like someone broke into my house and stole something from me,' But how will OpenAI restructure compensation, rewards, recognition and commitment to learning and development to create an enduring reason to stay at OpenAI? Four suggestions for retaining talent Companies recruiting in a talent war like the one we are witnessing, should be looking for a sustainable path forward. They should consider the following: Stress the mission and purpose continuously with new hires and current employees Employees are looking for purpose and meaning in work especially since they spend on average of 90,000 hours working over their lifetime and this can reach up to 150,000 hours for those in the tech space. Monster's research found 74% of Gen Z workers prioritize purpose over a paycheck. Companies frequently fail to communicate their purpose and mission often enough and this is vital for retaining talent. Offer routine wellness breaks Wellness breaks are crucial for maintaining productivity, reducing stress, and improving overall well-being at work. OpenAI does have a paid sabbatical program, but it is after five years of service. Is this even a benefit when the average turnover at OpenAI is less than one year? The key is to build a culture of wellness rather than offer sporadic wellness breaks during the year. Support autonomy for employees Building a culture of trust and autonomy will drive talent retention. Autonomy in the workplace allows employees the freedom to work in a way that suits them while delivering on their objectives. No one wants to work for a micromanager. Workplace autonomy needs to be cultivated through culture and norms and ultimately can improve job satisfaction, engagement, and retention by encouraging empowered decision making. Make continuous learning and recognition part of the company culture Gallup and Workhuman research show that effective employee recognition, which is genuine, fair, and tailored to individual employees, improves motivation and job retention. Beyond recognition, companies need to craft a compensation package to give employees meaningful ownership, a work environment that vales their time and invest in their on-going development. The current OpenAI stipend for employee learning and development is $1,500 per year. This is inadequate given the unprecedented pace and scope of change in AI. Consider creating the Altman award for breakthroughs in AI research. Remember the movie, The Shawshank Redemption? OpenAI needs to prove Morgan Freeman's character Red wrong when he says, "Some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright.' The companies that will shape the future of AI are those that give their teams a reason to stay and see their ambitions and dreams come to life.
Fast Company
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Why ‘The Shawshank Redemption' is the best movie about investing ever made
The 1994 Frank Darabont film The Shawshank Redemption may be everyone's favorite movie to catch on TNT on a rainy Saturday, but it's not an obvious place to go looking for money lessons. This quiet film is a meditation on the power of hope to change lives—which hardly seems like a message one can expect from financial professionals (ahem). Yet, the story of Andy Dufresne's time in (and spectacular escape from) the Shawshank State Prison provides a blueprint for smart financial choices. And the story of how the film itself gained traction despite a lackluster initial reception can also teach us important money lessons. What we see: a rock hammer and weekly correspondence Following his wrongful conviction for murder, Andy Dufresne arrives at Shawshank to serve two consecutive life sentences. He befriends another lifer, Red, who runs an illicit smuggling business. Andy asks him to procure a rock hammer and a large Rita Hayworth poster. (The movie, of course, springs from the 1982 Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.) Andy claims that he wants the rock hammer for carving, and he does indeed create small sculptures with it. But that's not all he uses it for. By the end of the film, we learn that Andy has spent 19 years digging a tunnel through his wall with the hammer, using the poster to cover up his work. Despite the rock hammer being a tiny tool for work of that magnitude, Andy never gives up his slow, diligent, and methodical approach to escaping. Andy is equally methodical in his efforts to improve the decrepit prison library. He sends weekly requests to the Maine state legislature for funds to buy used books. After years of relentless effort, Andy secures a $500 annual appropriation for the prison library, granted by the state 'just to shut him up.' What we learn: be methodical with whatever tools you have Part of what makes Andy Dufresne extraordinary is his ability to take the long view. Most of his fellow inmates lose themselves in dreary thinking about their imprisonment, but Andy sees an investment opportunity. He recognizes time as a tool. He doesn't have freedom in Shawshank, but he can take advantage of time in a way people on the outside can't. By recognizing that time works differently on the inside, Andy is able to use the very punishment he's been given as a way to maintain his hope and persist with projects. Warning: This scene contains coarse language. What we see: confronting Hadley and becoming Randall Stephens A few years into his time at Shawshank, while working with a crew of inmates to tar the prison roofs, Andy overhears Captain Hadley, the brutal and vicious lead guard, complaining about having to pay taxes on a $35,000 inheritance. Andy recklessly approaches Hadley and him if he trusts his wife. Hadley responds to the impudent question by rushing Andy to the edge of the roof to toss him to his death, but Andy saves himself by saying he knows how Hadley can minimize taxes on the inheritance. Andy becomes the unofficial CPA for the prison staff, and as the years pass, Andy also starts helping the warden launder money using his skills with accounting. He also secretly creates a fictitious identity, a businessman named Randall Stephens. When he escapes Shawshank at the film's climax, he steals all of the warden's laundered money by posing as Stephens at the bank and withdrawing all of the ill-gotten gains. What we learn: know when and how to take risks Ignoring the advice of his inmate pals, Andy risks his life to gain leverage with Hadley. The only immediate reward is a case of cold beer for the rooftop work crew. But Andy is thinking longer-term, as he is from the very first moments of Shawshank Redemption. The risky gambit leads to work that better suits his knowledge and intelligence, providing new opportunities. His construction of Randall Stephens is equally risky. He knows that the money he is withdrawing is laundered, that Stephens doesn't exist, and that his absence from his cell has probably already been discovered. Though Andy never broke the law before he went to prison, he does so when inhabiting the Stephens persona he invented. But like the risk of confronting Hadley, pretending to be Stephens is calculated. Andy prepares everything he needs to pull off the ruse ahead of time, using his knowledge and intelligence to mitigate the risk. The lesson? Risk-taking makes sense when we're well-prepared and set up for success. What we see: a box-office bomb becomes universally beloved The Shawshank Redemption famously tanked at the box office, initially earning a measly $16 million against a $25 million budget. Though it was nominated for (and lost) seven academy awards and lauded by critics, the studio had no idea how to market a character study set in a mid-century prison and audiences were apparently confused by the film's (admittedly baffling) title. Then a funny thing happened on the way to certain obscurity: The Shawshank Redemption slowly found its audience. But unlike many other box-office failures that became cult classics, this film didn't just appeal to a niche audience. Over the past 30 years, it has become recognized as one of the best movies ever made and consistently tops IMDB's list of favorite films. Just as Andy diligently works at tunneling through his wall, building the prison library, stealing the warden's laundered money, and making himself indispensable to his best friend Red over a period of nearly two decades, the film showcasing Andy's story also took its time to garner the appreciation it deserves. What we learn: proof of concept can take time We tend to want instant results as a culture, especially when it comes to investing—and Hollywood is one of the worst offenders. If a film doesn't make major bank in its opening weekend, studios may be willing to write it off. Frank Darabont, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, and the rest of the professionals who worked on The Shawshank Redemption believed in it and gave it their all. The lackluster initial reception must have been incredibly disappointing. But the film is much more than its first three months' revenue, as Shawshank 's enduring popularity has proved. Honestly, we need to increase our time horizon for all types of investments, not just Hollywood movies. When it comes to financial investments, quick returns are typically the province of scams (like the warden's money laundering) or luck (which you can't prepare for). Andy's example makes it clear that you should try to invest like the quiet, falsely convicted banker. He does his homework, invests in something he believes in, does as much preparation as possible, recognizes when to take a risk, and uses time to his advantage. For other types of investments, from your own pursuits to building a business, take a page from the success of The Shawshank Redemption. The right combination of diligence and patience remains the most predictable investment strategy. The extended deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is this Friday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
NZ Herald
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Listener weekly quiz: June 18
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in the Shawshank Redemption (1994). Photo / Supplied Can you score 10 out of 10? Test your general knowledge with the Listener's weekly quiz. Share your score with friends, family and colleagues, and find out who has the sharpest mind.
