Latest news with #Visions
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Visions Federal Credit Union partners with Emily Mackay
ENDWELL, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Visions Federal Credit Union is collaborating with a local Olympic athlete to promote financial wellness. Visions announced that it has partnered with professional runner and Endicott-native Emily Mackay. The partnership aims to teach financial wellness to community members of all ages through social media posts and other resources. It will also promote charitable causes in communities served by the credit union. 'To say we are excited to work with Emily is an understatement,' says Tim Strong, Visions' Director of Branding and Public Relations. 'As a community, we cheered her on as she competed locally in high school, collegiately at Binghamton University, and finally on the world's biggest stage with Team USA at the Paris Olympics. This is a unique partnership that we think will resonate with community members of all ages, as together we promote our shared values of community giveback and financial wellness.' Mackay is a professional runner for New Balance. A graduate of Union-Endicott High School and Binghamton University, both of which have Visions offices on site, Mackay ran the 1,500-meter semifinals for Team USA at the Paris Olympics in 2024. She is also recognized as having the third fastest time of any American woman in U.S. history in the 1,500-meter dash with a personal best of 03:55:90. Mackay was recently added to the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame. 'I'm thrilled to officially partner with Visions,' says Mackay. 'This partnership means a lot to me because we share a deep commitment to community, connection, and creating opportunities for others. I'm excited to not only represent Visions but to be an active part of their mission. The community can expect me to show up, get involved, and help amplify the great work that Visions is already doing. I can't wait to get started!' Posts featuring Mackay will be posted to Visions' social media feeds on Facebook and Instagram. You can see content on Mackay's Instagram page as well. Content will include practical financial wellness resources and more. Visions Federal Credit Union partners with Emily Mackay TAKE 5 prize winning ticket worth $16k sold in Kirkwood Corner Drug Store closing after 87 years Binghamton police arrest suspect in assault, robbery case Clouds build in today before the wet pattern returns tomorrow Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Gizmodo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
How Qubic Pictures Used the Force to Bring Star Wars and Anime Together
Star Wars: Visions has become a darling among fans thanks to its repeated proof that the galaxy, far, far away has plenty of compelling stories to tell beyond the Skywalker saga. Recognizing the adoration for fresh narratives, Lucasfilm is poised to release Star Wars: Visions volume three on Disney+ this fall, with a spin-off series of long stories called Star Wars: Visions Presents coming down the pipeline. One overlooked aspect of Star Wars: Visions' rip-roaring success is how it has redefined storytelling within the series by forging unexpected collaborations with renowned Japanese animation studios like Trigger (Promare, Kill La Kill), Production I.G (Kaiju No. 8, Heavenly Delusion), and Wit (Attack on Titan, Spy x Family). The driving force behind the anime anthology's artistic collaboration is Qubic Pictures, an independent production company whose mission is to 'craft high-quality animation that transcends cultural boundaries, reaching global audiences beyond the core anime fanbase.' With Star Wars: Visions volume three on the horizon of Disney+'s binary sunset, we sat down with Qubic Pictures CEO Justin Leach to learn about how the animated anthology series came into being and how the upcoming season aims to elevate Star Wars collaborations to new heights—while hopefully inspiring other pop culture franchises to embrace the magic of animation anthologies in its wake. This interview has been edited for brevity. Isaiah Colbert, io9: For a time, anime anthologies like Memories and Robot Carnival were a thing of the past, but now we're seeing a resurgence with them in series like Love, Death + Robots and Star Wars: Visions. With Visions bringing together some of the most renowned anime studios, how did Qubic determine which studios to collaborate with? Justin Leach: I first worked at Production I.G back in 2001. I worked on Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence as a CG creator. From that point on, I kept in touch with a lot of friends, and with the studios. I also did the first crowd-funded anime called Kick-Heart, which is directed by Masaaki Yuasa. So, over the years, I've gathered a list of studios and friends that I know and always kept an eye on who's making cool stuff. I was always a big fan of Memories, Robot Carnival, and Neo Tokyo—I watched all of those when they came out at the time. I was tasked with working with the Lucasfilm team to find studios that would be suitable for the [Visions], so I tried to give a balanced selection they could choose from in terms of quality, their style, [and] their reputation. So I just really tried to get a nice, diverse selection of studios that would each do something really cool and unique. I really cared about quality and making sure we work with the best people. That was the main motivation: trying to find who does great work and who is also passionate about Star Wars, because I think it's really important for people to have that passion when making a project. io9: You mentioned fostering these relationships beforehand. Building off of that, were these partnerships that led to Star Wars: Visions volume one formed through those outreaches, like a one-to-one 'We're going to have you in Visions,' or did those studios also have to pitch their own visions for what they saw as a potential episode for the show? Leach: The way that Lucasfilm set up the Visions project was to have the creators make their own Star Wars visions. We would first approach the studios with a creative brief of the project, and then we mentioned we were interested in working with them. So, the studio would recommend a person who would love to make a Star Wars short, or 'We think this director would be a good fit.' It was definitely a good partnership with each individual studio. Once the team was selected at each individual studio, they would each present a pitch of what they wanted to make. Sometimes it was one pitch. Sometimes there were multiple pitches. Sometimes we would approach other studios that, for some other reason, didn't work out, or they were not available. We had a list of people that we wanted to work with, and we just reached out to them. I think what we found, generally speaking, everyone was very excited about the idea of making a Star Wars anime. Luckily, we found people who had passion. I feel like it was a smooth process because they were already knowledgeable in the lore, and they knew everything about Star Wars, so it was exciting to see what they came up with. In the first season, we weren't quite sure what we would see or how the world of Star Wars would look through the lens of anime. One of the first things was the dual artwork with ['The Duel' character] Ronin, which was one of our first artworks that came in. I remember that being a very memorable moment where we were all like, 'Wow, that is so cool.' It's a great moment seeing those coming to life. io9: What was the initial vision behind the production model Qubic Pictures developed for Star Wars: Visions? Leach: Qubic's focus has always been bridging Hollywood and Japan, or trying to create these international collaborations. Our first was Eden, which was an original pitch based on my idea that was a four-episode series. Then we had to figure out the team and who was working on it. We got the director from a Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, [Yasuhiro] Irie-san, and we also got the character designer from Cowboy Bebop, [Toshihiro Kawamoto], who's someone that I've known, who was one of the founders of [studio] Bones. That was one example. We've tried different permutations of how we can work with Japan because I'm very passionate about anime and want it to be as globally accepted as possible. I want to make the audience as wide as possible. I don't want anyone to have any misconceptions about the art form. Over the years, as I work with Japan more and more, I want artists' names to be more recognized. I want studios to be better known. So we've always tried to find ways to act like a bridge. Often, I think we act like a buffer between the Japanese culture and the Japanese production system and the way things typically work in Hollywood in the west. We know both sides, so we try to help with translation—all the back-and-forth communications. We have translation staff to handle all that stuff and try to make it go as smoothly as possible, so there's no misunderstanding. All productions are challenging, so we try to make it as easy as possible for the two sides to work together. The animation production culture in Japan is very different from how things are typically made in Hollywood. Even the mentality of how things are made is completely different from the storyboard development process in the west and the east. But fortunately, with Visions, the wonderful thing about this project is that the Lucasfilm team allowed the creators to tell their own story. It wasn't prescriptive. Obviously, there are broader branding guidelines they have to adhere to, but I think the creators had a lot of freedom. We were like the central hub between all the studios and the Lucasfilm team. We helped facilitate all the communication and made sure that everyone got what they needed, communication went smoothly, and they didn't have to think about it too much on either side. io9: How did Qubic develop a production pipeline and workflow that enabled studios like David Productions, Wit Studio, and Trigger to integrate their distinctive styles while maintaining a cohesive Star Wars feel for the series—without buckling under the differences between Hollywood's style of production and Japan's? Leach: We develop ways of tracking communication. Our tools and pipeline were mostly around communications and translation because we let each studio handle the production on its own pipeline. So we didn't enforce any global pipeline across all the studios. We let the studios work in the way that they're used to. We didn't try to interject or get involved in that process at all. What we typically do in terms of production is establish milestones. For example, we need to have the script delivered by this date. We want the storyboards by this date. And we'd work with the studios on what those milestones are. They vary from studio to studio, but we'll track all those deliverables and keep an eye on the schedule. We'll also assist with procedural things like agreements—those are the less exciting parts of production, but very important nonetheless. We have internal tracking documents for translation and communication—comms. So, when we get an email in, we have to translate it into English, and then send that English email to Lucasfilm, translated, and then they might have some comments on something. So we have to translate that back into Japanese and send the email back. With one studio, that's a lot of work, but when you multiply that by seven or eight studios, I jokingly say it's like making a series where you're making each episode at the same time. So, it becomes a bit of a logistical challenge when you have all this information to communicate to all the different studios. So we had to come up with pipelines to streamline that communication. We use software like Smartsheet, and another one [called] Notion that we use a lot now to track all those things. io9: What were the biggest technical or logistical challenges in facilitating collaboration between studios from Japan and Lucasfilm with Visions volume one? Leach: Because it was our first anthology, the hard part was tracking all these different communications with all the studios and people involved. I think that was our big challenge: how do we do this simultaneous communication back-and-forth in English and Japanese? We had to figure out the most optimal way to work with this anthology format. After we did season one it was pretty easy for us to jump back into season three. io9: Beyond highlighting renowned Japanese animation studios, volume two welcomed diverse talent from India, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Chile, France, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. Each brought its unique storytelling style—be it through 2D, 3D, or stop-motion—to the anthology. How did the selection process unfold to bring these studios on board? Leach: I was a little involved in the beginning of season two, but I ended up not working on it for various reasons. I did make some initial introductions, like Rodrigo Blaas. He's a good friend of mine. I also know Studio La Cachette. I've known them for many years, so I made a couple of introductions. Our specialty is anime, so I think [Lucasfilm] already had much of the team in place to handle those things, working with English-speaking studios. So I didn't get involved in that too much. io9: Qubic was more hands-on in helping with volume three, correct? Leach: Yeah, my role was the same as the first season as a co-executive producer. I'd say our role didn't change too much between [volumes] one and three. We pretty much did the same thing. It was really hard trying to choose—I wanted to remake a lot of them again—[and] we couldn't do sequels to everything. That was always a challenge. We would have those types of discussions. [Executive producers] James [Waugh], Josh [Rimes], and Jacqui [Lopez] played an important role, and Jacqui on the Lucasfilm team, helping establish the overall direction. io9: Are there any particular Star Wars: Visions episodes in volume three that you're particularly excited about fans watching? Leach: I can't say anything about it, but I will say we're going to be showing one of the shorts at Annecy this year. It's in competition. It's called Black. It's directed by Shinya Ohira. I'd recommend anyone trying to go watch that if they can. I am very excited to see how people will react. Unfortunately, Lucasfilm is like the CIA, so I can't really divulge anything, but I'm very excited for the project, and I can't wait for people to see it. io9: Looking at it as a bigger picture, do you anticipate anthologies in the animation space becoming a broader trend across the animation industry, inspiring more household names to explore stories like Star Wars has with Visions? Leach: I think we'll probably see more anthologies from different brands. I've even been approached by some other big IPs about doing something similar that I can't talk about. Anime is so popular right now, and it's what the younger generation wants to see. Traditional companies in Hollywood are trying to figure out 'What are ways that we can get involved in this growing market?' Stylistically, it's very different from what some bigger studios typically do. Netflix has had a lot of success with anime. Even when I go to Japan now and onto the Netflix app, the top 10 are almost all anime. There's just so much anime there now. It's a big source of growth. I think there'll be more. It's a great way to test the waters, see what works, what doesn't work, and then they can expand that and develop it further for the things that do work. For a lot of big IPs, it might be a big jump to go right to a series, but sometimes they do. It allows people to explore some ideas before committing to something more long-form. Robot Carnival, Neo Tokyo, Memories, those anthologies established great directors who would go on to make Akira and Ghost in the Shell. [Directors like] Yoshiaki Kawajiri [Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust]. Anthologies also serve to develop up-and-coming talent, and the up-and-coming directors who will become more famous in the future. [After] that project I worked on, Kick-Heart, which Yuasa directed, we created another short after that called Adventure Time Food Chain, which is a collaboration between Eunyoung Choi and Yuasa. That was the first project that Science Saru did. That's what established the studio. Short films, traditionally, have always been a great way to develop the best directors in the best new studios. That is another great benefit of the anthologies. It's growing and nurturing new talent. Toward the close of our interview, Leach excitedly mentioned that, alongside its collaboration with Lucasfilm on Visions, Qubic is teaming up with Netflix and Studio Orange (Beastars, Land of the Lustrous) to bring Scott Westerfeld's steampunk fantasy novel Leviathan to life as an anime. It's directed by Christophe Ferreira and features a score by Studio Ghibli's legendary Joe Hisaishi, who also contributed to Visions episode 'The Ninth Jedi.' 'It's another permutation of this collaboration model. How can east and west work together on these types of projects. This was just a very international team, all working side by side. At the very beginning, we invited Orange to contribute,' Leach said. 'We didn't want to just hire them as a service studio. We wanted them to be a creative partner. So, we invited them to all of our story meetings, and they were able to give feedback. We also worked with author Scott Westerfeld and made sure he was able to see what's going on and be involved in that creative process.' He continued, '[Leviathan] is authentically anime, but it also has some western and some European elements.' Fans eager for a first glimpse can catch more details at a panel during Anime Expo. Star Wars: Visions volume three premieres October 29 on Disney+.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Corporate Activism Has Changed During Trump's Second Term
Over the past several months, many companies have gone from embracing corporate activism to distancing themselves from it. Compared to when Joe Biden was president, the shift in activism has become obvious in President Donald Trump's first hundred days of his second term in office. For example, 'during the Biden Administration, corporations went to considerable lengths and expended significant dollars on DEI-related consultants, policies, and programs. Additionally, corporate America publicized its committment to 'going green'—a continuation of the Obama-era trend,' Matt Klink, president of Klink Campaigns, a strategic communication firm, explained to me in an email interview. Compare that to what has happened since Trump's inauguration in January. 'Corporate activism has shifted noticeably. Many companies that once made bold public commitments to racial justice, environmental stewardship, or human rights are now recalibrating. whether they are softening their public stances or retreating into quieter, internal efforts,' Elika Dadseta, CEO and executive director of Visions, a nonprofit leadership training firm, told me via email. Compared to four years ago when companies issued press releases about their committment to DEI and other hot-button social issues, you're more likely today to see headlines of how businesses are pulling the plug on them on those initiatives. Business leaders appear to be 'pulling back from overt displays of social responsibility. For some brands, commitments to environmental sustainability and social justice are being deprioritized, whereas others are shifting their approach, emphasizing action over rhetoric and choosing to 'walk the walk' even if they no longer 'talk the talk' as loudly,' Hannah Elderfield, director of Strategic Insight, observed in an email interview with me. There are several reasons for the shift away from DEI and other corporate activism goals. They include blowback from conservative quarters, criticism from shareholders, pressure from Trump, the impact of his executive orders, and actions by regulatory agencies. 'Corporate America's pivot away from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives accelerated during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second White House term. The backlash against programs that focus on DEI was already gaining ground over the past year, but it hit a fever pitch with the election of Trump and a series of executive orders he said were aimed at purging 'illegal DEI' from across the U.S.,' Bloomberg reported. Some businesses might be forced to backtrack on their activism because of pressure from corporate owners. 'Ben & Jerry's has been a stalwart in the activism space for decades. No company comes close even while we have been talking about purpose marketing for more than a decade. Sadly, that competitive edge may disappear because Unilever forced out the company's CEO, even while they had a hands-off agreement with the ice cream subsidiary,' Mara Einstein, a marketing expert, observed in an email message to me. Rather than abandon their commitment to activism, some businesses are taking a softer and less obvious approach. 'For organizations with authentic values-driven commitments, we are also seeing a quiet evolution: a deeper investment in internal accountability, employee trust, and grassroots stakeholder engagement. Rather than large public statements, some companies are focusing on embedding activism into their business practices, such as supplier diversity, ethical AI, sustainable operations, and transparent labor practices,' Dadesta of Visions pointed out. Other companies are showing their commitments to corporate activism in more pragmatic ways by integrating them into activities that help strengthen ties to the communities they serve. 'Corporate activism has matured fast during Trump's second term. Companies are realizing they cannot just signal good intentions; they have to drive meaningful outcomes…For example, during the California wildfires, lululemon opened their stores and donated new clothing to people who were displaced from their homes,' Sam Fankuchen, founder and CEO of Golden, a volunteer and donor management platform, pointed out via email to me. After the fires were put out, the company made a point of explaining its role in helping people who were affected by the crisis. 'Community has always been at the heart of lululemon, and as restoration efforts continue in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires, the power of coming together remains stronger than ever. Over the last two months, lululemon teams have been on the ground, working alongside grassroots organizations to support ongoing relief efforts for families, local Ambassadors, and small businesses as they rebuild,' according to a statement on the company's website. This type of corporate activism can be a win-win for companies by making it harder for others to condemn and criticize their actions while helping to fulfill a business' goal of being a good corporate citizen.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Star Wars reverses course from The Last Jedi with The Ninth Jedi series from Kenji Kamiyama
Amid sudden additions to Star Wars' theatrical release schedule, with Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy swooping in to replace the last crop of movies that never came together, a new animated TV series is coming to Disney+. Announced this weekend at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Star Wars: Visions Presents—The Ninth Jedi by anime director Kenji Kamiyama will be the first long-form spin-off of the Star Wars anime anthology. The title solidifies what we've long feared: Disney has moved away from the A Star Wars Story branding and has retreated to a more traditional 'Presents' structure. Considering the box office success of A Minecraft Story, the subtitle shuffle must sting. However, in this case, it makes sense. The Ninth Jedi isn't simply a prequel to The Last Jedi. It's a spin-off of Kamiyama's 2021 Visions short of the same name. As such, in addition to the series, the Ninth Jedi gang, namely the characters Kara (voiced by Chinatsu Akasaki) and Juro (Tetsuo Kanao), will return for another Visions short, 'The Child Of Hope,' premiering in Volume 3. 'I made a short story called 'The Ninth Jedi' during Volume 1,' said Kamiyama. 'Director [Naoyoshi] Shiotani is making one more film this time ['Child Of Hope'], and it ends with Kara's departure to look for her father in the first short film.' Kamiyama, a supervising director on Ninth Jedi, explains that the episode will deal with 'lightsabers that change color depending on one's Force.' Kara's father invented these and was kidnapped. The director says the show will answer the question, 'What in the world was the reason for such lightsabers?' It's a good question, but we all know the answer is because they look cool. 'Child Of Hope' will debut in the third volume of Visions on October 29, 2025. Ninth Jedi has no release date. More from A.V. Club A Hollywood hero faces off against actual heroes in The Studio '90s sitcom Martin finally spins off a show, and it's somehow not about Sheneneh Read this: The Revenge Of The Sith's Force ghost mystery has been solved
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Star Wars Celebration: ‘Star Wars: Visions' Reveals Season 3 Release Date, ‘The Ninth Jedi' Standalone Series
He was just supposed to be passing by, but Ronin, the former Sith Lord character who appeared in the first season of the animated anthology Star Wars: Visions, will be returning in the third season of the Lucasfilm series which debuts on Disney+ on Oct. 29 this year. The big reveal came at the Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo, in a panel dedicated to the hit show, where Visions executive producer James Waugh confirmed that three of the most popular storylines from the first season of the show — 'The Duel,' 'The Village Bride' and 'The Ninth Jedi' — will be continuing in the upcoming third volume of episodes. More from The Hollywood Reporter Star Wars Celebration: Hayden Christensen Returning as Anakin Skywalker for 'Ahsoka' Season Two Beijing Film Festival Turns to the Classics in Celebration of 120 Years of Chinese Cinema Star Wars Celebration: Diego Luna, Tony Gilroy and Adria Arjona Premiere 'Andor' Season Two for Fans Waugh also revealed a 'bold new direction' for Visions with the introduction of the Star Wars: Visions Presents banner, which he said would be giving filmmakers a chance to tell deeper and more longform stories without the constraints of the shorter runtime of the typical Visions episodes. First up will be a spinoff standalone series of 'The Ninth Jedi' which will come out sometime in 2026. 'The Duel: Payback' will be directed by Takanobu Mizuno from anime studio Kamikaze Douga. 'The Lost Ones,' a followup to the 'The Village Bride,' will be helmed by Hitoshi Haga of Kinema Citrus. And Naoyoshi Shiotani of Production IG will direct 'The Ninth Jedi' followup 'Child of Hope.' The trio of filmmakers talked about their episodes and showed designs for new characters, much to the delight of the crowd (a four-legged AT-AT, with a Japanese building on top, elicited oohs and aahs). The Ronin character from 'The Duel' has proven to be quite popular with Star Wars fans around the world, inspiring statues, and even a Hasbro Black Series figure. Also at the panel, Masaki Tachibana of anime studio Kinema Citrus previewed an especially kawaii addition to the Star Wars universe for his installment, 'Yuko's Treasure.' The episode's young female protagonist will be accompanied by a large, bear-like droid with a microwave built into his belly. The reveal of the character in a short clip played in the convention hall drew delighted applause. Hiroyasu Kobayashi of Project Studio Q discussed the darker and more mechanical world of his installment 'The Song of Four Wings,' which took the four blades of an X-Wing as its central motif.'We're a studio that specializes in the creation of mechanisms, so we really focussed on the essence of the old Joe Johnston designs and featured a lot of droids and mechs,' he explained while showing a still that featured an anime riff on an AT-AT walker. 'In general, Visions is a concept that really came from a passion for the animated medium,' said Waugh about the original inspirations behind the anthology and its focus on Japanese anime for its first and third volumes. 'I think we've always deeply admired the craftsmen that bring such great storytelling through animation. And so, as we were talking about how we could celebrate that, we ended up coming up with a concept really focused on anime and really focused on celebrating Star Wars through the anime perspective through the idea of really giving Japanese culture a spotlight within Star Wars and its influence on Star Wars in general.' When it debuted in 2021, Visions was a bold creative choice by Lucasfilm as it was a collection of non-canon animated shorts created by different Japanese animation studios and featuring different animation styles. The lack of restrictions led to wildly imaginative interpretations of the Star Wars mythos that proved incredibly popular with fans and critics alike. The first volume of Visions debuted on Disney+ in September 2021. The season included 9 episodes with work from Japanese animation studios Kamikaze Douga, Studio Colorido, Geno Studio, Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Production I.G. and Science Saru. Volume one was met with near universal acclaim from critics, and it enjoys a 98 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and 81 percent on Metacritic. Volume two of Visions was released on Disney+ in May 2023, with episodes featuring work from a more international group of international studios, including Aardman (U.K.), El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Studio Mir (South Korea), Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D'art Shtajio (Japan) along with Lucasfilm (U.S.), and Triggerfish (South Africa/Ireland). Volume two was likewise a huge hit with critics, with it scoring a perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 88 percent on Metacritic. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained The Cast of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' Then and Now A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
