Latest news with #Showrunner
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jurassic World Rebirth studio Universal Pictures is cracking down on AI in a big way with a warning threatening legal action at the end of all its new movies
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Universal Pictures is continuing its crackdown on generative AI with new messaging, threatening legal action against anyone who uses its movies to train AI systems, at the end of all its new movies. The legal warning says Universal's movies "may not be used to train AI" and appears during the end credits of its releases. "This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries," the warning reads. "Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution." Per The Hollywood Reporter, Universal thinks that "the worldwide insertion of the language adds another layer of protection against the theft of its movies for data mining and AI training purposes." The messaging has appeared at the end of Universal's biggest releases of the summer: How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World Rebirth, and The Bad Guys 2. Universal recently teamed up with Disney to sue AI company Midjourney, and the two studios called AI a "bottomless pit of plagiarism". An NBCUniversal spokesperson said that the company was suing the company to "protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content." Just last month, Amazon backed a new AI service, Showrunner, that uses material from existing TV shows to allow users to create their own episodes. The CEO of Fable, the company behind the software, said that "Hollywood streaming services are about to become two-way entertainment." For more on what to watch, check out our guide to the best upcoming movies still to come in 2025. Solve the daily Crossword
NBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
New AI site lets users create entire animated shows
A new online AI tool called Showrunner lets users create animated series in minutes, allowing for parodies of political figures or cartoon versions of themselves. NBC News' Steven Romo speaks to one of the co-creators and puts the tech to the test.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Zero Day Attack: Taiwanese TV show imagines Chinese invasion and stokes debate
A Chinese fighter jet plane crashes in the waters off Taiwan's coast, prompting Chinese warships to blockade the island for a "search and rescue".Taiwanese soldiers manning Dadan Island, a rocky outcrop mere kilometres from China's coast, begin vanishing one night, a fishing boat lands on Dadan. A signal flare arcs into the inky sky – and illuminates Chinese soldiers who have spilled out of the boat and amassed on the is the key scenario in Zero Day Attack, a new Taiwanese television show about a fictional Chinese military invasion. Beijing has long viewed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, vowing to "reunify" with it some day while not ruling out the use of series, which aired its first episode over the weekend, was partially funded by the Taiwanese government, which hopes to raise awareness about the threat China poses. But the show has also landed at a highly divisive moment in Taiwan and attracted criticism of Day Attack focuses on how various parts of Taiwanese society grapple with the invasion, from the president to rural villagers. The anthology series features several scenarios on how an invasion could unfold, provided by defence experts consulted by the production team. These include the disruption of Taiwan's communication lines; Chinese disinformation campaigns; "fifth column" supporters of China stirring up unrest; and military officials turned collaborators who conspire against Chen Hsin-mei told the BBC she wanted to make the series to "warn the Taiwanese people that the war is really coming," citing China's rising use of "disinformation campaigns and grey zone warfare to put our society in chaos and make us confused about our identity". Zero Day Attack's message echoes the rhetoric of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government and its leader President William Lai, who have warned about China's threat and preached the need to raise the island's culture ministry has partially funded Zero Day Attack, while the military provided support for filming and production. Chunghwa Telecoms, Taiwan's largest telecommunications company in which the government has a minority stake, also contributed private investors include billionaire Robert Tsao, a well-known supporter of Taiwanese independence who has funded civil defence Chen told the BBC that at no point did the authorities try to influence the show. She also said she was not a member of the DPP or any political even before a single episode was broadcast, Zero Day Attack has become a political lightning rod, given the charged topic. 'Selling dried mangoes' A 17-minute trailer posted online last year by the production team swiftly racked up hundreds of thousands of views and some praised it for its message, others criticised it for sowing anxiety and discord with debate has intensified with the series premiere, which was the most-watched show on several platforms on Saturday, according to the production company. In recent days Wang Hung-wei, a prominent lawmaker from the opposition Kuomintang party, criticised Zero Day Attack as "selling dried mangoes", a Taiwanese euphemism that means stoking unnecessary fear about the destruction of one's to the government's funding of the show, Ms Wang said the DPP was "using the state apparatus to achieve its political goals".A commentary by Wang Kunyi of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society accused the show of pushing Taiwan independence "so that Taiwan becomes a place that never knows peace".He added that it was evidence of Lai's government "once again using all kinds of channels to play the 'anti-Communist card' and stir up anxiety of war".The DPP and Lai are often accused by their critics, including the opposition and China, as pushing for Taiwan's independence. Any formal declaration as such would be considered as an act of war by Lai has in the past described himself as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan's independence", he has also insisted Taiwan has no need to formally declare independence because it is already a sovereign nation. Zero Day Attack has also garnered positive reviews. One published by the public broadcaster PTS said it "expresses the worries and anxieties of Taiwanese from various political camps in a highly realistic and reasonable way"."It's a good watch," said one commenter on Zero Day Attack's Facebook page. "The Taiwanese people can relate to it as it reflects our current situation, the Chinese Communist Party must be repulsed as their tactics have been exposed."Some have praised the first episode, which depicts the invasion quietly beginning amid a contentious presidential election marked by violence and political were struck by how uncannily that episode reflected the current fractious mood in Taiwanese politics. Last month the island held a controversial failed recall vote of Kuomintang lawmakers accused of being too friendly with China. Another round will take place later this has led to questions about the show's timing and if it was meant to influence the recall votes. Ms Chen told the BBC that the show's production had begun long before the recall movement discussion around the show goes to the heart of one of Taiwan's most existential questions: how real is the threat of a Chinese invasion?Taiwan has had its own government since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. In the following decades, the island saw largely peaceful relations and stronger economic ties with show that most Taiwanese do not believe Beijing will attack imminently, and prefer the "status quo" in Taiwan's relationship with China, which means neither unifying with Beijing nor formally declaring the question of a Chinese invasion has become sharper and more political in recent grey zone warfare has spiked, raising fears that Chinese warplanes and ships repeatedly entering Taiwan's airspace and waters could trigger a conflict. The US warned this year that China poses an "imminent threat" to Taiwan. American officials have repeatedly claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping is building up his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by has never confirmed this date. But it is a warning that Lai takes seriously. He has pledged to increase Taiwan's military spending, his government has carried out reforms in the army, and last month Taiwan staged its largest and longest ever Han Kuang drills aimed at defending against a possible Chinese has stressed that these efforts are aimed at protecting Taiwan and not to seek war. His political opponents however say he is antagonising Beijing which reviles Lai as a "separatist", and that he is leading Taiwan towards greater conflict with has repeatedly emphasised that it seeks "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan. It has dismissed any talk of a Chinese invasion as a pretext manufactured by those in favour of Taiwan independence to drum up Day Attack has been seen as one such provocation. Last week, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang accused the DPP government of using the show to "peddle anxieties and attempting to provoke war".He said Zero Day Attack was "plunging Taiwan into the flames of war and using the Taiwan people as cannon fodder for 'Taiwan independence'.Ms Chen however insisted that her show is "not talking bad about China or depicting it as evil"."We are talking about war, and how Taiwanese people struggle and respond to it. And that's because the terror of war has never stopped, all over the world."
Mint
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Who, Exactly, Is the ‘Netflix of AI' For?
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- In the ongoing, fiercely competitive race to see who can come up with the most unwanted, unwelcome AI technology, we may have a new frontrunner. According to Variety, Inc. has made an undisclosed investment in Fable, a Bay Area start-up, and specifically in its newly launched Showrunner service, which Fable is touting as the 'Netflix of AI.' The company describes its software, which went public Wednesday and is currently available via its Discord, as '[an] AI platform that puts a studio at your fingertips, where anyone can create, watch, and personalize series and stories.' More specifically, it allows users to use keywords to create scenes or episodes of animated cartoon shows, either of the user's own creation or (more likely, and easily) from existing templates of television programs. What seems to be missing from Fable and Amazon's efforts is consideration for the most essential question in any consumer product strategy: Who, exactly, is this for? The potential copyright issues alone are exhausting. Fable's CEO and co-founder Edward Saatchi told Variety that he is 'in talks' with Walt Disney Co. and other studios about licensing partnerships, but there's plenty of potential here for studios and IP holders to slap the company with a Midjourney Inc. type lawsuit. When Saatchi tested (and showed off) the software two years ago with nine short South Park episodes, he didn't bother securing rights or permission from the show's creators. Reportedly, he reached out to assure them that it wasn't for commercial use. While the animations got over 80 million views, South Park's cultural cachet was likely the driving force. With the software's star power still a big if, the question of who Showrunner's intended audience is looms even larger. On one hand, sure, animation (and, for that matter, live-action filmmaking) is costly, laborious and difficult. I'm certain there are plenty of would-be Walt Disneys who'd like to make their own little cartoons. But — and this is the tricky part — who wants to watch them? It's tiring enough to scroll through the constant stream of clumsy generative-AI 'art,' with its unsettling visuals and recurring anatomical errors— so the idea of actually watching a full scene, let alone an entire episode, of AI-generated animation feels especially unappealing. What Showrunner is offering seems like the streaming equivalent of self-publishing in the book world: empowering for the authors, but rarely read by anyone else. The company's website proudly promises 'No agents' and 'no studio gatekeepers,' but here's a potentially controversial opinion: Sometimes gatekeepers are good. They serve to filter out untalented artists and elevate gifted ones. The burning desire to tell a story does not necessarily translate to the skill of telling one, and if you don't believe me, go spend a day at a third-tier film festival sometime. Beyond the specifics of this software, however, lurks a larger disconnect between the people who create entertainment and the people who create technology intended to supplant entertainment. Saatchi insists, 'Our relationship to entertainment will be totally different in the next five years,' and claims that 'Hollywood streaming services are about to become two-way entertainment: audiences watching a season of a show [and] loving it will now be able to make new episodes with a few words and become characters with a photo.' As someone who engages with film and television all the time, the concept is genuinely puzzling and not particularly appealing. The idea of 'two-way entertainment'— where loving a show or movie leads to inserting oneself into it or reshaping its narrative through personalized storylines — runs counter to why we engage with art. Part of the joy in watching something is experiencing a creator's vision. The expectation that audiences should actively participate in shaping entertainment feels more like a shift toward self-involvement than storytelling. It's hard to imagine watching a favorite show and thinking, 'The only thing that would make this better is if I were in charge of it.' The creators and consumers of fanfiction may disagree, but these matters are best left to the professionals. Perhaps that, ultimately, is what this all boils down to. The generative AI that we're constantly being bombarded with, in the fields of prose writing, visual art and now streaming television, comes at the expense of human artists, sidelining the very creativity and craft that give meaning to the work itself. People in all walks of life — especially in business and tech — love to describe themselves as 'storytellers' (even when they're only 'telling stories' in the most generous sense of the phrase), while simultaneously taking every opportunity to kneecap actual storytellers. Each so-called advancement rests on the premise that anyone can create high-quality art. But the reality is, not everyone can. Sure, I can daydream my own episodes of The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, to use two of my favorite series as examples. But that's exactly where those fantasies belong: in my head. What makes those shows exceptional is the mastery of David Chase and Vince Gilligan, who understand how to build complex characters, construct meaningful conflict, and deliver rising action and satisfying conclusions. Of course, it would be far more convenient — and far more profitable — for streaming platforms if anyone could replicate that expertise. And that may be the most troubling part of this deal: not just that software exists that devalues artists, erases creative labor and potentially infringes on copyrights, but that Amazon is so eager to invest in From Bloomberg Opinion: This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Jason Bailey is a film critic and historian whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Vulture, the Playlist, Slate and Rolling Stone. He is the author, most recently, of 'Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend.' More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
Who, Exactly, Is the ‘Netflix of AI' For?
In the ongoing, fiercely competitive race to see who can come up with the most unwanted, unwelcome AI technology, we may have a new frontrunner. According to Variety, Inc. has made an undisclosed investment in Fable, a Bay Area start-up, and specifically in its newly launched Showrunner service, which Fable is touting as the 'Netflix of AI.' The company describes its software, which went public Wednesday and is currently available via its Discord, as '[an] AI platform that puts a studio at your fingertips, where anyone can create, watch, and personalize series and stories.' More specifically, it allows users to use keywords to create scenes or episodes of animated cartoon shows, either of the user's own creation or (more likely, and easily) from existing templates of television programs.
