Scripting Tomorrow

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NEWSLETTER
9-11 minute read — 2187 words

How Hollywood has Evolved w/ Tech

👋 Happy New Year Vibers!

🧑‍💻 We hope you enjoyed a couple weeks off to rest and recharge; we did! During that time, we reflected on the biggest topics of 2023 and some of the resolutions that were made (or attempted to be made). The hot button issue that we want to tackle today surrounds Artificial Intelligence and its use in the entertainment sector. First, we’ll give an overview of what happened last year and then we’ll highlight some people that took the shut down as an opportunity.

🪨 If you were living under a rock in 2023, you may not have heard, but Hollywood went on strike. Both the Writers and Actors guilds decided to forego all projects and protest the usage of AI as a replacement of their talents. You may have asked yourself, “What are they doing with AI? How is it affecting creatives? Can we even stop them from using AI?”… All great questions that we’ll explore shortly.

🔍️ For context, it’s important to note that technology has continuously morphed and updated throughout Hollywood’s history. Only 5 decades ago it took an entire crew to operate a camera, and they would have to strap a contraption to a plane for an aerial shot. Once the film was captured, editors had to literally cut and paste segments together. Animation went from hundreds of illustrators depicting every movement, to CGI and green screens. Hollywood went from silent, black and white films to 3D computer generated explosions in a relatively short time.

💰️ A large reason for this strike, that resulted in the biggest wage increase in 40 years, was dwindling royalties that came after the implementation of streaming. Prior to the advent of our new favorite pastime, television shows and movies were scheduled to run on different networks. Writers and actors would get paid every time their show aired or reran on TV. However, with streaming platforms, this was not the case — the platforms license the IP directly from the studios for their subscribers to watch at their leisure. In fact, the payout is a sliver of what it once was as streaming platforms had not been forced to be transparent about their viewership data. Combine this sudden shortage of funds with the possibility of AI taking new jobs AND creating derivative works — thus we had our standstill.

🎥 Now that we’ve established why the strike occurred. Lets talk about how Hollywood was using AI…Actors were being offered $200 to come in and have their image full-body scanned. Upon signing, the studio was given consent to use their likeness in perpetuity. No need to pay for background actors, just put some AI bodies in the back. Why hire 500 new people every time you want to do a scene in Central Park when you can own the rights to 500 AI bodies to place in all your movies? Another qualm of the strike was generating storylines and pitting man vs. machine in a battle for human creativity. Writers feared being displaced by prompt engineers who could generate a 200 page script in 30 seconds. Safe to say, the concerns were warranted and clarity was essential.

🚫 Fast forward, the strike is now over and some ground rules have been set in place. One, an updated revenue model and transparent data from streaming platforms! Big win for creatives, but expect your monthly subscriptions to increase. Two, studios are not allowed to use AI to write new scripts or edit scripts written by humans. Three, studios cannot generate source material and then ask humans to edit it into a script for less (its already halfway done so we’ll pay you 50% of normal). Maybe most importantly, this deal does not limit the writers themselves from deciding to utilize AI and receive equal pay for their work.

🔎 While these are massive wins for creative professionals in Hollywood, we believe it is just the beginning of a conversation that could last decades. AI is still in its infancy, and, yet, what used to require a $100k+ budget and dozens of employees can now be done with a few programs and the right prompts. This COULD be a scary notion… but we choose to see it differently at Vibe Stream Network. Now, a team of a few creatives can potentially rival a Marvel or Disney short! Independent creators and collectives suddenly have tools to not only increase productivity, but quality as well — all while freeing up their time and relieving their budget.

🤝 Our prediction is not that AI takes over, but that incredibly talented PEOPLE that learn to use AI will.

🚀 LET’S GROW!!

UDay Studios & A New Hollywood

⛓️ While Hollywood was shut down and writers/actors lined the streets with picket signs, one group was gathering creatives at Kinfolx coffee shop in Oakland, California. The event was headed by Takai Ginwright - writer, director, and founder of UDay Studios. We met Takai at SXSW 2023 where we bonded over our search to utilize new technologies for better opportunities for independent creators. On this August afternoon, the topic to discuss was how to move forward and build a New Hollywood made for us, by us. This event boasted panelists Cheryl Dunye (Film Legend for Queer Black Representation) and Boots Riley (Bay Area Artist and Film/TV Writer) - both experienced legends in the entertainment industry.

💰️ The VSN Team had the opportunity to listen to the conversations and questions of aspiring filmmakers as well as the responses from dedicated professionals. After the panel, we sat down to interview Cheryl, Boots, Takai, and more about their thoughts on the use of AI, the power of community, and potential new avenues for direct distribution. We’ll be posting snippets on our socials over the coming weeks.

🕴️Boots Riley is a vocal activist that has always used art to portray messages. He shared with us that although he started as a rapper (in the group The Coup), film making and story telling was always his passion. Directing their music videos was the first chance he got to showcase his vision. When you take a look at “Fat Cats, Bigga Fish” for example its quite clear now that he was destined to accomplish feats like “Sorry to Bother You” and gain his own Amazon show “I’m a Virgo” — all discussing similar themes. “Art and Media are very well connected to the movements going on right now,” Boots tells us “about working class taking more control of their surroundings.” He acknowledged how important it was that the community stick together, that even the writers that are currently earning a living also standing with those that are not — “the strike is the community.” He concluded with a final statement that “We have a tool under our belts, and that is the tool of withholding of labor. When that takes effect we can start to reshape things — the ownership of media or how and why things get distributed.” Boots acknowledged that AI may or may not be something that would replace workers or that should be utilized, but that we should stop it now and give ourselves some time to research and find the answers before its too late.

📚️ Cheryl Dunye has taken incredible strides on behalf of the LGBTQ community with the portrayal of stories and characters that previously were not being told. She utilized local resources at colleges in order to have the equipment to film and edit the narratives that she wanted to produce. When we asked about the future of media, she replied with optimism, “I think media is going in a great direction right now - people have found new outlets and social media has opened the door for people to find each other. Real artists get offline. The strikes are making people want to have in-person experiences and then carry that into your work as media makers.” This was a refreshing take on how despite us creating works that are primarily consumed online.. at the end of the day real world experiences are needed to inspire compelling works. She saw these strikes as more than a protest for better wages, but an opportunity to reconnect with other creatives that have been isolated due to the pandemic or our increasingly online society. Dunye did not flinch at the prospect of AI integration into media, “People are using AI everyday and they don’t even know it. If you use Waze to get around that’s AI. If it’s a starting point and then jump off of that. It’s about using AI as a tool, as a generator but it’s not the end.” We couldn’t agree more with this sentiment, and it seems as though the creatives who have explored the possibilities tend to land around this. It’s not coming — it is here; so how can we use it in an ethical way?

🎞️ VSN stuck around after the event for a chance to catch up with Takai Ginwright and see how he felt about the discussions. As a young, independent film maker and entrepreneur, Takai is always searching for ways to get a competitive edge. We asked him about his thoughts on the future of media, as it seemed he was building it inside of that coffee shop. Takai exclaimed “When I think about the future of media, I see a lot more of independent storytellers using new technologies to distribute and get their word out.” He continued, “The way society is today — yes, the studios provide platform and budget — but we have enough resources where if we put in the work to create our own audiences it’s very possible for smaller studios to be just as successful.” This sticks out to us as the power of community and echoes sentiments we heard from Boots earlier. You can have the best tech in the world, but if nobody is around to use it then it doesnt matter.

🤖 This often gets overlooked when discussing the ethics of AI in entertainment. What if we use AI for promotion instead of in the creative process? Something to think about. Takai adds “AI should be a tool for humans, not replace or pretend to be humans. When I think of AI as a tool, its something we can use to enhance productivity not creativity and help optimize our workflow.” This seems to be the consensus across the board. He elaborated further for us on what that looks like, “There’s a fine line between having AI create for you and having it analyze, note-take, or revise your creative process. It’s a new landscape and I like to stay ahead of it — making sure authentic genuine storytelling is at the forefront of everything.”

😁 We look forward to seeing Takai and UDay Studios prove the concept of how smaller, independent creatives can take on the giant Majors that we see today. Currently, Takai is crowdfunding for his upcoming film “Agape”. The creative explains “Hollywood is in desparate need of something fresh, something new, something inspiring.” Agape is just that as it explores the connection between Cairo, a young dreamer, and Umi, a girl that exists only in his dreams. You can learn more about Agape and stay up-to-date on Takai and UDay Studios here on their website. It is truly going to be amazing to watch how they integrate new technologies like AI and Blockchain with the age old concepts of community and story telling.

Pop Up Record Shop - Burner of the Week

🏆️ This week we were blessed with some new music from a PuRS founder - Abel Okugawa. Of course, these cutting edge creatives do not simply put out music like the rest of us. No — this release was in partnership with Web3 Music platform SanSound.

🌙 SanSound is not your average NFT Project. They have rewarded holders with the development of some of the best sounding headphones (In-Ear Monitors) ever created. These units are paired with insane art and jaw-dropping colorways that will turn heads. A superstar team of sound engineers, DJ’s, graphic artists, and a community of believers came together to bring this to life over the course of more than a year. The sonic drivers in these ear buds are engineered by CEO David Leung, the audio master formerly behind Beats by Dre.

🎧️ Abel, a SanSound holder, used the Hyper-Reality SanSound headphones to co-produce, mix, and master 3 tracks with Leung and popular DJ, Kakuberry. These tracks were collaborated on remotely, yet simultaneously with innovative new features only available via SAN.

🌴 The new music is titled after rare colorway - Jungle Blaze - and can be found on the SanSound smartphone app (available iOS and Android). We highly suggest exploring the San ecosystem here, and diving into this audio experience that is like no other. To hear from Abel and the Record Shop themselves, tune in every Tuesday and Friday at 11am PST/2pm EST.

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Tre Rail’s Word of the Week

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Definition - Acting better than everyone else

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