In The News

At a recent power station showcase, members of the IATSE electrical lighting technician union explained how they used alternatives to diesel-powered generators on projects like ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and ‘Red One’: “It’s all of our responsibility.” IASTE’s Eco-Committee recently hosted a showcase featuring local union members and companies like Moxion Power, Grip Trix, FlashFish, and Goal Zero, highlighting alternatives to diesel generators. These included portable power stations, electric camera cars, and large zero-emission batteries, aimed at helping lighting technicians use cleaner power sources.

With the era of easy money long gone, producers are looking to co-production, financing and distribution models pioneered by the independent film industry.

The bubble — that surge of cash that over the past decades helped bankroll an unprecedented boom in TV drama production — appears to have burst. TV producers, gathered in Cannes this week for the MIPTV international television market, are pondering a future in which the cost of TV drama continues to spike while the primary sources of financing, namely broadcasters and online streamers, are slashing their commissioning budgets.

Officials have announced that Hollywood’s COVID policy will expire for the film and TV industry on May 11th – including the mandate that required all cast and crew to be vaccinated. “The date coincides with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ end to the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration on May 11,” the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers said. Any production with a vaccination mandate in effect as of May 11 will continue to implement the procedure throughout the duration of filming.

What will AI (artificial intelligence) do to Hollywood? Who better to answer that question than ChatGPT, a thrilling but scary chatbot developed by OpenAI. When the Guardian asked it about AI’s potential impact on the film industry, it made the following points. 

Travelers are being inspired to visit destinations they have seen on screen. According to a travel trends report, 66% of travelers have considered trips to destinations based on a movie or TV show they’ve streamed. TV tourism, or tourists visiting a destination after learning about it on a TV show, can boost the local economy by increasing tourism and spending. It can also increase cultural awareness as visitors learn about the destination’s history, traditions, and way of life.