A Power Session at this week’s HPA Tech Retreat, organized by Disney post production executive Annie Chang, focused on every nook and cranny of high dynamic range and its application in production, post and even displays. The topic is of such interest to Hollywood engineers and technologists that it drew many of the industry’s top experts to speak on their experiences. The Power Session got a start with a short but important HDR primer presented by OneRiver Media owner Marco Solorio, who defined what HDR is and is not. Continue reading HPA Tech Retreat: Production Experts Talk High Dynamic Range

The annual HPA Tech Retreat opened in Indian Wells, California, near Palm Springs. The sold-out event hosts 600 executives and technologists in broadcast, cable, digital and feature film industries. In addition to an “Innovation Zone,” the new term for the former demo room, the HPA Tech Retreat is known for its days-long series of lectures and panels, all of which are a deep dive into technology. All of Tuesday was devoted to a single topic: Snowflake Workflows are Turning into Distribution Snowstorms! Continue reading HPA Tech Retreat Looks at Approaching Tipping Point in Media

AT&T wants to become the leading mobile provider for today’s “connected generation.” The carrier announced it is partnering with Fullscreen to launch AT&T Hello Lab, a yearlong initiative to give 10 online influencers support to create new entertainment content — including podcasts, video series, meet-ups and albums — with a focus on mobile and social media. AT&T has already signed YouTube star Grace Helbig, travel duo Damon and Jo, Instagram comedian Brandon Armstrong, Snapchat star Shaun McBride, magician Collins Key and musicians Us The Duo. Continue reading AT&T and Fullscreen Tap Social Influencers for New Initiative

John Riccitiello, CEO of game engine company Unity, set a course correction for virtual reality adoption in his keynote address at the Vision VR/AR Summit conference in Hollywood this week. Riccitiello warned, without equivocation, that analyst prognostications suggesting VR will become a $100 billion industry by 2020 “are wrong.” He assured the audience of 1,500 plus developers that VR is a transformative platform that will reap financial rewards in the long run and give birth to great “century companies” like Netflix and Disney. Continue reading Unity Warns VR Forecasters “Wrong,” Sets Course Correction

Sensory technology could soon allow smartphones and other devices to interact with humans through touch. Apple’s 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s is one of the most recent developments to hit the market. It allows the iPhone 6S to detect how hard the user is pressing on the screen and send feedback to the user via vibrations. In the future, sensory technology could have a variety of applications such as adding another dimension to gaming, photos, social media and any kind of user interface. Continue reading 3D Touch Technology Could Heighten Interaction with Devices

One of Hollywood’s most enduring problems is filling seats in movie theaters, and a startup, which previously raised $10 million, thinks it has an answer. Atom, headquartered in Santa Monica, has an app to make the movie-going experience simpler for groups and to enable discounts for floundering movies, a controversial practice called “variable pricing.” Now, Disney, Twentieth Century Fox and Lions Gate Entertainment are betting that Atom is on to something good. Continue reading Atom: New Movie Ticket Purchasing App Earns Studio Support

The European Union is taking on geo-blocking — the practice of restricting access to online content based on location — in a move that pits it against Hollywood studios 20th Century Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, as well as pay TV’s Sky. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager says she will detail the EU’s concerns by the end of March. Joining the EU in its case is BEUC, the European consumer organization. Both groups are also looking at restrictions related to video games. Continue reading EU Takes Aim at Geo-Blocking, Faces Off Against Hollywood

Netflix and Amazon are currently small players in the content business compared to Disney, Comcast and Time Warner. And although there are plenty of reasons why these media behemoths need not be too concerned about Netflix and Amazon, these two streaming services do continue to grow and succeed. Most recently, Netflix’s stock rose 140 percent, making it the best performing of Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, and the company announced at CES that it will make its content available worldwide (except for China). Continue reading Netflix’s Unlikely Path to Global Media Success, Minus China

Felix Kjellberg, better known by his YouTube username PewDiePie, is launching his own multi-channel network to create new content and foster new YouTube personalities. The brand is called Revelmode and it will be focused on YouTube creators related to video gaming. Kjellberg has already recruited some top YouTube creators to join the “collaborative talent squad.” Even though Kjellberg will be spearheading the Revelmode brand, he will continue his partnership with Maker Studios. Continue reading YouTube Star PewDiePie Is Building His Own ‘Talent Squad’

After a decade of planning and five years construction, The Walt Disney Company is set to open the Shanghai Disney Resort in the spring. The $5.5 billion project is a testament to the growing interest in bringing American entertainment brands to Chinese consumers. The 963-acre theme park, complete with an Enchanted Storybook Castle and a Mandarin version of “The Lion King” musical, is expected to be one of the largest Disney parks in the world. Disney already operates a park in Hong Kong. Continue reading Disney Plans June Opening for its New Theme Park in China

Home entertainment sales dipped last year, especially for DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, which fell 12 percent, one percent more than the drop in 2014. But the numbers, as compiled by the Digital Entertainment Group, aren’t easy to parse, as revealed in competing interpretations of the data. Two things are clear: physical media’s dip is linked to digital media’s rise. And, with revenues of $18 billion, home entertainment is still larger than theatrical box office, which clocked in at $11.1 billion last year. Continue reading Digital and Physical Home Entertainment Dips Again in 2015

Under the theme “Experiences Reimagined,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich kicked off CES 2016 with a keynote presentation packed with product announcements, collaborations and live demonstrations. Today’s products are designed and defined by experiences, said Krzanich, experiences enabled by technology. With a flair of showmanship, the keynote opened with fireworks, presented not with explosives but a record-setting fleet of illuminated drones, and closed with music played with motion sensors, all of which served to illustrate what Krzanich called “the sensification of computing.” Continue reading CES: Intel Reimagines Experiences with Sensified Computing

On its opening weekend, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” demolished box office records — as well as the trope that crowds no longer throng to movie theaters, even in the first days. The Walt Disney Company’s latest “Star Wars” movie brought in about $517 million globally, a success that is stunning in its size and scope, and that underscores Hollywood studios’ efforts to focus on repurposing the blockbuster, from “Avatar” to “Frozen.” According to Disney, 3D screenings account for 47 percent of the gross. Continue reading ‘Star Wars’ Smashes Box Office, Rallies Blockbuster Strategy

Having inked a multi-year licensing agreement, Alibaba and The Walt Disney Company will begin pre-sales of DisneyLife, an OTT system aimed to increase sales of movie-related toys and trips to Disneyland. The system’s device will be sold on Alibaba’s online shopping site Tmall starting December 28. Priced at $125, the Mickey Mouse-shaped device comes with a free one-year subscription and lets customers connect to Disney and Pixar movies, cartoon series, e-books, music and games, as well as plan a trip to the Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland theme parks.

Continue reading Disney Partners with Alibaba to Bring OTT Service to China

While companies prepare to release virtual reality experiences into the consumer market, an increasing flow of money and effort is going toward developing and buying augmented reality (AR) technology and ideas. Augmented reality is any situation where your personal experience with the world around you is enhanced, supplemented, or added to via personally worn technology. The AR space is getting busy and increasingly crowded as companies position themselves to secure a piece of a new media ecosystem that is projected to yield $120B in revenue by 2020. Continue reading CES: Augmented Reality Getting Ready in the Green Room