Disney and OpenAI announced the blockbuster three-year licensing deal in December, saying that over 200 Disney-owned characters would be available for use in Sora-generated videos. At the same time, Disney said it would be making a $1 billion equity investment in the AI company. - Ars Technica
A Grammy-award winning South African composer who wrote and performed the iconic opening chant in “Circle of Life” for Disney’s “The Lion King” movies is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by intentionally misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a podcast and in his stand-up routine. - AP News
“At 11am, the ABC News channel switched to broadcasting the BBC News channel as staff walked out in protest. The ABC News channel filled the schedule with repeats of Planet America and the National Press Club, but broadcast Question Time as normal.” - The Guardian
“OpenAI said it will discontinue Sora, the generative-AI video creation app it launched last year, without providing a reason for the decision. … The announcement comes just three months after Disney inked a groundbreaking deal with OpenAI” licensing the conglomerate’s characters for use with Sora. - Variety
“It’s the story of an awards season unlike any other — one that stretched over 14 months and came to an end in, of all places, a train station in downtown L.A., with a ceremony that many felt went off the rails, even as its very occurrence was something of a miracle.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Los Angeles County lost more than 42,000 entertainment jobs from 2022 to 2024; and Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery made just 15 theatrical movies combined that filmed in the country over the last two years. - The Hollywood Reporter
It certainly won’t happen fast. “Restoring the physical infrastructure is going to take a lot of money and some time but it can be done,” said the VOA’s White House bureau chief. “What is more difficult is recovering from the trauma that our newsroom has gone through.” - AP
“Today, CBS News Radio provides material to an estimated 700 stations across the country and is known best for its top-of-the-hour news roundups. The service will end on May 22, the network said Friday.” - AP
"The Voice of America has been breaching the Constitutional and statutory rules that require that outlet not to push propaganda or censorship," one of the lead attorneys on the lawsuit, Norm Eisen, tells NPR. - NPR
For one thing, they met some of the Hail Mary crew on Solo. "We met Neal Scanlan and the creature shop team that we worked with to make Rocky, for example. We had such a great experience with them, making these aliens and robots together.” - The New York Times
Will this argument play? "Whether it is computer chips, the energy sector or pharmaceuticals, this is something that is standard in the United States. … In terms of our nation, Hollywood and its ability to tell the story of America, it is something worth saving.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
The Seattle Times analyses Tow, claiming that “it’s the right story at the right time, speaking to a Seattle that’s grown increasingly unaffordable for many of its residents.” - Seattle Times
“I didn’t want my kids in 10 or 15 years to look at my work and say, ‘Oh, Papa was so cynical.’ I wanted them to feel as if I tried to build something, to bring light, to bring hope.” - The Guardian (UK)
