Movies, popcorn, AI!
It's been SXSW London and there's been a lot of AI talk around creative industries
Welcome to a new edition of mostly cool stuff, a space dedicated to the the random news and things I come across online and offline that get my attention as per the dozens of screenshots, pictures and links in my phone to remind me about them.
This week I’ve been running around Shoreditch to join events as part of SXSW London, which was also visited by King Charles. This the first time London has hosted this well-established conference that originated in Austin and which is dedicated to media and creativity, technology, music and film. To say I’m extremely tired is an understatement but I’m very grateful for how many opportunities I’ve had throughout the week to talk about creative industries (they contribute £124 billion to the UK economy) to local and international audiences, the collaborative nature of the London creative ecosystem (proven by the many familiar faces I was encountering at every event), the resounding success of ABBA Voyage (which has been seen by over 3 million people and generated over £1.4 billion to the London economy), the amazing films recently been shot in the UK, including the latest Mission Impossible, and of course new exciting projects being developed, such as the Camden Film Quarter, which will bring film additional film and production stages to my doorstep.
Listening to how ABBA Voyage came into being Talking about doorsteps, the residents of Notting Hill have decided to paint their colourful houses black to deter influencers and tourists attracted by the instagrammable beauty of their neighbourhood. I can’t blame them - imagine having a bunch of total weirdos showing up at your door every day to take a picture just because it’s blue.
The Kingsway Exchange Tunnels, which are said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s Q Branch, will be turn into a museum that will open to the public in 2028. The project is currently being developed by the Military Intelligence Museum and the London Tunnels company who are working on bringing new life to the complex and getting it ready to be able to showcase original artifacts, weapons and documents.
A YouGov poll has revealed that 8 out of 10 people in the UK are bothered by headphone dodgers and their disgusting habit of playing dreaful music and TikTok videos loud on public transport without wearing headphones. No wonder people are calling for fines to be imposed on those who disturb the little peace we had left. I hope they also fine people who make videocalls on pulic transport without headphones because I’ve heard people say things out loud when they are convinced no one can understand them that surely constitute a public offence.
If you think this is unfair for people who have honed their craft for years and will now be competing against non-professional writers supported by AI who may threatened their jobs, worry not because the CEO of Anthropic has predicted that AI tools will most likely contribute to eliminate 20% of entry-level, white collar jobs in the next five years. See you soon at the queue of the unenmployment office where a bot will inform us of our slim professional prospects.
On the other hand a recent AI trial in the civil service has shown that employees that use AI could save two weeks at work. That’s peanuts compared to all the time we could save by being finally replaced by AI once and for all when you think about it.
Has anyone watched Mountainhead? It’s been years I’ve been saying someone needed to create a satire on that specific group of humans that respond to the name of techno bros and who think of themselves as hot shit when they’re at most a fetid fart. As I only have Netflix, I’ll have to make do with the trailer and the reviews but do let me know what you make of it if you get around watching it. I’m sure in this instance fiction can’t even come close to the absurdities we’ve witness recently courtesy of Elon Musks and friends.
Netflix is testing a new AI tool to integrate ads and match them to type of series/movie viewers are watching. Not to burst anyone’s innovation bubble but this was already a thing in the 90s in Spain where the tv show Medico de Familia became the golden standard of product placement. Back in the day we were a bit more naive and may not have noticed immediately but even so it was difficult to miss the brand of bread being placed on the table very slowly every time the family had breakfast, the bottle of olive oil they were using for cooking and held for an inexplicably long time while talking. Was there, been sold that.
I’ve never understood the point of Madame Tussauds but I concede that pre-social media having your likeness replicated in wax and exposed for public consumption was the ultimate sign that you had made it in life and were worthy of immortality. Apparently the same is true for bakery goods as a waxwork replica of Gregg’s sausage roll is now on display at Madame Tussauds in the Cultural Capital Zone, which includes wax figures of the likes of William Shakespeare and Emmeline Pankhurst among others. I wonder how Shakespeare would have welcomed the newcomer. To me, fair friend, you can never be old.
Almost 3 million kilograms of popcorn were sold in the US the weekend during the Memorial weekend as a result of the premieres of Lilo & Stitch and Mission Impossible: The Final Recokning. Guess Tom Cruise ate a few buckets as his love of popcorn and movies hasn’t gone unnoticed in the past couple of weeks, where fans have spotted him chatting to cinema staff at a popcorn-filled station, remarking a fan for finishing his popcorn before the movie started and of course eating popcorn himself as he waited to be introduced on stage at the BFI Imax before a screening of Mission Impossible: Fallout, which has sent the internet absolutely wild about his eating technique.
By the way, Tom Cruise now holds a new Guinness World Record after his impressive stunts in the latest Mission Impossible: The Final Recockning, where he performed 16 jumps out of a helicopter while his parachute was soaked in fuel. Cruise already holds another Guinness World Record for the actor with the most consecutive $100-million-grossing movies and I am firmly convinced it’s only a matter of time before he gets a third one for most buckets of popcorn eaten in a single seating before the trailers begin. That could go down in history as his greatest stunt ever, mark my words.
Coolness is like energy: it never dies, it just transforms
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Now i'm craving popcorn Cristina! And I need to see a picture of someone who has actually painted their pretty house black to believe that this is actually happening!
Urgh AI editors? I don't know how to feel about it. On one hand listicles and tweet commentary never seemed journalism to me, but on the other hand that was income to someone...