CES: What Mattered to Hollywood

“Our work is being dramatically changed by technology,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris in her opening remarks. “But of all the people talking about it, who is really looking out for the working people?”

Topics included the advantages and potential pitfalls of new technology. This included discussion of how an actor’s likeness can be exploited from unauthorized Deepfakes (relatedly, last week Facebook revealed plans to prohibit Deepfakes on its services). Meanwhile, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA COO and general counsel, urged members to contact the union if they are going to be scanned for a motion picture to better understand their contractual rights.

Speakers representing labor and technology also included David White, national executive director, SAG-AFTRA; Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer, AFL-CIO; and Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus, USC Annenberg Innovation Lab.

Said Carteris of the purpose of the summit: “As the rapid pace of innovation in entertainment and media blurs the lines between industry and consumer application, it is critical for SAG-AFTRA to participate in CES. Exploring how new technology impacts our members ensures that we continue to have a strong voice in shaping innovation and policy.”

DGA, ASC Back “Filmmaker Mode” TVs as Rollout Begins

A rollout of a “Filmmaker Mode” setting on a range of 2020 television models from most major set makers is slated to begin this spring, and the first supported TVs were previewed at CES. Meanwhile the DGA, the ASC, the International Cinematographers Guild and Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation all endorsed this setting as their preferred method of viewing in the home. 

There has been concern in the production community that with the many settings available on consumer UHD TVs, the filmmaker’s artistic intent is not always what is displayed. Filmmaker Mode is a TV setting that effectively disables post processing such as motion smoothing and aims to give consumers the opportunity to view content in the way that the filmmakers intended, including with the original aspect ratio, color and frame rates.

Development of “Filmmaker Mode” was announced last August by leading directors including Scorsese, Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, Patty Jenkins and Rian Johnson, who had teamed with the UHD Alliance (UHDA), a coalition whose members include Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers.

At CES, UHDA announced that Samsung, Philips/TP Vision and Kaleidescape have joined the effort and will offer Filmmaker Mode-enabled products this year. Additionally, LG, Panasonic and Vizio — the trio of set makers that previously expressed their intent to support Filmmaker Mode — revealed supported 2020 TV models.

“Preserving intent is an important part of our creative rights work at the Directors Guild of America,” Christopher Nolan, co-chair of the DGA creative rights committee, said in a statement. “As the home has become an increasingly important viewing environment for cinematic content, our guild has made it a priority to work with the UHDA and television manufacturers, giving the filmmaker’s perspective on the development of this important feature.”

Quibi Makes Its CES Debut, Previews Turnstyle Feature

Most streaming services prioritize getting the right programming into the right living rooms at the fastest speeds possible. But when Quibi executives Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg took the CES stage on Wednesday, they unveiled technology that has the potential to change the way people watch video.

The duo showed off a new feature called Turnstyle that allows users to move their phones between vertical and horizontal orientation without interrupting the viewing experience. Behind the scenes, Turnstyle requires filmmakers to deliver two versions of their project — one oriented for a vertical screen, the other for a horizontal screen — that are then “stitched” together. The result: No matter what way viewers hold their phones, they are seeing the framing and edit that the filmmaker intended.

Dozens of shows — Katzenberg touted that Quibi will have 175 shortform series in its first year, including projects from Antoine Fuqua, Catherine Hardwicke, Lorne Michaels and Chrissy Teigen — will utilize Turnstyle, but the question remains whether audiences, in the age of Peak TV, will find the combination of content and technology enticing enough to shell out at least $5 per month for Quibi after its April 6 launch.

“NextGen TV” Launches With New Mobile, 4K Capabilities