issue 143
Hello! Broken systems. They’re around everywhere. I can’t stop thinking about them. The one I find most important, education. To get to the point of my soliloquy if you want to go dive headfirst into the links, I think we need to implement more apprenticeship and mentorship programs in middle school and high school. Big Brothers Big Sisters. But focused on professional prospects. C’est tout.
It’s wild that those who are “gifted” at a young age are put in advanced placement programs… the promised land of math, music, and sports. It’s relatively simple to understand what it means to make it in the last two - the big leagues - but most other fields are hidden in shadow. We need to make it simpler to unlock opportunity, to educate the youth - the next generation : the future - on the real-world applications of their learnings. Putting principles into practice.
There are a few new developments like accelerators, academies, and fellowships for people in their 20s and beyond, but we need to start earlier. And I think we should do it for the good of society, no strings attached. Most of these paid bootcamps expect their clients’ future earnings to line their pockets as well. Now imagine schools expecting the same. Oh wait, that’s part of the wonderful student loan industrial complex. Capitalism sure is tasty, isn’t it. Moving on.
Parents and children alike chase the pedigree’d rubber stamp of high-brow institutions, as they bear a more “proven” script to success. They’re brands that you sought out when you nailed a standardized test and wrote a cute essay at seventeen. Some candidates might’ve peaked early, but hey, they certainly got a leg up on the competition. You can lead a horse to water…
If only reputation was centered in action, not perception.
So many of the well-regarded, fanciful careers are held by the advantaged, and deeply protected by them. I had no idea what what an investment banker or management consultant did until I was about 21. That’s what Bud Fox did, right? Same goes for all careers in high-finance. Too little too late. Oh well. That’s on me.
Hell, it seems that at most jobs they expect to re-build you for first 1-3 months of your stint, like the Bionic Man. These are the in-house bootcamps. The hazing, initiation period. Make it or break it. Sink or swim. Both parties win. Good game. Dual returns.
Let’s create systems that compound positively. Double bottom line.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you next week.
Tech
Create & Learn, STEM education for kids, raised $1.7m (into it). TR
Pixellot, automated sports prod, raised $16m (Shamrock). PE
Hopin, virtual event conferences, raised $40m. TC
FB acq Ready at Dawn, VR content developer. IGN
Teooh, virtual vr gatherings w/ avatars, raised $4.5m. TEU
API Video, tools for devs to incorp videos, raised $5.5m. TC
Artlist, royalty music, raised $48m. Reut
Fluently is a new [beta] translate tool to write in any language. PH
Unity Learn Premium avail for free. Unity
Rasa, conversational AI platform, raised $26m. TC
FB tests Forecast, predicts potential major events. TC
Candidate Labs, recruitment tech, raised $5m. TC
Snapchat adds free phone number verification in SDK. TC
DoNotPay, legal bots help save you money, raised $12m. VB
Neeva, open web search engine, raised $37m. NYT
Nylas, retailers connect w/ customers using bots, raised $25m. CB
FC shutting down Oculus Go, pushes Quest. Oc
Google photos gets a Map view as part of redesign. Verge
Quortex, video streaming provider, raised $2.8m. Fins
Polyient Games launches accelerator for games studios. VB
Microsoft patent on memories in AR. Prot
Google’s light field videos (woah). TC
Google Creative Labs launches Lines of Play, AR depth api experiment. Forbes
Armored Things, crowd intelligence platform, raised $7m. GN
Thought Exchange, helps managers communicate w/ employees, raised $10m. GW
Google to auto-delete location and search history. Verge
Apple extend life of AirPods in next update (much needed, thx). Verge
Treehouse Games, games studio, raised $2.5m. TH
SciPlay acq Come2Play, casual mobile game dev. Cision
Karat will lend to social media influencers. Wired
Apple disallows FB Gaming app on App Store. BI
Absolutely Games new games studio w/ seed. GIB
Satelytics, geo-spatial analytics for oil industry, raised $5m. Fins
Google adds contextual fact checking for image results. TC
Apple’s WWDC roundup. Engadget
Microsoft to close all retail locales. Msft
Media
Tencent Video to buy Iflix, which hemorrhages cash. Var
Disney+ removes free trials before dropping Hamilton. Verge
A deeper look into the FB ad boycotts. CNBC
Amazon getting into the live tv biz. Prot
NEA and CAA launching Connect Ventures. TC
A look at Trovo, Tencent’s rival to Twitch. Bberg
FB to show users pop-up if they share outdated story. TC
Google unveils new licensing program for news industry. Goog
iHeart to produce companion pods to WarnerMedia / HBO Max shows. THR
Disney closes linear channels in UK, all to D+. Dead
Ludacris launches new platform to teach kids current events thru music. BOTWC
Cadence13, podcast co, to make C13 Features (long form audio, Endeavor behind it). Var
Twitch moving deeper into interactive shows (Artificial + Hovercast!). Digiday
Spotify launches on Xfinity box. BW
Nintendo chills on its mobile efforts. Bberg
MLB sponsor patch deal on jerseys. SP
Peacock sets Google deal, 3 month free trial. Dead
Splash Mountain overhaul bc Song of South. Bberg
Stitcher is on the block. Info
CBSN expands int’l. CBS
Daytime Emmys winner list. Var
MLB to return in late July w/ 60 game season. Var
Technicolor undergoing restructure. AWN
Houlihan acq MVP Cap to expand TMT offerings BW
The growing list of cos boycotting buying FB ads. NYT
Live Nation drive-in concerts. Var
Advent makes bid on Serie A, Italy soccer league. Bberg
Evolution Gaming to buy NetEnt, Asian casino operator for $2b. CNA
Entertainment
SpringHill, Lebron’s prod co, raised $100m (that’s a lot). Bberg
SpringHill also sets tv overall w/ ABC Studios. Var
Sundance 2021 to be re-imagined. IW
TIFF lineup partially revealed, some of fest to be in-person. IW
Barry Jenkins and Leo team to adapt Virunga (my lord, yes). Dead
Apple and Warner Bros bidding on Emancipation, nears $130m (woah). Dead
STX to WW to Run Rabbit Run. Dead
Kaepernick and Ava team on Netflix series about him. Dead
Broadway to remain closed until end of the year. Var
Neon and Topic nab US rights to Princes Di feature. Var
Netflix teams w/ Imagine Impact. Var
Margot Robbie to reboot Pirates of Caribbean. THR
HBO Max developing In Memoriam. Dead
Fully Formed disbanding, Andrew to join Krasinski (that was quick). Var
B is a $70m sci fi film that will star an actual ai robot (ok.). THR
Gaumont TV to develop Phantom of the Opera remake (...). Dead
Netflix orders a Chicken Run sequel (…..). IW
Uni to make live action Magic School Bus (…...). Dead
Uni to remake Twister (…………..). Var
Donut King, sxsw doc, acq by Greenwich Ent. Dead
Ottolenghi and Cakes of Versailles heads to IFC. Var
Marlon Wayans HBO Max overall. THR
BET Awards. THR
Georgia senators might reduce tax credit. Var
Cyberpunk series coming to Netflix, based on upcoming video game. CNET
Disco Elysium, indie game, series in the works (expect lots more of this - call me if you need option recs). Var
Verve starting to build out talent division. Var
Wim Hof movie in the works, Ice Man. THR
Quibi and Blumhouse developing murder mystery series. Dead
Donnie Yen to produce covid doc, Wuhan!. THR
Kevin Jordan signs first look w/ Macro. Var
UTA makes $1m commit to social justice causes. Var
Disney+ to debut Beyonce’s visual album, Black is King. Dead
Seeker is an Indian series from Gurinder and more based on a guru. Dead
Plan B and Searchlight to adapt World According to Fannie Davis. THR
Overture launches Ensemble, digital content studio for PoC. Dead
Charles Randolph to write covid feature for SK Global. Var
Screen Gems options novel Horrorscope. Dead
MGM first look w/ Small World IFT, alternative intl formats. Dead
Lord Miller set The Afterparty, murder mystery series, at Apple. Var
ICM cuts 40 support staffers, raises assistant wage to $20/hr. Var
Liz Brixius inks overall w/ Miramax. Dead
Sobini launches dev fund for Asian market appeal. Dead
Black artists call on execs to divest and distance from cops. Var
Collaborative
Ikorodu Boys, Nigerian youngsters, remake Extraction trailer (love this SO much). IBtwtr
Apple’s Foundation (Asmiov) teaser ($20m+ pilot). YT
Netflix’s Homemade series trailer (shorts from filmmakers around world during covid). YT
Future of Film Rebels of Storytelling series this week (v excited). FoF
Social media revolutionizing the social sciences. Nature
Sofy Solomon on actions toward building a more equitable workplace (v good, thanks for sharing Sofy). Med
It is What it Is - viral sensation that lasted like two days on tech twitter. IIWII
Ben Thompson breaks down the end of Apple’s OS X. Stratech
Andrew Yang on people being paid for their data (into this idea, see site below). Med
Data Dividend Project. Site
Facial recognition to report criminals v biased and failed (the title Minority Report did not age well). Wired
John Oliver on facial recog (v good). YT
Ramy Youseff and Mindy Kaling. Interview
Execs form Juneteenth pledge group. THR
Kid Cudi starting his own pod. HS
Inside Nick Cave’s creative world. Interview
Online Nation digital media consumer report. PDF
Lin Manuel Miranda profile. WSJ
Respect, Aretha Franklin biopic, trailer. YT
Virgin Galactic signs NASA Space Act Agrmt for commercial flight. BW
The lockdown silence was golden age for audio science. Guardian
GS talks w/ Prez of BET Networks, Scott Mills. YT
DIY experiment within IBM research, 3d printing, legos and more. IEEE
Tony Parisi on the renaissance of immersive stories. Med
Peter Hebert on conviction in vc. Lux
Matt Workman on full body mocap in virtual prod. MW
Yasmin Razavi (Spark) on the saas metrics growth stage VCs use (insightful). YRtwtr
Erik Peckham on racial bias in games. TC
20% of Earth’s seafloor is mapped. Verge
Black writers getting hired, not promoted (h/t Tina). LAT
Citron proposes Apple to buy Sonos. PDF
Sam Lessin on feed ranking and free speech. Info
Lerer Hippeau on trends in esports and the like. Med
GS brief look on the biz of music, WMG. GS
Natgeo’s Rebuilding Paradise trailer. YT
How the NBA attempts to fight inequality. NYT
How FB uses ML to deliver ads. FBblog
Oscar Falmer thread on Apple’s new AR features. OFtwtr
AI robotics to stitch wounds (woah) WSJ
Micro-mobility market report. CBI
Marc Geffen on the new mainstream, consumer content habits. VV
Lesson from Screenplay, Mad Men subtext. YT
KKW sells 20% of her beauty line for $200m. Reut
Handmaid’s Tale season 4 teaser. YT
MG Siegler dives into Apple WWDC. Med
Jeff Ubben (Fox, UTA) starting inclusion fund. MW
Covid’s impact on ad spend. VC
Josh Elman on durability. Med
Patrick Willems joins TCM wine club (lulz). YT
Gap and Kanye announce merch partnership. CNBC
A look at Unbreakable Kimmy interactive special. THR
NASA crowdsourcing toilet designs. TC
Data experiments and racial discrimination within Airbnb. Fastco
NYC Media Lab’s Machines + Media virtual series this summer. NYC
Josh Constine on it is what it is (a tech twitter fomo launch to donate to blm). SS
Two dudes four-wall theaters to make their film top of BO list for a day. BBC
Olympus exiting camera business. WSJ
Deep Mind’s reinforcement agent system for sims. DM
Graphs on Rakuten’s coverage launch in Japan. OS
A giant dust cloud is going to hit the gulf (just great). NPR
Psychological techniques to become poker champion. Atlantic
South Aus launches video game rebate (one of few gov bodies to do so). IF
Cities offering cash incentives to lure remote workers. Fastco