Dan Gurlitz

New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) New Jersey Film Academy:Reclaiming the state’s cinematic heritage by Garden State Film Festival Founder and New Jersey Film Academy Executive Director Diane Raver Long before Hollywood became synonymous with American cinema, New Jersey was the epicenter of the film industry. Thomas Edison pioneered motion pictures in Menlo Park, and Fort Lee boasted 49 film studios where groundbreaking director Alice Guy-Blaché, first woman director and studio owner, invented the narrative film format. Now, through the New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities Initiative, the Garden State is reclaiming its cinematic legacy by building a robust pipeline of skilled film and television workers through its community college system. A statewide training network The New Jersey Film Academy has established an impressive network of 13 community colleges, with Brookdale Community College serving as the lead institution. This partnership model includes Atlantic Cape, Bergen County Community College, Camden County College, Essex County College, Hudson County Community College, Mercer County Community College, Middlesex Community College, County College of Morris, Raritan Valley Community College, Rowan College of South Jersey, Sussex County Community College and Union College of Union County. The academy has also forged partnerships with four-year institutions including Rutgers and Fairleigh Dickinson University, plus Red Bank Regional High School. Joan Scocco, dean of the School of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences at Brookdale Community College, has been an excellent partner working to create workforce development opportunities across diverse regions of the state. Interested Media contact WORKHOUSE via info@workhousepr.com Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/eHSCrqcx

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#AI #WMG #UMG “Robert Kyncl has published a letter to Warner Music Group shareholders that pushes back against any under-appreciation of WMG’s value in the financial market, while talking up AI’s potential to drive that value higher. Recent context is important: despite healthy commercial momentum, both WMG and Universal Music Group shares are currently trading significantly below their 52-week peaks. Last Tuesday (February 24), a telling analyst note from Rothschild & Co Redburn argued that music rightsholders are particularly “exposed” to threats from AI-generated content….” “He writes: “With #Deezer reporting that more than 60,000 AI tracks are uploaded to its platform daily and with seven million #tracks generated per day on #Suno alone, [AI music’s] abundance has prompted understandable concern about oversupply, dilution, and the long-term value of recorded music….” Read the article for more: #WarnerMusicGroup #RecordedMusic #UniversalMusicGroup #MusicRoyalties #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #CreatorEconomy #CreatorsRights #RightHolders #MusicRights #MusicIncome #SongRights #RecordingRights #GenerativeAI #AIGeneratedContent #ArtificialIntelligence #InteligenciaArtificial #IA #InteligenciaArtificialGenerativa #IntelligenceArtificielle #KünstlicheIntelligenz #GeAi #AIGovernance #AIModels

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There is too much negativity around the Entertainment Industry right now. Here are 6 positive stories/trends for your feed 📈 Studios are buying again Eight spec scripts sold in August 2025, the biggest month since 2017. For context only 11 specs sold in all of 2023. 📈 New Jersey production is booming Film & TV spend hit $402M in the first half of ’25, up 200% YoY. 📈 Disney is increasing content spend They’re adding $1B to their content budget next year for a total of $24B 📈 Tubi is doubling down on creators After launching Tubi for Creators in June, they’re already rolling out a slate of creator-led originals. 📈 Creator economy remains hot TikTok x iHeartMedia just signed a major multiplatform partnership, including creator-hosted podcasts. 📈 Florida expects a production surge Expanded 2026 tax incentives + a new below-the-line certification program are set to bring fresh business into the state. The collapse narrative is lazy. The industry is evolving, not dying. If you are open to pivoting and being malleable, you can thrive in this Industry.

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American theatrical culture needs another 34-year-old John Hughes. … February 15, 1985 — “The Breakfast Club” opened in wide U.S. release. It cost about $1 million to make and grossed roughly $46 million domestic (about $146 million inflation-adjusted). It ranked #13 among 1985 domestic releases. Five teenagers. One Saturday detention. No spectacle. No franchise roadmap. And a 34-year-old filmmaker who believed teenage insecurity and longing were big enough for the theatrical screen. That lane mattered. Because it built a habit. Moviegoing isn’t just about content. It’s repetition. It’s young people learning that the big screen is where stories about them show up. Studios face real pressures — franchise fatigue, post-COVID disruption, streaming economics, mid-budget migration. Those are industry challenges, not death knells. There is more than a century of evidence that cinema is a uniquely communal American experience. Its native home is the big screen. The habit weakens when the lane weakens. In the 1980s, the ecosystem had room for mid-budget, youth-centered identity films: “The Breakfast Club.” “Pretty in Pink.” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” These weren’t tentpoles. They were emotionally specific stories aimed squarely at teenagers — and they trained young audiences to feel that theaters belonged to them. That lane thinned. For a time, superhero films carried some of that identity work. Peter Parker in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” isn’t far from Hughes — just scaled to franchise economics. But as franchise fatigue set in, that bridge weakened. Much of the mid-budget coming-of-age storytelling migrated to streaming. “Booksmart” proved the storytelling still works. Budgeted at about $6 million, it grossed roughly $22.7 million domestic — critically celebrated, culturally resonant, but not a breakout theatrical event. Today, the most reliable teen theatrical genre is horror. Films like “Zombieland” and “The Black Phone” pair adolescent vulnerability with genre stakes. Horror justifies leaving the house. It’s communal and sensory. So maybe the missing lane isn’t simply another “Breakfast Club.” Maybe it’s identity-driven teen storytelling that earns theatrical urgency — emotional truth paired with stakes. “The Breakfast Club’s” anniversary week is a reminder that a movie about five teenagers talking once felt event-worthy. The audience hasn’t disappeared. The lane has. And lanes can be rebuilt.

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Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t the story. The media operating system is. • This showdown is a fight between theatrical preservation and streaming sovereignty. • A Netflix-WBD outcome likely accelerates the fastest collapse of U.S. syndication economics in decades. • When syndication weakens, local stations and cable ad models lose their last durable cash engine. • The hidden casualty is ecosystem diversity: WBD has supported content breadth across FAST and multi-platform mixes. • A Netflix absorption could compress that breadth into a single-platform gravity well. • If Paramount wins: three-horse era (Netflix–Disney+–Paramount+). • If Netflix wins: one-strong, one-mid, two-weak (Netflix 1-strong, Prime /Disney+ 2-mid, Peacock/Paramount+ 2-weak). • For Korea/Asia, a Netflix-WBD deal may tighten regional rights and incentivize global-slate efficiency over local optionality. This is less about ownership and more about what media pluralism still looks like after consolidation.

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🎬 New CBFC Requirement for Film Certification – Effective June 15 The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has introduced an important accessibility requirement for films applying for certification. Starting June 15, all films submitted for censorship must include: • Closed Captions (Subtitles) • Audio Description tracks Producers are required to submit films as Digital Cinema Packages (DCP) along with the relevant files through the E-Cinepramaan portal. This initiative marks a significant step toward inclusive cinema, ensuring that films are accessible to audiences with hearing and visual impairments while also aligning Indian cinema with global accessibility standards. For producers and post-production teams, it also highlights the growing importance of accessible content workflows in film delivery pipelines. #CBFC #FilmIndustry #IndianCinema #AccessibilityInCinema #PostProduction #FilmCertification #DigitalCinema #AnanthaCineVerse

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YouTube CEO: “Creators are the new studios.” ∙ Sidemen launched Sidemen Productions (UK) ∙ Alan Chikin Chow opened a 10,000 sq ft studio in Burbank ∙ Kinigra Deon opened a studio in Alabama, signed with Kevin Hart’s production company ∙ Dude Perfect building $100m HQ and live entertainment venue ∙ YouTubers buying studio-sized lots in Hollywood The creator economy is splitting into two camps: ∙ People selling posts ∙ People building assets The second group wins. And the market is now pricing them accordingly. Attention is rented. IP is owned.

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This is an important shift that many artists are only beginning to understand. Distribution is no longer about simply delivering music to platforms, and publishing is far more than royalty collection. Together, they form the infrastructure that allows artists to operate professionally on a global scale. What stands out today is the move from service provider to strategic partner. The right publishing and distribution support can mean the difference between music existing online and music generating sustainable income, audience growth, and long-term career value. We are also seeing a fundamental change in discovery. Success often begins in culture and community before it appears in charts, and partners who understand social ecosystems, data analytics, and content optimization are becoming essential. For independent artists, this shift is leveling the playing field. Ownership, transparency, and global reach are no longer exclusive to major label systems. The future belongs to artists who treat publishing and distribution not as afterthoughts, but as core pillars of their business.

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TV / The four major broadcast networks will soon begin talks with SAG-AFTRA on a new Network Television Code agreement, covering serials (soap operas) and other programming. #BeyondTheGates #BoldandBeautiful #DAYS #GH #YR #GMA #TheVoice #SNL50 #Oscars https://lnkd.in/gm7jfxHM

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