EVP, Director of Integrated Production
Deutsch NY
What trends, developments or issues would you point to thus far in 2023 as being most significant, perhaps carrying implications for the rest of this year and beyond?
Certainly AI and technology are at the forefront and will continue having significant implications on how we create and consume content. The speed with which new tools are continually introduced affects our approach, workflows and how we adjust and evolve. We’ve already seen what the latest developments in virtual stages, unreal engine and gaming technology have done to expand our toolkit and the way we plan productions. The main thing we need to ensure as an industry is that we learn how to master the tools in service of the storytelling and craft and not just as trends or gimmicks for the sake of it.
What work (advertising, entertainment, documentary, etc.)–your own or others–struck a responsive chord with you so far this year and why?
That’s a tough one as so much great work continues to come out. I’d have to say in advertising the Tubi Super Bowl campaign was one of my favorites not only because it was a great idea but the execution was superb across all channels. In entertainment, the second season of The Bear has been stellar. Superb storytelling, filmmaking craft, acting and killer cameos that actually had purpose rather than just being stunt casting! It’s a masterclass. For documentary, this may sound silly but I was surprised by how much I was entertained by and sucked into the Arnold Schwarzenegger docu-series. I binged it in one sitting.
While gazing into the crystal ball is a tricky proposition, we nonetheless ask you for any forecast you have relative to content creation and/or the creative and/or business climate for the second half of 2023 and beyond. (250 words max)
Content is and will remain king. How we create it, distribute it and consume it will continue to evolve and grow as channels and tools become more easily accessible. I think with the SAG and WGA strikes, the content we and our brand partners create will have a greater impact and there is tremendous opportunity for those with vision to capitalize on it.
New York Film Fest Preview: “The Brutalist,” “Nickel Boys,” “April,” “All We Imagine as Light”
When you think of blockbusters, the first thing that comes to mind might not be a 215-minute postwar epic screening for the first time at Lincoln Center. But that was the scene last week when the New York Film Festival hosted a 70mm print of Brady Corbet's "The Brutalist." The festival hadn't then officially begun โ its 62nd edition opens Friday โ but the advance press screening drew long lines โ as some attendees noted, not unlike those at Ellis Island in the film โ and a packed Walter Reade Theatre. Word had gotten around: "The Brutalist" is something to see. Corbet's epic, starring Adrian Brody as a Jewish architect remaking his life in Pennsylvania, is the kind of colossal cinematic construction that doesn't come around every day. Shot in VistaVision and structured like movements in a symphony (with a 15-minute intermission to boot), "The Brutalist" is indeed something to behold. It's arthouse and blockbuster in one, and, maybe, a reminder of the movies' capacity for uncompromising grandeur โ and the awe that can inspire. It's been fashionable in recent years to wonder about the fate of the movies, but it can be hard to placate those concerns at the New York Film Festival. The festival prizes itself on gathering the best cinema from around the world. And this year, the movies are filled with bold forays of form and perspective that you can feel pushing film forward. This is also the time Oscar campaigns begin lurching into gear, with Q&As and cocktail parties. But, unlike last year when "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" were entrenched as favorites, the best picture race is said to be wide open. In that vacuum, movies like "The Brutalist" and the NYFF opener, RaMell Ross' "Nickel Boys," not to mention Sean Baker's "Anora" and Jacques Audiard's... Read More