Director Tony Petrossian has joined th2ng (pronounced “thing two”), the live action production division of th1ng Group (“thing 1”), for commercial representation in the U.S. and the U.K. This first signing in America for th2ng signals a continued U.S. expansion for th1ng Group, an international commercial and visual media production company with offices in New York, London, Dubai, and Stockholm.
Petrossian was formerly repped by Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios where his work included the charmingly comedic “Seagulls” spot for Cape Cod Potato Chips from Baltimore agency GKV. Voted the year’s best from the 2012 collection of SHOOT‘s “The Best Work You May Never See” entries, “Seagulls” combines live action with a flock of CG-animated seagulls who turn into a rock band which performs the Flock of Seagulls hit, “I Ran (So Far Away).” A man enjoys the impromptu concert on the beach while munching on Cape Cod Chips, giving credence to the slogan positioning Cape Code as the “Home of Ridiculously Good Chips.”
Petrossian’s experience spans live action and VFX as well as commercials and music videos. He has directed for such clients as Nike, McDonald’s and Sony Ericsson and music artists ranging from Rise Against to Ludacris. Back in 2007, Petrossian gained inclusion into SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase largely on the strength of his branded content piece, Beijing Ballers, for Nike out of Wieden+Kennedy, Shanghai.
Under the aegis of th1ng Group’s U.S. exec producer and managing director Bill Hewes, th2ng has been serving stateside clients through its NY studio and a lineup of international directors. “Adding a U.S.-based director to our roster with Tony’s talent and creative depth,” said Hewes, “puts th2ng into an even better position to deliver amazing creative to current and future clients here in America and across the globe.”
AI-Assisted Works Can Get Copyright With Enough Human Creativity, According To U.S. Copyright Office
Artists can copyright works they made with the help of artificial intelligence, according to a new report by the U.S. Copyright Office that could further clear the way for the use of AI tools in Hollywood, the music industry and other creative fields.
The nation's copyright office, which sits in the Library of Congress and is not part of the executive branch, receives about half a million copyright applications per year covering millions of individual works. It has increasingly been asked to register works that are AI-generated.
And while many of those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, the report issued Wednesday clarifies the office's approach as one based on what the top U.S. copyright official describes as the "centrality of human creativity" in authoring a work that warrants copyright protections.
"Where that creativity is expressed through the use of AI systems, it continues to enjoy protection," said a statement from Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, who directs the office.
An AI-assisted work could be copyrightable if an artist's handiwork is perceptible. A human adapting an AI-generated output with "creative arrangements or modifications" could also make it fall under copyright protections.
The report follows a review that began in 2023 and fielded opinions from thousands of people that ranged from AI developers, to actors and country singers.
It shows the copyright office will continue to reject copyright claims for fully machine-generated content. A person simply prompting a chatbot or AI image generator to produce a work doesn't give that person the ability to copyright that work, according to the report. "Extending protection to material whose expressive elements are determined by a machine ...... Read More