Below are profiles of a dozen leading helmers who have made a major impact on advertising and marketing. These profiles are followed by Creative Perspectives, a look at new directorial talent that bears watching. And check out Cinematography Chatter in our Columns section in which cinematogrphers offer insights into their working relationships with directors.
At the time we were putting the finishing touches on this issue, we had also earnestly embarked on our fifth annual New Directors Search, which will culminate in SHOOT’s fifth annual New Directors Showcase, a major event that will take place at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in New York on May 23. The ties between the spring Directors Series and our new talent competition are strikingly evident in the pages that follow.
For one, David Gray of Hungry Man was included in our 2005 New Directors Showcase. This January he was nominated for the DGA Award recognizing the best commercial director of ’06. In less than two years he went from being at the DGA’s Manhattan venue as part of our Showcase to appearing at the DGA Awards in Los Angeles as a nominee.
Gray is profiled in our Directors Series section as are former SHOOT Showcase helmers Yael Staav of Reginald Pike, Aaron Ruell who recently joined Biscuit Filmworks and John Immesoete of Backyard Productions and sister shop Seed. Via the latter, Immesoete created and developed three series for the recently launched online entertainment network bud.TV, underscoring the opportunities that are emerging for talented industry artisans.
Speaking of bud.TV, this issue’s coverage of up-and-coming directors in the feature titled “Creative Perspectives” includes the team of Don & John of HSI Productions who recently scored their first big ad industry helming break with episodes of The Arrogant Fake British Rich Guy and Guided Meditation With The Billy Lama, which are both series out of DDB Chicago for the ambitious Budweiser network. Don & John are former agency creatives, a background prevalent in our spring crop of new directors.
And our search for new talent isn’t confined to Directors Series editions or the New Directors Showcase. Virtually every issue of SHOOT provides exposure for emerging artisans. For example, in this week’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery, we feature a spec spot conceived and directed by Nir Bashan, a promising newcomer who recently signed with BeachHouse Films.
Indeed among our most enjoyable pursuits is having a hand in uncovering new talent. In that light, we hope you enjoy this special issue and we welcome your feedback at rgoldrich@shootonline.com
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