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    EP Martin Scorsese, director Amir Bar-Lev to team on Grateful Dead documentary

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1093 Views
    Amir Bar-Lev
    LOS ANGELES --

    The Grateful Dead announced their first official career-spanning documentary to coincide with the rock band’s 50th anniversary celebration. Documentary filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev (“Happy Valley,” the News & Documentary Emmy Award-winning “The Tillman Story”) will direct the as yet untitled documentary. Alex Blavatnik is financing through his AOMA Sunshine Films. Eric Eisner (“Hamlet 2”), Nicholas Koskoff, and Justin Kreutzmann will serve as producers.  Executive Producers are Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Andrew Heller, Sanford Heller, and Rick Yorn. Longtime Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux will serve as the film’s music supervisor.

    This monumental documentary will meld a cornucopia of never before seen performance footage, vintage interviews, and other candid moments unearthed from the Grateful Dead’s vast vaults along with newly captured conversations with surviving members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir, as well as many other characters and pranksters from the Dead universe.

    “Millions of stories have been told about the Grateful Dead over the years. With our 50th Anniversary coming up, we thought it might just be time to tell one ourselves and Amir is the perfect guy to help us do it. Needless to say, we are humbled to be collaborating with Martin Scorsese. From 'The Last Waltz' to 'George Harrison: Living In The Material World,' from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones, he has made some of the greatest music documentaries ever with some of our favorite artists and we are honored to have him involved. The 50th will be another monumental milestone to celebrate with our fans and we cannot wait to share this film with them,” said surviving members Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, and Weir in a joint statement.

    “The Grateful Dead were more than just a band.  They were their own planet, populated by millions of devoted fans.  I’m very happy that this picture is being made and proud to be involved,” said Scorsese.

    “It’s been ten years since I first set out to make a film about the Grateful Dead and I’m thrilled that it’s finally happening,” said Bar-Lev, who directs commercials and branded content via Chelsea Pictures.

    Production entities partnering on the project are Double E Pictures, Axis Films, and Sikelia Productions, Inc.

    Tags:Amir Bar-LevMartin Scorsese



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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