In this Sept. 16, 2018, file photo, filmmaker Ron Howard poses at a private cocktail party to celebrate the FX network's Emmy nominations in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --
Director Ron Howard is planning to make a documentary about a Northern California town's attempt to rebuild after a devastating wildfire last year
National Geographic Documentary Films announced the project Thursday which will focus on the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Paradise, California. In November of 2018, flames destroyed nearly 15,000 homes and displaced over 50,000 people. Its working title is "Rebuilding Paradise."
Howard said he has relatives in the area and was drawn to the universal human experience of the tragedy. The film will follow the residents of Paradise, first responders and volunteers helping to rebuild the town over the course of a year.
National Geographic Documentary Films is also the shop behind the climbing documentary "Free Solo" which was just nominated for an Oscar.
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
