TimePlay Inc., a leader in the interactive second screen industry, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®), the organization whose standards work has supported a century of technological advances in entertainment technology, have announced the selection of three student filmmaker finalists in the Vista Project, a new big-screen interactive storytelling competition for students.
The three finalists selected by the judges are:
• Ian Job, a student at Africa Digital Media Institute in Nairobi, Kenya
• Shane Murphy, a San Francisco State University student in San Francisco
• Jon Navarro, a student attending Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York
The top two completed shorts will be screened for the exhibition community and media at CinemaCon in March 2017 at TimePlay’s suite. The winner will receive a $5,000 grand prize, with the runner-up being awarded $2,500. Both films will also be showcased in select theaters following the movie industry event, held each year in Las Vegas.
“We congratulate Ian, Shane, and Jon as they enter the final round of competition in the Vista Project,” stated cinema industry pioneer Bud Mayo, the founding chair of the Vista Project student filmmaker competition. “In conjunction with the creative technology development team at TimePlay, these three finalists will each create 10-minute film shorts that combine great storytelling with cutting-edge, next-gen interactive technology. This innovative approach will allow moviegoers to make key decisions about the plot via their smartphones that influences the on-screen action and fosters additional audience engagement.”
TimePlay’s globally patented proprietary technology transforms a smartphone into an input controller, which connects to the action on the big screen, creating two-way interactivity. Moviegoers participate in an entirely new shared entertainment experience that connects the audience in shared experience within the theater auditorium. The platform promotes real-time user empowerment and engagement, as well as social connection, offering meaningful and immersive experiences that foster community.
“The Vista Project is a unique platform for showcasing TimePlay’s interactive cinematic mobile technology,” said Jon Hussman, CEO of TimePlay. “We are delighted to participate, in conjunction with SMPTE, as the technological partner in the inaugural year of this student competition.”
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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