Top News:
Financial Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss' The Free Press raised about $15M at a ~$100M valuation; Bari Weiss posted an article this week that said the outlet had 800,000+ readers — The fundraise values Bari Weiss's venture at $100mn — US media start-up The Free Press has raised a further round of funding from investors …
Discussion:
@pressgazette
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Stability AI says filmmaker James Cameron has joined its board of directors; Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju was previously CEO of VFX company WETA Digital — The director says that “the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave” of film technology …
Discussion:
Deadline, Ars Technica, AV Club, Forbes, The Verge, Destructoid, Rolling Stone, Reuters, SlashFilm, Variety, IndieWire and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Chartbeat: Facebook traffic to 700 US news sites fell 40% from January 2023 to July 2024 to ~500M page views, as page views from Google Search grew 10% to 1.5B — Traffic from Google Discover now exceeds traffic from Google Search for some publishers, but what works there is a bit of a guessing game.
Discussion:
@laurahazardowen
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
Wrapbook, which simplifies the payroll process for TV, film, and commercial productions, raised $20M from Bessemer Ventures at a $750M valuation — The financial services firm plans to grow by more than 100 staffers as it takes aim at private equity owned Cast & Crew and Entertainment Partners.
Discussion:
FinTech Global and WKRN-TV
Abid Rahman / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD launches Max in Japan via local partner U-Next and plans to roll out the streaming service direct-to-consumers in Australia and New Zealand in H1 2025 — Max officially launched in Japan via local partner U-Next. … On the day that Max launched in Japan via local partner U-Next …
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: OpenAI agrees to give representatives for authors suing the company access to review its training data to see if OpenAI used authors' copyrighted works — At a secure room in its San Francisco office, representatives for authors suing OpenAI will examine materials that were used to train its AI system.
Barry Hertz / Globe and Mail:
Netflix pauses funding for some professional development programs in the Canadian film and TV industry as Canada imposes a 5% tax on foreign streamers' revenue — /arts/arts/arts//artsThe future of several professional development programs crucial to the health of the Canadian film …
Discussion:
@mgeist and iPhone in Canada Blog
Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
SAG-AFTRA calls a strike against League of Legends, formerly exempt from the video game strike, alleging parent Formosa Interactive tried hiring non-union labor — The union charges one of the multiplayer game's producers, Formosa Interactive, with attempting to work around its ongoing video game strike …
Discussion:
SAG-AFTRA, Associated Press, The Wrap, Reuters, The Verge, Variety, Engadget and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Vice relaunches its print magazine, on hiatus since 2019, and debuts $10 per month and $4 per month subscriptions with access to paywalled content — The publisher hopes to reach 10,000 subscribers by next spring — The digital media company Vice relaunched its print magazine and debuted …
Discussion:
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn and VICE
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Koch's PE arm is in talks with a media entrepreneur to partner on a bid for Forbes valuing the company at ~10% less than its $630M 2021 SPAC valuation — The firm often targets companies that are poorly managed or undervalued. — It will often partner with a strategic buyer …
Discussion:
Sara Fischer on LinkedIn and Talking Biz News
Alex Ritman / Variety:
Journalists abandon a press junket for Johnny Depp's “Modi” at the San Sebastian Film Festival, in protest of a trend of limited access to stars at festivals — A group of international journalists abandoned a press junket for the Johnny Depp film “Modi” at the San Sebastian Film Festival …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Deadline
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The NYT aims to sell podcast subscriptions via Apple Podcasts and Spotify, requiring users to pay for older episodes, starting October for $6/month or $50/year — - “A big part of our strategy is building direct relationships with our customers,” said Ben Cotton, The Times' head of subscription growth.
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