Category Archives: Tech

MPI Media Group Launches Classic Series ‘Dark Shadows’ On Subscription Streaming Service

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Subscription Service Will, for the First Time, Provide Unlimited Streaming Access to the Entire Gothic Serial Drama In Addition To Bonus Content

MPI Media Group


MPI Media Group, premier independent producer and distributor of films, TV series and specialized programming, today announced a major new avenue for the company: a subscription streaming service of one of its crown jewels – DARK SHADOWS. The gothic TV series, which MPI has distributed for decades on VHS and DVD, will be available for the first time in its entirety for unlimited streaming, beginning October 31, 2017.

The new streaming service will give fans access to the entire original series at www.darkshadows.tv, as well as exclusive bonus content and behind-the-scenes archival footage. Subscribers also will get a first look at the DARK SHADOWS feature-length documentary due out in 2018.

Fans can have streaming access to the series at a subscription price of $7.99 a month, or $79.99 a year. The company is offering a free 14-day trial. Customers signing on before November 22, 2017, will be entered in a contest to win a free lifetime subscription to the complete series at www.darkshadows.tv.

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New Trailer: “The Alienist”

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The Alienist Season One


Turner’s TNT will take viewers into the darkest corners of New York City during the Gilded Age with the eagerly anticipated series The Alienist based on the Anthony Award-winning international bestseller by Caleb Carr.Set in 1896 amidst a backdrop of vast wealth, extreme poverty and technological innovation, this psychological thriller stars Daniel Brühl (Rush), Luke Evans (The Girl on The Train), Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral) and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker). The Alienist is slated to premiere on Monday, Jan. 22 at 9 p.m. ET/PT across TNT platforms.

The Alienist opens when a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips New York City. Newly appointed police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt (Geraghty) calls upon criminal psychologist (aka alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. They are joined by Sara Howard (Fanning), a headstrong secretary determined to become the city’s first female police detective. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders set out to find and apprehend one of New York City’s first serial killers.

The Alienist also stars Douglas Smith (Miss Sloane) and Matthew Shear (Mistress America) as Marcus and Lucius Isaacson, twin brothers who help unravel the disturbing mystery; Matt Lintz (Pixels) as Stevie, a tough, young boy employed by Dr. Kreizler as a driver and errand boy; Robert Ray Wisdom (The Wire) as Cyrus, Kreizler’s valet, a man with a dark past who has been reformed by Kreizler; and Q’orianka Kilcher (The New World) as Mary, Kreizler’s mute maid with whom he shares a special unspoken connection.

Shot in Budapest, Hungary, The Alienist is a co-production of Paramount Television and Turner’s Studio T. BAFTA-nominee Jakob Verbruggen (Black Mirror) serves as director and executive producer along with Emmy® winner Cary Fukunaga (True Detective), Academy Award® winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), Academy Award® nominees Hossein Amini (Drive) and E. Max Frye (Foxcatcher), Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin, along with Chris Symes. Serving as co-executive producers on the series are Marshall Persinger (Rectify) and Jamie Payne (The Driver).

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Aliens, Shakespeare, and Diversity: An Interview with Sci-Fi Star, Cas Anvar

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Eric Gasa

THE STRAIN — Season Four – Pictured: Cas Anvar as Sanjay Desai. CR: Russ Martin/FX


Cas Anvar’s career is part occupation, part dream come true. Not very often does a Sci-Fi nerd grow up to become a Sci-Fi actor but for the rising Anvar, he enjoys the best of both worlds. Anvar can be found in a number of roles in big titles, from Argo and the Oscar-nominated ROOM, to the galaxy’s top fighter pilot in SyFy’s, The Expanse.

I had the opportunity to chat with Anvar one afternoon in preparation of the latest episode of his FX show, The Strain, where he plays the part of the nefarious Sanjay Desai. The Strain airs this Sunday, August 6, at 10 pm EP. Though our time was brief, Anvar spared none of it when sharing his excitement for his work and what lies on the road ahead.

EG: How did you get into acting?

Cas Anvar: I’ve been doing it my whole life since I was in high school. I was introduced to acting through Shakespeare actually. Started in theatre. Went to the National Theatre School of Canada. Started my own Shakespeare company after that and have been acting ever since.

Who were some of your inspirations as a young actor?

That’s an interesting question. I really admire Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, and Robert Downey Jr.

Was starring in a Sci-Fi program always a dream of yours? Were you a huge Sci-Fi fan growing up?

I’ve always been a huge nerd. I grew up with sci-fi, fantasy, and horror games, comic books, and all that stuff. I went to Comic Con as a kid and never imagined that I would be on the other side of that table signing autographs one day. Playing in something like The Expanse where I get to play a Han Solo character with wisecracks and one-liners, is a huge thrill for me.

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Amazon Picks Up 40 SXSW Films

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By Creative Media Times

www.sxsw.com

It seems that online retail giant Amazon went to SXSW and did a shopping spree of it’s own. As reported by Variety today, the e-commerce site acquired streaming rights to 40 feature films that played at SXSW Film Festival.

It is a massive haul considering that $1.9 million will be paid upfront for each film, which includes the 2017 Grand Jury Award winner “Most Beautiful Island”.

The titles were acquired through Film Festival Stars initiative, the same program under which Amazon acquired 15 films from Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, both of which designed to bolster Amazon Video Direct.

Here’s the 40 titles picked up by Amazon:

“Inheritance,” “Assholes,” “Win By Fall,” “Signature Move,” “Like Me,” “Sylvio,” “Satan Said Dance,” “Paa Joe & The Lion,” “A Bad Idea Gone Wrong,” “Maineland,” “The Cloud Forest,” “The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin,” “Bad Lucky Goat,” “Bill Frisell, A Portrait,” “Divine Divas,” “Pornocracy,” “Tormentero,” “Inflame,” “The Secret Life of Lance Letscher,” “I Am Another You,” “Most Beautiful Island,” “A Critically Endangered Species,” “Dara Ju,” “Spettacolo,” “Ramblin’ Freak,” “DRIB,” “Two Pigeons,” “Going to Brazil,” “Daphne,” “Meatball Machine Kodoku,” “The Honor Farm,” “The Light of the Moon,” “Flesh and Blood,” “Fits and Starts,” “La Barracuda,” “MFA,” “California Dreams,” “Easy Living,” “Let There Be Light,” and “Infinity Baby.”

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Nintendo Reportedly Working On SNES Classic

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By AI Creative Media

The Japanese gaming giant Nintendo is apparently working on a miniature Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) classic version, aimed at followers of the iconic gaming company’s nostalgia. This according to Eurogame, citing multiple sources close to the company.

If it goes as reported, SNES Classic will follow the company’s other hugely popular gaming console NES Classic Mini. So there is no doubt this will be another mega hit and will be Nintendo fans’ main focus, especially considering NES Classic was understocked and just days ago been discontinued.

Development of SNES Classic is apparently “already underway” so we might see a launch of the product this year.

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Review: S-Town Podcast

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Elizabeth Walker

Fans who have been longing for the return of the NPR podcast Serial now have something to ease their withdrawals. The new podcast S-Town debuted March 28 and is already creating a buzz.

S-Town is from the same producers as Serial and This American Life. While Serial tried to untangle a single, complicated mystery by releasing one episode each week, S-Town released all seven episodes at once. Many listeners immediately binged.

“S-Town” is short for Shittown, the nickname given to Bibb County, Alabama, by one of its residents, John B. McLemore. “John B.,” as everyone calls him is an eccentric genius who lives with his mother.
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Late Carrie Fisher will be in ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’, Her Brother Confirms

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AI Creative Media

Carrie Fisher passed away after her work on Star Wars: Episode XIII as Princess Leia. Now Fisher’s brother Todd Fisher, confirmed to NY Daily News that she will be in the last trilogy film as well, and without use of CG. According to the article, Todd and Billie Lourd, Carrie’s daughter, granted permission to use recent footage of the actress.

“Both of us were like, ‘Yes, how do you take her out of it?’ And the answer is you don’t,” Fisher said. “She’s as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan — when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful. I feel like that’s what’s happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue.

Lucasfilm confirmed early this year after Fisher’s passing that the studio will not wouldn’t recreate her digital version, a statement it confirmed on Star War’s official website. “We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.”

Fisher’s Leia will next be seen later this year in Star Wars: The Last Jedi which comes out Dec. 17. The still untitled “Episode IX” is slated for 2019.

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Amazon to stream Thursday night NFL games this year

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By AI Creative Media

Amazon will be streaming Thursday night NFL games this year, beating Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for the streaming rights. Last year, NFL live-streamed 10 Thursday night games on Twitter for free. But this time, you will be needing an Amazon Prime subscribers to watch it, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We’re focused on bringing our customers what they want to watch, Prime members want the NFL,” Amazon senior vice president Jeff Blackburn told the Wall Street Journal.

Setting Amazon apart is that their service already have many paying subscribers, who also get access to its library of movies and TV shows, many of which are originals. Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter are all free to their users, which means advertising is their primary source of revenue from the NFL live streaming.

According to Business Insider early this year, there are 65 million Prime members worldwide. The deal could potentially help Amazon not only retain that number but also improve on it with gains of new NFL subscribers.

It remains to been how much benefit a digital live stream will benefit NFL and, inversely how NFL will improve Amazon’s streaming platform. So, similar to Twitter last year, the one year deal for NFL’s move to Amazon seems like a good match for both sides to test the waters.

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Major brands pull out of Youtube

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By Armando

It has not been a good week for Google lately. This week, major advertisers are pulling their products from appearing in Youtube over the issue of their ads appearing alongside undesirable content posted in the video-sharing platform.

Last Monday, Google apologized to ad clients for the video content fiasco, but that did not seem to stop the defections. By Friday, Starbucks, PepsiCo, and General Motors among others say they are suspending Google non-search ads. This follows several other companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Volkswagen and many others which have either pulled or suspended their ads earlier this week.

Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, in what was seen by many as a risky investment. Since then YouTube has become the leading site for online video, and one of most visited sites on the internet alongside Google and Facebook. From professionally produced content to vapid home videos, the site runs the gamut of shared videos online.

YouTube now has over a billion users, almost one-third of all people on the Internet, and 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute, making the task of moderating ad placements daunting, near impossible from sheer volume of uploads alone.

In fairness to Google, the company seem to be addressing the issue directly, and is implementing new changes this week, including a new video verification process. Some might remember, Facebook also had it’s fixes and update on metrics and reporting late last year.

Advertising is one of the core businesses for Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. Although a potential headache for Google, YouTube ads represents only a small fraction of Alphabet revenue. Last October, Susan Wojcicki, Youtube CEO said the video site is still in investment mode.

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CMT Exclusive: Interview with Vivek Maddala on Scoring for The Tom and Jerry Show

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By Elizabeth Walker

Vivek Maddala has written scores for numerous films, and studied jazz performance at the Berklee College of Music. One of his most recent projects has been writing for the Cartoon Network reboot of Tom and Jerry. I reached him by phone to discuss his latest project.

Elizabeth Walker: So is this your first time writing for animation?

Vivek Maddala: My first job writing for film was working for Turner Classic Movies. They were restoring old silent films from the 1920s. Back then, there was no score, because they didn’t have a way of synching music with the film, so I had to create the score. I did five or six of thosefor TCM, and they were not that difference from scoring for animation.

EW: How so?

VM: There is no dialogue between Tom and Jerry, and only a bit from the minor characters. As aresult, it is very visual, and the music has to convey a lot of the emotions. So I did my training for that by scoring the silent films.

EW: Interesting. So how were you approached for this particular project?

VM: On the silent films, I was fortunate enough to work with a tremendous recording and mix engineer – and a very talented musician in his own right – named Dan Blessinger. He was actually the one who recommended me for the Tom and Jerry gig.

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