Wrapbook, which simplifies the payroll process for TV, film, and commercial productions, raised $20M from Bessemer Ventures at a $750M valuation (Erik Hayden/The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: Wrapbook, which simplifies the payroll process for TV, film, and commercial productions, raised $20M from Bessemer Ventures at a $750M valuation (Erik Hayden/The Hollywood Reporter)

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

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 »

Discussion:

Mike Fleming Jr /
Deadline: He Has Called His ‘Terminator’ Film A Cautionary Tale About Artificial Intelligence; Now, James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board Of Directors

Benj Edwards /
Ars Technica: Terminator's Cameron joins AI company behind controversial image generator

Emma Keates /
AV Club: James Cameron is joining the board of an AI firm

Dani Di Placido /
Forbes: Guillermo Del Toro Strikes Back Against AI-Generated Art

Charles Pulliam-Moore /
The Verge: James Cameron is joining Stability AI's board of directors

Tiago Manuel /
Destructoid: James Cameron Joins board of big AI company

Jaspreet Singh /
Reuters: ‘Titanic’ director James Cameron joins Stability AI board

Valerie Ettenhofer /
SlashFilm: The Director Who Warned Us About Artificial Intelligence Will Now Try To Embrace It

Carolyn Giardina /
Variety: James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board of Directors

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

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

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 …

Discussion:

Patrick Frater /
Variety: WBD's Max Readies Rollout in Asia-Pacific, Requires Multiple Models: ‘Our Goal Is to Reach the Fan Base’

Nathan Jolly /
Mumbrella: HBO Max to launch streaming service in Australia

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.

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

Discussion:

Michael Geist /
@mgeist: The CRTC moved ahead with Bill C-11 mandated streamer payments without addressing issues such as what constitutes Cancon and what existing payments will be counted as contributions. This was the inevitable response: Netflix pulls millions in sponsorship. https://x.com/...

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 »

Discussion:

Sarah Parvini /
Associated Press: ‘League of Legends’ faces strike as SAG-AFTRA battles voiceover company

Jeremy Fuster /
The Wrap: League of Legends Added to SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike

Danielle Broadway /
Reuters: US video game actors call strike on maker of popular game ‘League of Legends’

Ash Parrish /
The Verge: SAG-AFTRA calls for a strike against League of Legends

Jennifer Maas /
Variety: ‘League of Legends’ Added to Actors' Video Game Strike as SAG-AFTRA Accuses Producer Formosa Interactive of Unfair Labor Practices

Anna Washenko /
Engadget: SAG-AFTRA strikes against League of Legends over voiceover company actions

Christi Carras /
Los Angeles Times: SAG-AFTRA calls strike against ‘League of Legends,’ the latest move in video game actors' battle

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

Discussion:

Mark Stenberg /
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn: New: VICE Media has relaunched its print product, which has been on hiatus since 2019, and debuted its first subscription product. …

Kevin Lee Kharas /
VICE: VICE Magazine Is Coming Back

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

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

Discussion:

Lily Ford /
The Hollywood Reporter: Johnny Depp, Riccardo Scamarcio and the Cast of ‘Modi’ Stir Up San Sebastian Film Festival

Zac Ntim /
Deadline: Johnny Depp's ‘Modi’ Charms San Sebastian, Filmmaker Dedicates Flick To Late Rocker Jeff Beck

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.

Discussion:

Ashley Carman /
Spokesman.com: New York Times to launch podcast subscription plan for shows like ‘The Daily’

Sean Hollister /
The Verge: The New York Times will now charge for past episodes of its popular podcasts

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: The New York Times to Launch Podcast Subscriptions on Spotify and Apple (Exclusive) The New York Times Company: The New York Times will launch podcast subscriptions on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: NEW: @nytimes to sell audio subscriptions through @ApplePodcasts & @Spotify —Similar to its deal w @AppleNews to sell @wirecutter & @TheAthletic subscriptions through that app —New $APPL & $SPOT subs will be counted towards NYT's overall sub # total https://www.axios.com/...

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: ‘The New York Times’ Rolls Out Its Podcast Pay Model

Matt Tamanini /
The Streamable: Save 40% on PBS Kids Subscription and Stream Safe, Family-Friendly Content

Dominick Mastrangelo /