ETC@USC hosted its second Synthetic Media Summit on March 6, convening media and technology leaders to identify AI applications and chart a detailed playbook for an AI-augmented future for human creativity. ETC partnered with Carnegie Mellon University, United Talent Agency, and Machine Cinema to deliver this timely, compelling event. While the Summit was closed to the press and presented off the record, we had an opportunity to speak with Yves Bergquist, director of AI in Media at ETC and the event’s organizer, about what’s next for artificial intelligence. Read More

Doug Liman’s $70 million “Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi” – starring Gal Gadot, Casey Affleck, Isla Fisher and Pete Davidson – is described as the first studio-quality feature film to feature wall-to-wall AI-generated imagery. The film was shot over 20 days in a simple customized soundstage, while sets and lighting are being generated with AI. And during the recent Semafor World Economy conference, Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela suggested Hollywood studios should plan to produce 50 films with $100 million using AI. These stories and more in this week’s list. Read More

Forbes releases its list of top artificial intelligence companies. Not surprisingly, atop the funding category you’ll find OpenAI ($182.6 billion), Anthropic ($60 billion), and Databricks ($20 billion). In a challenge to Figma, Anthropic launches Claude Design, which converts conversational prompts into prototypes, designs, slideshows and marketing materials. The new AI tool arrives after Anthropic decided its frontier model Claude Mythos Preview was too risky to release to the public, a signal that deployments are becoming more security-driven. These are some of the headlines that caught our attention. Read More

Sony will showcase its new XYN Spatial Capture Solution at NAB in Las Vegas. The solution features XYN Spatial Scan Navi, XYN Spatial Scan, and the XYN Renderer Plugin that works with Unreal Engine and Disguise. Brompton Technology announces the Door G production studio in Rhode Island is embracing Brompton Tessera LED video processors (Door G’s stage also integrates with Unreal Engine). And the NYU Tisch Martin Scorsese VPC has posted a video primer on virtual production. These headlines and more in the latest news on virtual production. Read More

CES 2025 welcomed over 141,000 attendees from around the globe to Las Vegas. With more than 4,500 exhibitors, including 1,400 startups, and more than 6,000 media attendees, CES highlights the innovation and technology trends addressing global challenges and shaping the future. This year’s show focused on artificial intelligence, unveiling a wave of innovative offerings — whether practical, visionary or experimental. Among the show’s major trends were AI integration across all industries, shifting demographics and purchasing patterns (with Gen Z the one to watch), sustainability and security, and Read More

ETC@USC has posted a tutorial that offers best practices for white balancing during production on a curved wall LED volume stage. Due to the growing number of LED volume and backing wall applications emerging worldwide, many critical color calibration issues have resulted. The informative tutorial — authored by cinematographer Tim Kang from Quasar Science with support from producer Erik Weaver from ETC — provides cinematographers and production teams with a simple graphical guide that breaks down the problems between the camera and its LED wall perception, while Read More