MEDIA LINKS

Even early adopters say that while Gen AI contains many possibilities, using it to create our final big-screen images isn’t one of them.

Audiences have seen their favorite novels adapted for the small screen for years, but there’s a growing trend to adapt stories outside of the bookstore. Podcasts, video games and self-published stories are being adapted into series now like never before.

In this podcast, we discuss Kinetic Energy Entertainment’s strategy, projects and the opportunity Diana is addressing in the marketplace. We also dive into the story IP creating process – why it is vital in today’s market and the techniques Diana uses for this.

San Sebastian’s inaugural Creative Investors Conference framed a panel discussion on Storytelling’s New Horizons featuring Phil Hunt of Head Gear Films, Bankside Films and Bohemia Media; Karin Chien of Louverture Films, and dGenerate; and Diana Williams of Kinetic Energy Entertainment.

For 82 years, the Peabody Awards have recognized “Stories that Matter” in broadcasting. Peabody has expanded its recognition to interactive and immersive media (games, XR, interactive documentary, and others) by awarding 16 legacy awardees—iconic and pioneering works—to demonstrate the depth of these digital formats and the foundational standards for future award recipients.

Our guest this week is Diana Williams, who, after 30 years in the entertainment media industry working on premier content like the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic universes, has founded a new company, Kinetic Energy Entertainment, focused on partnering with creatives to build new intellectual property (IP) for today’s rapidly changing media landscape.

A new video game will let players pretend to be the politicians they most admire — or despise. Politics is serious business. It often feels existential. Exhausting. Infuriating. Bone-dry. Confusing. Can it also be fun? Eliot Nelson insists it can be. And to prove it, he’s turning politics into a game. A video game.

In a video game market saturated by zombies, death matches and post-apocalyptic hell-scapes, it would be a tall order to offer something more cut-throat.

Enter Political Arena, where, rather than chasing kill streaks and loot boxes (although, given the subject, those features might arrive in later updates), users are immersed into the world of US politics…

It’s been a long couple of years in politics. And it can be frustrating to feel like politicians treat it like a game, with people as pawns…

But a political journalist thinks there may be some appeal in a new strategy game that gives players a front-row seat to the ins and outs of politics in a fictional political world. The game tackles the good, the bad — and yes, the very, very ugly.

There are video games about slaying dragons, exploring alien worlds and fending off hordes of zombies. Games that simulate building empires, managing restaurants and even washing cars. But there are very few games that simulate running for president of the United States. Eliot Nelson, a former HuffPost politics reporter, is attempting to make that game, aiming to craft “The Oregon Trail” of present-day U.S. politics.

AMC Networks and Sid Gentle Films have made IMG the exclusive worldwide licensing representative for Killing Eve as the BBC America breakout looks to extend its brand across fashion, beauty, travel and other categories.

It will be the first consumer product and licensing foray for the spy thriller, with potential deals for fashion products, apparel, accessories and beauty as well as travel and games, both areas suited to the show. AMC Networks controls merchandise and licensing rights for Killing Eve, while Sid Gentle Films has them for the rest of world.

Every Star Wars fan’s dream is to be there – to inhabit the rich world created by Lucasfilm and the creative minds behind the epic films and their surrounding media universe. ILMxLAB, the immersive entertainment division of Lucasfilm, is working to make those dreams come true.

Michael Koperwas and Diana Williams are two of the creative forces that help ILMxLAB make its magic.

ICv2 had a chance to sit down with Dario Di Zanni of Disney DigiComics at New York Comic Con to talk about the origins and status of Disney DigiComics and plans for future digital comics initiatives from Disney.  Di Zanni is the Senior Manager, Marketing and Business Development, New Media, for Disney Publishing Worldwide (based in Milan Italy), and was instrumental in the founding of Disney DigiComics.