Elliot Grove

🚨THE UK GOVERNMENT pulled off a rare feat this week. It brought the diverse and fragmented creative industries together to object with one powerful voice its plans to weaken the UK’s centuries-old copyright regime. #MakeItFair #IsThisWhatWeWant? Two brilliantly executed campaigns, thousands of participants, one loud clear voice. FULL STORY ON CHARTING GEN AI: https://lnkd.in/eVsU37Qx PLUS: ◼️DOGE ‘to use AI on Musk’s accomplishments emails’ (what could possibly go wrong?) ◼️Chegg accuses Google of violating anti-trust laws with generative search ◼️Academic publisher gains consent from ‘majority’ of authors for AI licensing ◼️Christie’s AI-only artworks sale goes ahead despite creators’ objections ◼️Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella dismisses ‘AGI hype’, says focus on demand OUR QUOTES OF THE WEEK feature this gem: “Creativity isn’t about knowing how to use AI; it’s about knowing when not to. Sure, use AI to speed things up, refine execution and push ideas further. It’s here to stay. But the real test isn’t whether you can use AI; it’s whether you know when to stop. It’s about what you refuse to let a machine create for you.” — Pieter Claeys, FCB New York creative director, talking to The Drum AND: How did a collage made from generative AI outputs become the very first image to gain protection from the US Copyright Office? We have the full story. That’s all in this week’s Charting Gen AI. Subscribe so you don’t miss our mid-week updates! News Media Association Owen Meredith Sebastian Cuttill Ed Newton-Rex Dame Caroline Dinenage MP DBE Baroness Beeban Kidron UKAI Tim Flagg Kelsey Piper Cambridge University Press & Assessment Ella Colvin Janet Salmons, PhD Lauren Barbeau Reid Southen Joseph Cox Virginie Berger Paul Hood Ed Zitron Kent Keirsey Danielle Coffey News/Media Alliance

109

10 Comments

Media Cymru has launched a specialist virtual production training programme, starting this autumn. The Virtual Production Fellowship is the first of its kind in Wales and will be hosted at a new state-of-the-art training facility at fivefold studios in Bridgend. The 9-month programme, delivered by award-winning creative studio Final Pixel Academy, is aimed at mid-to-senior level crew working across the screen industries who are looking to skill up and learn core virtual production competencies. A small, focused cohort of 16 participants will be trained in the creative and technological skills required to work in high-pressure environments, combining real-time game engine technology with LED screen backdrops and motion capture – techniques which are increasingly transforming how content is made. Applications close on Friday 18 July 2025. Link to more details in comments below. Richard Hurford Sally Lisk-Lewis

96

5 Comments

UK TV Drama Faces Funding Crisis as Co-Production Investment Plummets British TV drama executives have been sounding the alarm over a sharp decline in high-end international co-productions, and new BFI data confirms their fears. While the headline figure from the BFI’s annual report shows a 31% rise in UK film and TV investment to £5.6B ($7B) post-strikes, a closer look reveals a funding crisis in British storytelling. Co-production spending has collapsed to £19.6M in 2024—less than half of 2023’s £44.2M and a staggering 60% drop from 2022. UK broadcasters and producers have warned that projects like The Day of the Jackal (Sky/Peacock) and Industry (BBC/HBO) have been hit by funding shortfalls, leaving some greenlit series in limbo. At the same time, domestic drama spending has fallen 25%, from £797.7M in 2023 to £598.2M—the lowest since 2020. The BFI report highlights a major shift: the UK is increasingly becoming a service industry for Hollywood, with 82% of high-end TV and 87% of feature film spending coming from inward investment. Tax breaks and a skilled workforce make the UK attractive for major productions, but British storytelling is losing ground. What does this mean for the future of UK drama? Will international partners return, or is the industry facing a long-term funding gap? #BritishTV #UKDrama #TVIndustry #FilmAndTV #CoProduction #BFI #MediaFunding #TVProduction #StreamingWars #ContentCrisis #UKBroadcasting #CreativeEconomy #TVBusiness #ScreenIndustries #FilmCrisis #TVFunding #BritishStorytelling

17

1 Comment

I'm preparing for a presentation to the Music Managers' Forum Think Tank in London tomorrow. Like a band having to relearn their own songs for a show, I had to re-read my own book and in doing so, I rediscovered the following sections: That there is diver­sity in these agreements suggests a need for some managers to set aside the illusion of permanence of industry standards, and to instead argue for best fit in terms of strategy, goals and the value proposition managers bring to nego­tiations. "So, I think it’s a case-by-case situation, but I definitely think there are many cases where some kind of ongoing share of revenue—whether that’s on the master side, the publishing side, whether it’s by commission, or whatever mechanism the parties agree. If it is accepted that the publisher and the record company and the producer are growing the pie in a way that endures for perpetuity, why is it inconceivable that the manager is also growing the pie in a way that endures for perpetuity?" Artists’ and managers’ interests need to truly co-align when it comes to the back end. The free-text answers in the survey manifested a paradox; the participants clearly felt that music artist managers were ‘extremely undervalued/poorly remunerated’ but that they have also ‘never been more important’. What emerged from this process was a paradox; when it comes to artist management agreements, some of the par­ticipants who are managers said that there are broad norms or standards, while others, particularly the music lawyers, argued that there are no industry stand­ards; the terms of such agreements depend on context, the market decides the terms not the lawyers and therefore set standards do not exist. "Because ultimately . . . there are no rules for management agreements. People can make whatever arrangement that they want. The difficulty I find for managers is adequately selling them­selves to the artists to explain why they want that". "if someone said—just for example—that managers can’t ever get points in perpetuity like a producer gets points in perpetuity then I would say that’s an arbitrary choice and it may well change as managers become increasingly fundamental" agreements that are designed to protect art­ists and limit their risk may actually be causing them harm if by design they incentivise the short-term interests of the manager. they may be better off attempting to demonstrate the value they bring through action "Let’s agree more regular terms if that’s what the bugbear is … Let’s get going. But I want to sit down with you guys in six months and have a chat about how we structure this, and why and what the impact is for us, what the service level is I will provide. And if you agree, we should re-skin it’" https://lnkd.in/gYxNqcVs.

29

2 Comments