Crunchyroll’s Post

In the last five years, Crunchyroll has more than tripled its subscriber base. During that time, the company has been key in anime's burgeoning popularity around the world. But that's not the whole story. In its tenure as part of Sony, we now know Crunchyroll is only used by roughly 1 in 6 PSN members *who watch anime*, according to an interview with Hiroki Totoki in today's Financial Times. This single statistic can't be used to extrapolate too much for a variety of reasons, but paired with last week's anti-piracy efforts -- which took down more than half of the top 10 bootleg anime streaming sites -- it's clear that for all of its great work, Big Orange still has a lot of hearts and minds to win over in the anime fandom. This kind of recognition is exceedingly rare from the company, so I'm hopeful about the potential implications of where they'll go from here. Read the FT article here: https://lnkd.in/gK2s2CqN

Nerd Culture is Pop Culture Internet Culture is Pop Culture And now, we are finally starting to see major brands embrace both on a whole new level! McDonald’s announced its new campaign, paying homage to a decades-long tradition of including a restaurant called “WcDonald’s” in manga and anime. Also, the company brought on Japanese animation house Studio Pierrot to produce four anime shorts as well. I hope this continues the trend of solid adaptations for various fandoms and sub cultures within media and advertisement. Highlighting how entertainment is one big grey area now. Sidenote: Did ya’ll know the BLERD community aka Black Nerd Community was instrumental in anime’s growth in the U.S? What are your thoughts on this? #anime #mcdonalds #advertising #marketing

Quick trick I use for regaining perspective (besides taking a fuckin break): pitch the whole thing up and down and you’ll start hearing lots of things you couldn’t hear before with the production and arrangement. And you might even get some new ideas. #gameaudio

🚀 Exciting News from Our Team! 🚀 We're thrilled to announce that we've embarked on an innovative project that aims to revolutionize the way we watch and discuss our favorite movies and series. Our upcoming product, CommentTime (working title), is designed to create a more interactive viewing experience by allowing viewers to leave comments at specific timecodes throughout the content. Imagine pausing at an intense moment and sharing your thoughts right then and there, or seeing what others thought about that plot twist in real-time! This tool is not just for movie buffs; we believe it will open new doors for film critics, fan communities, and casual viewers alike, creating a dynamic platform for discussion, debate, and shared experiences. We'd love to hear your thoughts: - How do you see this product enhancing your viewing experience? - Would film fans and critics find this tool valuable? - What features would you love to see integrated? Your feedback is invaluable to us as we shape CommentTime into a service that truly meets the needs of the film and series watching community. Let's redefine watching together! #FilmCommunity #SeriesFans #InteractiveViewing #InnovationInEntertainment #YourOpinionMatters

This is one of the most "high-tech" projects that I'm involved in. You gotta check them out and what they do. Adspective might really change the way advertising is done and consumed. #advertisingandmarketing

One thing that I loved about this demo I did with Mr. David Rosenthal was how he had me create the characters and fine-tune not only the script itself, but also the ideas behind each one. Backstory, situation, addressee...these are all highly relevant! #videogames #voiceactorlife #voiceacting #demo

OK, I'll admit it. The clickbait title of this blogpost has nothing to do with Marvel Entertainment. But it's still worth five minutes of your time, with or without popcorn. https://lnkd.in/ePfX2AAf #Research #Property #Research #Strategy #PowerLaw

Subject: Sign the #petition to Help Save #VideoGamePerformers I signed it and here is why I am asking you do the same. The actors who breathe life into the video games you love are facing an existential threat — and that’s why SAG-AFTRA went on strike. Since October 2022, my union has been in negotiations with the Convenience Bargaining Group, which includes Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. After more than a year and a half of negotiations, it’s clear the video game companies won’t listen to us without a show of force. That’s why we need you, our community of fans, allies, labor advocates — anyone who cares about preserving the human element in the art we enjoy — to speak up. In an industry infamous for treating their workers as expendable, these employers seem to view performers as obstacles to their profits, rather than partners who help make it all possible. The companies have refused to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language. They want to replace the artistry, imagination and ingenuity of human storytelling with machine-generated performances and are banking on players not caring. To put it simply: to accept their provisions would not only put our ability to earn a living at risk, but fuel a race to the bottom for the quality of storytelling in video games. A.I. undoubtedly has its uses, and we’re not anti-technology. We simply want employers to provide the most basic #protections against an emerging tool that has the potential for abuse. Please sign on to the letter below to add your voice to the chorus of those who support SAG-AFTRA video game performers. Can you join me and take action? Click the link in the comment. 👇👇 Thank you! 🙏🙏

👩💻 Hello InFriends, 👋 ✨ Come watch our new SPEAKEASY episode produced by Devoted and HAVE FUN! ✨ The guest of the episode is Cecil Kim, 🌟 Art Director of thatgamecompany ("Sky: Children of the Light" game)   ✅ Topics Covered: - The team behind ThatGameCompany and the making of Sky - Cecil’s approach to building direction and taking creative risks - Creating organic social interactions in gaming - The art and world-building of Sky - Evolving transmedia experiences and managing multiple projects - Navigating the challenges of the gaming industry

🦒Toys'R'Us just faced a massive backlash. Their latest ad, created entirely by OpenAI's new text-to-video tool, Sora, led to a sentiment disaster. Positive sentiment plummeted from 12.2% to 3.4%. Negative sentiment soared from 13.5% to 53.4%. Neutral reactions dropped from 74.3% to 43.2%. (You can see the ad below.) According to media intelligence firm CARMA, many netizens expressed "disappointment" and "frustration" with the ad, calling it "soulless" and "cynical." People criticised the use of an AI-generated child actor and the absence of real children playing with toys. Social media exploded with discussions about the dangers of relying too heavily on AI, fearing it might replace human creativity and kill dreams. Despite the increased chatter, this spotlight has not been positive for Toys'R'Us. The brand now faces a significant challenge in reclaiming its narrative and winning back the public's trust. So what happened? Well, the ad featured a young Charles Lazarus, founder of Toys'R'Us, dreaming of a magical place that will change toy stores forever. Created by Toys'R'Us Studios and Native Foreign, the ad was almost entirely generated with Sora, with some corrective VFX and an original music score by Aaron Marsh of Copeland. "Lazarus was a visionary ahead of his time and we wanted to honour his legacy with a spot using the most cutting-edge technology available," said Kim Miller Olko, executive producer and president of Toys'R'Us Studios. The incident highlights the need for a balance between technology and human touch in marketing. Here are some key takeaways for us marketers: 1) Understand your brand values and audience. Know what resonates with them and why they connect with your brand. 2) Use AI as a tool, not a replacement. Ensure there is a human element that brings warmth and authenticity. 3) Inject humanity into your campaigns. Real stories and genuine emotions create a deeper connection with your audience. Let's use technology wisely and remember that human creativity and connection are irreplaceable! https://lnkd.in/gGypWs7q