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Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Ginger Liu
Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & Tech explores Hollywood's AI-driven innovation, artist copyright battles, entertainment policy, and film industry disruption. We also discuss how technology—from photography to cutting-edge AI—shapes human agency in grief, digital afterlife technology, and visual media startups.Ginger Liu is the founder and CEO of Ginger Media & Entertainment, an MFA photographer, filmmaker, and journalist.
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- 4 days ago11 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
Oscars draw firmer line on AI, Art Directors Guild Criticizes Scorsese’s AI Storyboarding Promotion, London Startup Cascade Opens AI-Native Production Platform Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- 1 weeks ago9 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
Google DeepMind’s new partnership with A24 signals how AI filmmaking tools are moving into mainstream production, with the focus on storyboards, workflows, and creative support rather than training on studio IP. This episode also covers SAG-AFTRA’s expanded AI protections, Obsidian Studio’s human-plus-AI filmmaking model, legal pressure on Meta over AI training, the proposed No Fakes Act, and backlash in China over AI actors and portrait rights.Google DeepMind’s $75 million partnership with A24 marks one of the clearest signs yet that AI filmmaking is shifting from experimentation to real studio workflow. The deal gives A24 Labs and Google’s researchers a chance to build new tools for filmmakers, including AI-assisted storyboarding, while stopping short of using A24’s film and TV catalog for model training. That makes the collaboration less about replacing creative development and more about shaping how directors, producers, and production teams work inside a studio environment.The broader episode shows that Hollywood is now negotiating AI on multiple fronts at once. SAG-AFTRA has ratified a new contract with stronger protections around synthetic performers and digital replicas, while Obsidian Studio is pitching AI as a production accelerator that still depends on human judgment. At the same time, publishers are suing Meta over AI training, Congress is weighing the No Fakes Act and its impact on digital replicas, and China’s rise of AI actors is triggering backlash over celebrity lookalikes, consent, and portrait rights. Together, these stories point to an industry that is still deciding where AI belongs, who controls it, and what counts as legitimate creative use.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- 2 weeks ago10 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
Hollywood studios drop Sam Altman biopic after Amazon exit, Michael Caine’s AI voice to narrate new Odyssey audiobook ahead of Nolan film, The new AI film battleground is usability, not raw model power, and other news.Hollywood’s response to AI is becoming a business story as much as a creative one, with Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial and the Sam Altman biopic controversy showing how distributor politics, studio relationships, and AI partnerships can shape what reaches audiences. This episode also covers AI-driven entertainment developments including synthetic voice narration, AI art spaces, new filmmaking tools, and the growing use of AI across film, media, and digital storytelling.Hollywood is changing the way it responds to AI-related stories, and one of the clearest examples is the reported distribution trouble around Luca Guadagnino’s nearly completed Sam Altman biopic, Artificial. As Amazon MGM and other major studios step back, the film has become a sign of how commercial ties to AI companies may be influencing what Hollywood is willing to release, especially when the subject is a powerful figure at the centre of the AI industry.That same tension runs through the rest of this episode, from Michael Caine’s AI voice narrating a new Odyssey audiobook to the opening of DATALAND, the world’s first museum of AI art. It also shows up in the rise of AI filmmaking tools designed for real production workflows, not just experimentation, and in the way microdramas are moving into theatrical promotion. Together, these stories point to a bigger shift in entertainment, where AI is affecting film distribution, voice performance, visual art, and production itself.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- Jun 24, 20268 min
Digital Afterlife AI News
Meta once explored an AI system that could keep posting on behalf of users after death, simulating their likes, comments, messages, and even calls from beyond the grave. This episode also looks at the wider rise of grief tech, AI resurrection tools, and new research warning that digital likenesses and chatbots can turn the dead into monetized “spectral labor” while raising serious questions about consent, memory, and digital afterlife cultureMeta’s old patent for an AI system that could simulate deceased users has reopened a bigger debate about what happens to our digital selves after death. The company’s concept imagined a large language model trained on a person’s past activity to keep liking, commenting, messaging, and even appearing in calls long after the user was gone, but Meta now says it has no plans to pursue the idea. That retreat comes as grief tech startups, funeral chatbots, and AI avatar tools continue to expand, making digital afterlife services a growing part of the broader AI economy.The issue is no longer just whether AI can imitate someone, but whether it should. Researchers studying AI resurrection technology argue that recreating dead people’s voices, faces, and personalities can amount to “spectral labor,” turning the dead into reusable digital workers without clear consent or legal protection. At the same time, related AI concerns are spreading into mental health, with studies warning that chatbots can reinforce delusions and intensify harmful thinking in vulnerable users. Together, these stories show how AI is moving deeper into grief, identity, and emotional dependence, while companies and regulators struggle to keep pace.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- Jun 17, 20268 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
The entertainment media market is projected to more than double by 2035, driven by streaming, gaming, digital content, and AI-powered recommendations that are reshaping how audiences consume entertainment. In this episode, we also look at the UK’s record film and high-end TV spending, the rapid rise of AI video generation, and how Oscar recognition still influences theatrical viewership even as streaming changes audience habits.The global entertainment media market is entering a major expansion phase as streaming, gaming, and on-demand digital content continue to reshape how audiences consume entertainment. According to market projections, the sector is expected to grow from $3.24 trillion in 2025 to $6.17 trillion by 2035, while the U.S. market alone is forecast to rise from about $971.77 billion to $1.43 trillion over the same period. Much of that growth is being driven by digital streaming, which now makes up nearly 40% of industry revenue, alongside rising demand for original programming, mobile gaming, esports, and immersive formats such as virtual and augmented reality.At the same time, the industry is facing pressure from piracy, rising production costs, and the need to keep audiences engaged across increasingly fragmented platforms. Studios and streamers are investing heavily in exclusive content, while gaming and ad-supported digital formats continue to expand their share of the market. Regional growth is also shifting the balance of power, with North America still leading and Asia Pacific emerging as the fastest-growing market thanks to mobile-first audiences in countries like China, India, Japan, and South Korea. In the UK, film and high-end TV spending has also surged, reinforcing how competitive the global content market has become. Even the Oscars remain influential, with awards recognition still capable of driving audience interest in theatrical releases and streaming viewership, even as viewing habits continue to evolve.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- Jun 10, 20267 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
Artificial intelligence is now reshaping every stage of film and TV production, from script development and planning to editing and viewer analytics. Streaming platforms are racing to feed global audiences, and AI tools that speed up workflows and reduce costs are becoming essential in the cutthroat competition. Actors face little direct threat. Synthetic performers and digital doubles are still experimental. The bigger change is in the production engine, with scheduling software, editing systems, and simulation tools transforming how films take shape well before release.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, AI and Entertainment Reporter and researcher, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- Jun 3, 20269 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
OpenAI is shutting down Sora and walking away from a reported $1 billion Disney content deal, marking a major retreat from AI video generation as the company shifts focus toward robotics and agentic AI. The episode also looks at streaming’s continued growth, smart TV gatekeeping battles in Europe, AI-powered performance through Val Kilmer’s planned return, and the legal fights over AI training, authorship, and digital likeness rights.OpenAI’s decision to shut down Sora less than two years after its launch signals a sharp turn away from consumer AI video and toward robotics, agentic systems, and more physically grounded forms of artificial intelligence. The company’s reported $1 billion Disney partnership has also fallen apart, underlining how quickly AI entertainment deals can shift when strategy, intellectual property concerns, and product priorities change. Sora originally attracted huge attention for turning text prompts into realistic video clips, but the shutdown suggests OpenAI is now more interested in technologies that solve real-world tasks than in competing directly in the video creation market.That shift lands in a wider entertainment landscape still being reshaped by streaming, platform power, and AI-driven content workflows. Broadcasters are pressing European regulators to rein in the smart TV ecosystems controlled by Google, Amazon, Apple, and Samsung, arguing that discovery and distribution are becoming too centralized. At the same time, Hollywood is experimenting with AI in more personal ways, from Val Kilmer’s estate-backed return in As Deep As the Grave to the broader rise of digital likenesses and synthetic performances. The episode also touches on the growing market for gig workers who sell personal data and voice samples to train AI systems, and on the legal boundaries around AI authorship, with the U.S. Supreme Court leaving in place the view that copyright still requires a human creator.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
- May 28, 20266 min
At Cannes Marché du Film 2026, AI Takes Center Stage
At Cannes Marché du Film 2026, AI Takes Center StageDuring Marché du Film, I spoke with and listened to a film industry immersed in AI technologyAt Marché du Film, AI felt like a business model taking shape in public rather than a distant abstraction. The language had shifted, with AI now framed as production support that helps with brainstorming, editing, analysis, VFX, and workflow, while the creator remains human. That distinction mattered. In Cannes, the conversation centered on control, and on tools that promise to speed up development, sharpen decision-making, and ease the grind of production without stripping away authorship.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood Film PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
About Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & Tech explores Hollywood's AI-driven innovation, artist copyright battles, entertainment policy, and film industry disruption. We also discuss how technology—from photography to cutting-edge AI—shapes human agency in grief, digital afterlife technology, and visual media startups.Ginger Liu is the founder and CEO of Ginger Media & Entertainment, an MFA photographer, filmmaker, and journalist.
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