All Entertainment & Media

Video Video: Former Disney Exec Bob Weis on Innovating Over Decades
January 15, 2025 | By Scott Kirsner
One of the things Weis discusses in this video from Impact 2024 is the relationship between the creative and design teams at Imagineering, and the operators who run Disney's theme parks, hotels, and cruise ships.
Article Perplexity Gets Sued by NewsCorp
October 28, 2024 | By Curtis Michelson
In the GenAI era, tech companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Runway are coming under fire for doing almost the exact same thing Google does when it "crawls" websites to allow users to find content on them.
Article Inside Look: Consumer Reports’ AI-Powered Chatbot
October 11, 2024 | By Steven Melendez
Consumer Reports recently launched AskCR, an AI-powered chatbot that can answer subscribers' questions based on the nonprofit organization's research into a wide array of consumer products. Here's how it was developed — and the challenges the team had to overcome.
Podcast Innovating Disney’s Theme Parks
October 1, 2024 | By Scott Kirsner
In this podcast episode, we talk with Bob Weis, the former president of the legendary Imagineering division at Disney, and author of the new book "Dream Chasing: My Four Decades of Success and Failure with Walt Disney Imagineering."
Article Hollywood Studio Lionsgate Strikes Data Deal with GenAI Startup Runway
September 24, 2024 | By Curtis Michelson
To live up to their lofty valuations, every generative AI startup needs big bucks enterprise deals — rather than just selling $12-a-month subscriptions to consumers. This deal is about Lionsgate using generative AI for its own internal purposes, rather than letting you generate your own sequel to the "Hunger Games"...
Article Disney Exec: The Six Essential Principles of Great Experiences
September 19, 2024 | By Scott Kirsner
Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Experiences, which includes the company's theme parks and cruise line, shares the principles that guide the company as it seeks to create unique in-person experiences and tell memorable stories.
Article New Data: Trends in Music and Video Consumption
March 15, 2024 | By Scott Kirsner
At the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, Luminate CEO Rob Jonas offered an overview of how music and video consumption changed in 2023. Here are 10 of the data points he shared...
Article Leveraging Innovation to Win Formula One Races
February 22, 2024 | By Daniel Pereira
How does a Formula One racing team think about innovation? We talk with Shergul Arshad, Head of North America for the Aston Martin F1 team.
Article McGraw Hill Exec on Building the ‘TikTok for Studying’
October 31, 2023 | By Meghan Hall
When he first proposed building Sharpen, McGraw Hill’s app that has been called “the TikTok for studying,” Justin Singh didn’t know whether it would play well with the company’s target audience for the product — students looking for a new way to study that was more aligned with their lifestyle.
Article NASCAR’s First Chief Digital Officer on Experimenting with New Technologies and Platforms
March 1, 2023 | By Scott Kirsner, Tyler Smith
Tim Clark is the Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at NASCAR, the auto racing sanctioning and operating company, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this exclusive interview, he talks about leveraging new technologies to increase fans' engagement with the sport.
Article Mobile Apps, NFTs, and the Metaverse: How FIFA is Innovating its Way to the 2022 World Cup
March 25, 2022 | By Collin Robisheaux
“Innovation is a word that can mean everything – and nothing,” says Benjamin Stoll, Director of Strategic Alliances & Innovation at FIFA, football’s governing body. Unless, he adds, innovation activity can be tied to tangible value creation for FIFA and its constituents. We talked to Stoll in advance of this...
Article Comcast Labs SVP on Trends, Working with Startups, and Failing Fast
February 19, 2022
Comcast SVP Ruth Dawson lays out the trends she’s paying attention to, and the three avenues that a Comcast Labs project can travel: a hand-off to the business, a temporary hold, or a full stop.
Article Exclusive Interview with NASCAR’s Chief Innovation Officer
February 17, 2022 | By Collin Robisheaux
To shed light on how NASCAR stays connected with fans — and how it explores the potential of new technologies — we spoke with Craig Neeb, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer. He says that delivering concrete results requires strong relationships with leadership, openness to the startup world, and an acute...
Article Leveraging Analytics and Envisioning the Future of VR at the Indianapolis Colts
December 23, 2021 | By Alex Slawsby, Collin Robisheaux
For decades, sports teams have relied on stats to track their performance on the field. Today, a growing number of teams are using more sophisticated data and analytics software to optimize their business performance as well. That includes the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, where Charlie Shin serves as VP of Data...
Article Disney CEO Bob Chapek Shares His Vision for the ‘Metaverse’
November 17, 2021 | By Scott Kirsner
Disney CEO Bob Chapek is looking beyond theme parks and video streaming services toward building an immersive digital “metaverse” — a kind of virtual reality environment that might enable Disney fans to take part in games and theme park-like experiences without hopping on a plane to Orlando, Anaheim, or Tokyo.
Article Venture Capitalist Jasmine Robinson on Sports Trends — at Home and at the Stadium
October 29, 2021 | By Collin Robisheaux
Jasmine Robinson, a Partner at Causeway Media Partners, talks about some of the recent investments her sports-focused venture capital firm has made, and what she sees coming next…
Article Tracking Disruption in Sports at an Indianapolis-Based Techstars Accelerator
October 25, 2021 | By Collin Robisheaux
The world of sports is experiencing a highlight reel of disruption — from streaming content to legalized betting to digital collectibles like the NBA’s Top Shot series. We talk with Jordan Fliegel, Managing Director of the Techstars Sports Accelerator, to understand what matters most.
Article Why the San Francisco Giants Have a Fan Council — and Ambassadors
October 13, 2021 | By Collin Robisheaux
October is big for baseball fans and all eyes are on the SF Giants, leading the playoffs after a five-year hiatus. For Faham Zakariaei, who directs the team’s special events, the busiest part of the season means Nike partnerships, fan groups, and influencer marketing.
Article 4 Pieces of Advice for Corporates and Startups on ‘Baking the Cake’ Together
October 6, 2021 | By Scott Kirsner
”From the corporate side, a lot of times, a [startup engagement] program gets started, but the people who have to do the physical work of integrating the startup’s technology view the startup as just any other vendor, and they don’t understand that it’s a three-person company,” says Ken Durand, a...
Article How the NHL’s Florida Panthers are Using Data More Strategically
October 4, 2021 | By Collin Robisheaux
COVID-19 has accelerated the digitization of entire industries, changing everything from where we work to how we watch sports. NHL Florida Panthers’ Chief Strategy Officer is leading the organization’s transformation with data-centered marketing and creative strategies to build a larger fan base.