Hey everyone, welcome to the Alan Smithee Podcast! The gang is back, refreshed from a summer break with lots to talk about: Hollywood’s hopeful rebound, post-production tech updates, acquisitions in both tech and media, the latest AI news, and of course, some very cool things for us post-production people to get excited about.
Show Notes
Katie: https://www.dailyspecialstudios.com
Michael: Harnesses: Claude Dispatch, Hermes, OpenClaw
Scott: EditSwitch: Training and consulting for the migrating video editor https://www.editswitch.com
Paramount / Warner Brothers merger
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/11/david-ellison-paramount-california
https://www.ajc.com/arts-entertainment/2026/08/paramount-eyes-georgia-other-states-for-hq-move-amid-antitrust-case/
2026 Box Office
https://gower.st/articles/keeping-momentum-2026-sees-highest-grossing-june-quarter-first-half-this-decade-international-domestic-box-office/
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/hollywoods-hit-parade-is-becoming-sideshow-2026-08-27/
California Tax Credits
https://film.ca.gov/lights-camera-action-41-new-film-projects-to-receive-californias-film-first-year-of-expanded-program-projected-to-bring-6-6-billion-in-economic-impact/
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/california-film-tv-tax-incentive-program-state-budget-issue-provision-sb-1122/
YouTube to Indies
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddeal/2026/06/10/obsession-and-backrooms-prove-youtubes-a-powerful-pipeline-for-filmmakers/
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/01/youtube-gen-z-filmmakers
Avid changes to third-party storage:
https://kb.avid.com/pkb/articles/en_US/knowledge/shared-project-workflows-with-third-party-storage
https://www.provideocoalition.com/avid-media-composer-2026-8-will-bring-changes-to-third-party-storage/
https://hedge.co/blog/avid-bin-locking-enterprise
Disney and TikTok have a deal
Adobe acquired Topaz
New Macs including Mac Studio M5 Ultra
One Cool Thing
Katie: Allosphere at UCSB https://allosphere.ucsb.edu/
Michael: Harnesses: Claude Dispatch, Hermes, OpenClaw.
https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/
https://openclaw.ai/
Explainer: https://blueflame.ai/blog/ai-harnesses-explained
Scott: My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (Listen)