Bloom in Tech

I talked with actor/writer/director Emilio Estevez about his latest film, 'The Public,' set in a Cincinnati library during a brutal cold snap. The librarians are thrust into the roles of first responders and social workers, helping the homeless who come there for shelter.  And on this lethally cold night, the homeless refuse to leave at closing time, leading to a confrontation with police. Estevez produced, directed, wrote and stars in the film, alongside a great cast. And the project came about after Estevez learned of the challenges libraries and librarians face these days, and not just from technological change. Estevez and I were joined in our conversation by Rich Hull, CEO of Pongalo, the Spanish-language video service that partly backed the film. There's lots to talk about when it comes to libraries and their importance as one of the basic building blocks in democracy. Give a listen. 

We're finally seeing some of the cards being played by some of the big players in this poker game known as the streaming-video wars. Disney+ showed a lot of its hand last  week, and Apple sort of showed its plans a couple of weeks earlier. Meanwhile, Netflix continues add millions of subscribers around the globe and is actually running a functioning, highly optimized business. Disney+ almost certainly will be successful in the long term, but I suspect they'll be losing quite a bit of money in the short term. I explain why here. Give it a listen. 

Even hanging for a few days at Las Olas Resort in western Panama, one thing was pretty obvious to me about Snap's week of big news: they've only just begun to dig out the big hole Evan Spiegel and the rest of his team constructed for themselves. Yes, the company has new original shows, multiplayer games, an ad network, a much-improved Android app, some very interesting partnerships in the U.S. and abroad and more. But boy, none of this stuff is easy, and Snap has some pretty intimidating challengers, including some newer faces. In my latest podcast, recorded next to a fabulous beach in Playa La Barqueta, I talk about  what's ahead for Snapchat. Give it a listen and let me know what you think of Snap's prospects. Are you willing to invest? Think it's crazy to put money into companies controlled by their CEOs? let me know on Twitter @DavidBloom or on LinkedIn at /davidlbloom. As always, like, rate and share if you think this is good for your pals to listen to as well. I'll have some more stuff from Panama, including conversations with Edward James Olmos, the Sundance Institute and the former head of the Sundance Channel all still to come. 

A suit in federal court  is challenging whether Donald Trump, as the most Twitter-reliant president yet, can legally block people from his feed. At the same time, Twitter may start flagging Trump posts that violate its policies, and adding notes to explain why. All this conversation  prompts a question about what social media would be like if we all had  to take  responsibility for the stuff we post on social media, and what the Internet might be like. Give a listen, then let me know what you think. 

Apple made a lot of big announcements this week, many of which sounded a lot like what Amazon is doing in games, reading material and video, alongside their rather similar music and audio initiatives. Just as importantly, the Apple-Amazon approach strongly contrasts with the data-milking approach of Facebook and Google, a point that Tim Cook subtly made throughout Monday's presentations. 

Critical. Role started as a group of actor pals playing Dungeons & Dragons while a camera rolled on Twitch and YouTube. That unlikely start has become a huge Kickstarter hit, raising $7.7 million and counting to create an animated series called "The Legend of Vox Machina,"  based on the story lines and characters of the long-running games. I sat down with Sam Riegel and Travis Willingham, two leaders of Critical Role, to talk about O.G. D&D (that's me), creating an unlikely cross-platform media machine, and what they're going to do with all that loot to make a great animated series that will run....somewhere. C'mon, roll the dice. Give it a listen.  

Mark Zuckerberg wants people to believe Facebook is pivoting toward privacy. It's not, and I explain why. More importantly, however, social media as we know it is undergoing significant shifts to new paradigms that put Amazon in a particularly advantageous place, and may hinder the power of Facebook and Google going forward. My latest Bloom in Tech episode explains what's happening and where we're headed. Give it a listen. 

The business of sports online is taking off, with lots of venture capital coming to numerous sites and AT&T making a big statement by centralizing all its sports operations under CNN chief Jeff Zucker. I also sat down with Conde Nast Entertainment Studios EVP Alexander Edgington to talk about their new Netflix sports-related documentary series, "Cricket Fever," about India's biggest cricket tournament. It's an important effort by Conde' Nast and Netflix to grab some attention in the vast and complex Indian market. Al talks with me about what it all means in the second part of this episode 

Netflix spent heavily during this awards season, but didn't snag the biggest prize of all, the Best Picture Oscar. But it still ended up a big winner, grabbing multiple other Oscars and winning useful credibility with both its subscribers and Hollywood's great auteurs. I explain why in this episode of Bloom in Tech. 

Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi joined me during Oscar Week on Bloom in Tech to talk about the big theater chain's new ventures in virtual reality with Spaces and The Void, its esports venture with Super League Gaming, large-format screens, new projection technologies, better food, better seats and a whole lot of other changes arriving in the very old-school business of putting a movie on a screen. 

The No. 3 U.S. theater chain is also the largest in South and Central America. Zoradi, a long-time Disney veteran, is trying to steer the company forward at a time when teens love their mobile phones, Instagram, YouTube and Netflix. Give our conversation a listen.