Waiting For Wasserman

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Happy Tuesday, Future Party. If you’re feeling a little nostalgic for the good ole’ days of TV, here’s something you may love: MTV Rewind. The site pulls from a database of 89,535 music videos to recreate the experience of watching MTV back when it was… you know… all about the music. This might just stay on loop all day.

Casey Wasserman’s sprawling Wasserman media company is going up for sale.

Why It Hits: Wasserman founder Casey Wasserman has come under scrutiny after his name appeared in the Epstein files in connection with flirtatious communication with Ghislaine Maxwell. The disclosure has reportedly led to several high-profile talent departures and unrest among agents. Amid the negative press, Wasserman (the person) is said to be hoping that a sale of Wasserman (the company) might help take the bullseye off the rest of the organization.

Behind The Drama: Ever since Casey Wasserman announced a sale of his company in a widely circulated memo, major players across the global entertainment industry have been readying their bankers and lawyers.

Final Deal Point: As expected, there’s a great deal of intrigue surrounding the Wasserman drama… beyond the unsavory personal details. THR reports that Wasserman (the person) believes Ari Emanuel, of TKO and WME fame, has been fanning the flames of outrage in an effort to pressure a sale. That could further complicate the already fragile relationship between Emanuel’s On Location Experiences, the official hospitality partner of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and Casey Wasserman, who is still chairing the Games.

The Future: If all of Wasserman is sold as a single piece, it could become the biggest deal in the talent-representation business this year.

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Killing Satoshi — the new film from director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) — will use AI to manipulate actors and generate entire locations.

The Big Picture: Using AI in Hollywood movies has been an ongoing point of contention, with some filmmakers exploring ethical, creative applications, while others treat it as a shortcut to production. Liman is likely the most high-profile filmmaker to test the technology on a feature film, a move that could place the project squarely under Hollywood’s microscope.

Behind The Scenes: Killing Satoshi stars Casey Affleck and Pete Davidson, who will be sharing the screen with a lot of AI-generated elements.

Final Credits: Kavanaugh told Variety that the production is using AI to optimize the filmmaking process without displacing jobs. That’s certainly what SAG-AFTRA is hoping for, which could make Killing Satoshi “Exhibit A” in its just-commencing contract negotiations with the studios and streamers. After the recent debacle involving ByteDance’s AI video generator Seedance 2.0 — widely seen as flouting copyright law and NIL rights — AI is certain to be one of, if not the main, topics of discussion.

Coming Soon: If the AI use in Killing Satoshi is sanctioned by the guilds, it could become the catalyst for several new indie studios to launch with a mandate to produce AI-augmented, performance-capture, live-action films.

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60.3% of you voted I rarely watch unscripted TV in yesterday’s poll: What most influences your decision to watch an unscripted TV show?

“Sometimes I’ll stumble upon a show, but I would never actively look for one. I find them mostly petty and irrelevant.”

“Just not what I enjoy — I tend to find certain shows actually appear scripted in a lot of ways. I only like watching Project Runway, lol.”

“Too much of it is programmed situations without any real writing and, generally, little story or storytelling. Good improv is hard to do — and hard to find.”

“My unscripted TV viewing is limited to cooking competitions, like those on Food Network.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🏀 NBC’s broadcast of the NBA All-Star Game scored 8.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo — the highest ratings in 15 years.

🎙️ Apple is jumping into video podcasts to keep pace with Spotify, Netflix, and, of course, YouTube.

🎥 Indie studio Cineverse acquired ad-tech company IndiCue for $40 million.

🤖 OpenAI has hired OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger, whose bots powered the AI-only social platform, Moltbook.

👃 Scientists at MIT have developed the Anemoia Device, which uses AI to generate smells from photos.

🙏 The Vatican has partnered with the startup Translated to launch a free, live AI translation service for church liturgies.

🎓 Syracuse University’s Center for the Creator Economy is kicking off an academic minor program for the spring semester.

🤳 Incarcerated Silicon Valley personalities are attempting to reinvent themselves as influencers from prison. Yikes.

👀 Digital creators are apparently copying each other word for word now.