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Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of 47 Ronin, has been charged for defrauding a streaming service out of $11 million, according to the Southern District of New York's US Attorney's Office. While the court documents didn't name the service, an old report from The New York Times made it obvious that it was none other than Netflix. In 2018, Rinsch pitched a sci-fi series called White Horse, referencing the first horseman of the apocalypse, to several services, namely Amazon, Apple, HBO, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. The Times' report said that Amazon had already won the bidding war, but Netflix's former VP of Original Content, Cindy Holland, called Rinsch on a weekend and offered millions more, along with the privilege of making a director's cut. In its announcement of the indictment, the US Attorney's Office explained that Netflix had paid $44 million for the development of White Horse, which had been renamed to Conquest, between 2018 and 2019. Some of that money went to paying off the project's earliest investors. (Keanu Reeves, the star of 47 Ronin, sank his own money into the project after Rinsch got in trouble with 30West, one of the project's first investors, for not reaching a deadline.) Between late 2019 and early 2020, Rinsch asked Netflix for more funding, and the company gave him $11 million more to complete the series. But Rinsch never finished the show, and Netflix accused him of using those funds to make "personal and speculative purchases of securities." The director allegedly lost most of the $11 million to trading, but he made it back and earned more from investing the rest on cryptocurrency. Rinsch allegedly went on a shopping spree after that, spending almost $4 million on furniture and antiques, $2.4 million on five Rolls-Royces and one Ferrari, as well as $652,000 on luxury watches and clothing. The indictment also said that Rinsch spent over $1 million to sue Netflix for more money. According to The Times' report, Rinsch claimed in his lawsuit that Netflix broke its contract and owed him several more payments worth $14 million. In the midst of all of these, Rinsch reportedly displayed erratic behavior: He allegedly claimed to have discovered Covid-19s secret transmission mechanism, treated the show's staff horribly and accused his wife of plotting his assassination. Conquest was supposed to be about a genius who invented a human-like species called Organic Intelligent. These OIs are deployed to solve problems and provide humanitarian aid around the world, but they are, of course, not what they seem and are hiding a darker nature. Rinsch has been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, both of which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was also charged with five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, each count carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/47-ronin-director-charged-with-11-million-fraud-over-doomed-netflix-sci-fi-series-123040218.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Playdate, the little yellow gaming machine with a crank, is getting a price increase in a few days. In a newsletter that Panic has sent out, the developer said that Playdates will cost $229 starting on March 25 but that you can still get the device for $199 until then. Apparently, Panic moved to a new factory, and it would "cost quite a bit more" to manufacture the devices there than at the company's old facility. Panic cited manufacturing costs, as well, when it raised the handheld's price from $179 to $199 last year. On the day the Playdate is getting a price hike, Panic is also dropping "an (extremely) limited stock" of systems that are either fully refurbished at its factory or have "very minor cosmetic issues." The refurbished units will sell for $179, and Panic says that they "work great," can "play games perfectly" and come with a six-month warranty. "If price has kept you from buying a Playdate, we're hopeful these great systems might help," the company has written in its announcement. The handheld gaming console came out in 2022. It has a black-and-white screen with over 150 games that you can download from its Catalog. While the device has the traditional arrow and gaming buttons, it also has a crank that developers incorporate into their games in Chopter Copter, for instance, you'll have to turn the Playdate on its side to use the crank as a helicopter-style rotor. If you already have a Playdate, the company is having a Catalog Anniversary Sale right now until March 20, where you can stock up on more titles for the handheld. Panic also reconfirmed that it's working with developers to put together a Season 2 bundle, which will deliver a set number of games in a curated collection to buyers' devices over a certain period. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-diminutive-playdate-console-is-getting-a-price-increase-to-229-on-march-25-120004199.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
For the launch of its ToRiKo Touch lipstick, Japanese cosmetics brand KissMe Ferme is turning down the lights. The brand has created a temporary "lipstick in the dark" store, where customers are invited to step into a dimmed room with private, veiled-off spaces and apply the new product. It's a deliberate design choice that encourages visitors to focus entirely on the tactile experience the smoothness, texture and scent of the lipstick rather than its visual appearance.The experiential, sensory concept stands in stark contrast to a crowded Sephora or brightly lit department store counter. By removing visual distractions and creating a quiet, intimate atmosphere, KissMe Ferme heightens customers' awareness of the product's key selling point: its exceptionally smooth feel. The lipstick features an innovative layered micro-structure and emollient oils, creating what the brand describes as a "captivatingly smooth and blissful application."The activation leverages the psychology of sensory focus when one sense is diminished, others become more acute and highlights how multisensory environments can be used to produce memorable customer experiences. By encouraging shoppers to "surrender to the dimly lit, quiet space" and "direct all consciousness to the lips," KissMe Ferme is betting that an emotional, sensory connection with the product will resonate more deeply than any traditional campaign could.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
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