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It was an ambitious goal, but Hollywood was built on ambitious goals. Jason Carman gave himself until his 20th birthday to make a high-concept, effects-driven short film that would capture the attention of studio executives, convincing them to toss him the keys to a megabudget feature. Now at age 25, having missed his deadline by a smidge, Carman is on the verge of enjoying a splashy debut for his sci-fi short, Planet, at San Franciscos Palace of Fine Arts on Saturday. The question is whether studio executives will take noticeand, if they do, whether Carman can parlay that attention into his bigger ambition: injecting a sense of techno-optimism into Hollywood movies. Stranger things have happened, both onscreen and off. Following a two-year stint as head of content at aerospace hub Astranis, Carman launched the creative studio Story Company in 2024. If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as Arthur C. Clarke famously put it, Carman was blown away by his time backstage at the magic show, and wanted to sell more tickets. With Story, the young filmmaker could extend his tech-evangelism to branded work for new clients like medicinal robot-maker Multiply Labs, while also making documentaries and sci-fi projects of his own. My goal with our movies is to give people a taste of what I experienced working at a company like Astranis, he tells Fast Company, where I got to feel what it’s like building cutting-edge hardware and science every day. [Photo: Courtesy of Jason Carman] In his former role, Carman had spent a metric ton of time with aerospace engineers. They were the most interesting people hed ever met: die-hard sci-fi heads who named meeting rooms after Star Wars characters and would not shut up about the latest Andy Weir novelall while building spacecraft that pantheon-straddling sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov could only dream of. Those tech workers enthusiasm for building a bridge to the future proved infectious, and it was something Carman sensed was sorely missing from multiplexes. He wanted to be the one to provide it. All he had to do was convince everyone else hes up to the task. The future, according to Hollywood Carman grew up a couple hours north of Silicon Valley, in Vacaville. He was a child obsessed with movies, especially blockbuster multi-film franchises like Star Wars. From the age of 9, he was convinced he was destined to launch a company that creates them. He did not wait until he was old enough to know what an LLC was before getting started. At age 14, Carman won a Best VFX Award at the All-American High School Film Festival for his sci-fi short Vacuum Wars, which is not what it sounds like. The early efforta precocious pursuit not unlike Steven Spielbergs own early sci-fi feature Firelightfeatures grunts facing off against nimble, neon-flecked robots in all manner of combat. It does not look like it was executed by a high school freshman, even if the dialogue admittedly sounds like it was conceived by one. Carmans short film was impressive enough, though, that the University of Advancing Technology in Arizona offered him a full scholarship, which he declined. I had YouTube tutorials and access to open source forums, he says, citing technology unavailable to every preceding generation of aspiring filmmakers. After high school, Carman quickly found work at 2K Games, the company behind the NBA2K and Borderlands video game series. While directing trailers for new titles and assembling social media content, his quest to make the short film that announced his talent to Hollywood slowly migrated to the backburner. It wasnt until he later took the job at Astranis that his passion for sci-fi filmmaking reinvigorated, sparked by his new proximity to ground zero for science fact. These exceptional people in this industry were all deeply influenced by science fiction, he says, and I think it’s because they felt like it was a blueprint for what they wanted to build. [Photo: Courtesy of Jason Carman] At a certain point, he grew weary of the popular cinematic suggestion that all their efforts would ultimately be in vain, or worse. Carman cites Netflixs anthology series Black Mirrorin which someones device is always leading them to their demiseas a particularly egregious example of tech-based fear-porn. But humanity has been routinely hurtling toward doom in sci-fi films, often courtesy of Big Tech, for decadesfrom Terminator to The Matrix, and from Ex Machina to M3GAN. The entire Alien franchise depicts corporations using tomorrows state-of-the-art technology in despicable wayswith the latest entry, the Hulu series Alien: Earth, reaching the only logical conclusion, its titular monster finally attack our home planet. When movies arent depicting the fall of mankind, theyve lately portrayed the heads of tech companies as bumbling creeps, in projects like Glass Onion and Mountainhead. Adam McKays Dont Look Up even managed to feature both a wackadoo tech CEO and the apocalypse. Carman has a theory about why so many sci-fi filmmakers seem pessimistic about the future. We as humans naturally have a negativity bias, he says. It’s what’s allowed us to survive for tens of thousands of years. And I always say its easier to scare people with a negative story than it is to inspire people with an optimistic one. Perhaps darker sci-fi films in the lineage of 2001: A Space Odyssey are meant as stark, necessary warnings about the dangers of playing with Promethean fire. Or maybe the reason this pattern runs so deep is because hubris makes for a compelling narrative target, and some corners of the tech sector are objectively rife with it. Either way, there appears to be a rising sense in Silicon Valley that Hollywood needs to lighten up and let technology simply be awesome. I love sci-fi movies but I think we’ve hit a spot where a lot of them have just gotten too dystopia-based, says Jim OShaughnessy, the CEO of O’Shaughnessy Ventures, which recently backed Carmans company. There’s a place for those movies, for sure, but it would be nice to see a more optimistic view of what the future can be, and I love that Jason [Carman] has one. A filmmaker is born Theres a long history of science fiction concepts paving the way for technological breakthroughs. The Personal Accessory Display Devices from Star Trek, for instance, predicted the form-factor of the iPad and other tablets. The guy who envisioned the look of the memorable gesture-based tech from Minority Report ended up inventing a version of it in real-life much later. The Metaverse from Neal Stephensons 1992 novel Snow Crash influenced, well, you know. With a front-row seat to the forefront of aeronautics, Carman vibrated with excitement over the possibilities his new cohort might bring to lifeand the idea that he might one day conceive of a sci-fi idea that could influence the next wave of tech workers. [Photo: Courtesy of Jason Carman] He became so inspired while making videos to promote the aerospace companys innovations, he started spending his Saturdays with different tech startups, and making short documentaries about everything from joyriding jetpacks to literal rainmakers. He made dozens of these films, working so many nights and weekends he got sick seven times in a year. It was exactly this level of bone-deep dedication and enthusiasm, along with the progression of Carmans craft, that convinced OShaughnessy to back Story Company last year. We read his fellowship application and watched the videos he had made and we said, This seems like a guy who really could become a younger version of Spielberg. Part of the reason for Silicon Valleys burgeoning sense of betrayal over how tech is portrayed in movies may be due to the fact that filmmakers have a lot in common with founders. They command large staffs, work wild hours, and sometimes have billions of dollars on the line. David Senra, host of the popular Founders podcast, seems to admire the actual Steven Spielberg more for his galactically lucrative deal securing a cut of Universal Studios theme park ticket sales than for making some of the most enduring works of art in modern history. [Photo: Courtesy of Jason Carman] Increasingly, those who are sick of watching AI portrayed onscreen as humanitys death drive made manifest are now branching out into making films of their own. Its a proud tradition going back at least to when David Sacks used his PayPal windfall to produce the 2005 film, Thank You for Smoking, with the help of pals Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Now, Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Sankar is raising funds to launch the aptly named Founders Films, which would focus less on optimistic sci-fi than Ayn Rand adaptations and other projects about American exceptionalism, while Andreessen Horowitz is backing the new studio, Promise, which will produce films and series using generative-AI tools. Every major figure in tech right now is trying to fund movies, Carman says. Unlike those other nascent studios, Carman says Story Company will be less focused on creating a sort of Shadow Hollywood than in telling stories that celebrate technology as the tool that differentiates humans from every other species in the animal kingdom. He sees the studios branded work for clints like Rangeview, Valar Atomics, and his former employer Astranis serving a similar purpose as the sci-fi trilogy he plans to make: using wow factor to hack viewers inspiration receptors. One of Carmans future projects is adapting the Bell Labs biography, The Idea Factory, into a feature for OShaughnessys Infinite Films shingle. But first, of course, theres Planet. [Photo: Courtesy of Jason Carman] Storys first sci-fi short adds a dash of Interstellar-style world-building to the logistical dynamism that impressed Carman in the tech world. Even the process of making Planet, which is about an astrobiologist who creates an artificial planet, surprised Carman by being so similar to what hed previously only documented. It was an iterative feat, in service of making a minimum viable product, which he hopes will prove Storys functionality in ways a pitch deck cannot. [Photo: Courtesy of Jason Carman] If the film ultimately does convince some intrepid studio executive to throw Carman a hefty budget, it will be a real Hollywood ending. Or maybe more of a Silicon Valley ending.
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E-Commerce
A team of researchers from Japan wondered if painting cows with zebralike stripes would prevent flies from biting them. Another group from Africa and Europe pondered the types of pizza lizards preferred to eat. Those researchers were honored Thursday in Boston with an Ig Nobel, the prize a handmade model of a human stomach for comical scientific achievement. In lieu of a big paycheck, each winner was also given a single hand wipe. When I did this experiment, I hoped that I would win the Ig Nobel. It’s my dream. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable, said Tomoki Kojima, whose team put tape on Japanese beef cows and then spray-painted them with white stripes. Kojima appeared on stage in stripes and was surrounded by his fellow researchers who harassed him with cardboard flies. As a result of the paint job, fewer flies were attracted to the cows and they seemed less bothered by the flies. Despite the findings, Kojima admitted it might be a challenge to apply this approach on a large-scale. The years winners, honored in 10 categories, also include a group from Europe that found drinking alcohol sometimes improves a persons ability to speak a foreign language and a researcher who studied fingernail growth for decades. Every great discovery ever, at first glance seemed screwy and laughable, Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an email interview ahead of the awards ceremony. The same is true of every worthless discovery. The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate ALL these discoveries, because at the very first glance, who really knows? The 35th annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, a digital magazine that highlights research that makes people laugh and then think. Its usually held weeks before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced. The ceremony to celebrate winners Thursday night at Boston University began with a longtime tradition: the audience pelting the stage with paper airplanes. Several of those who couldn’t attend had their speeches read by actual Nobel laureates including Esther Duflo, who won the Nobel Prize for her experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. There was also a mini-opera about gastroenterologists and their patients, inspired by this years theme which is digestion. Several people sang about all the challenges of treating stomach bugs and being feted by patients who bring them pizza and chili dogs. There was also a section called the 24-second lecture where top researchers explain their work in 24 seconds. Among them was Gus Rancatore, who spent most of his time licking an ice cream cone and repeatedly saying yum and Trisha Pasricha, who explained her work studying smartphone use on the toilet and the potential risk for hemorrhoids. When any winner appeared to be rambling on too long, a man wearing a dress over his suit would appear at their side and repeatedly yell, Please stop. I’m bored. Other winners this year included a group from India that studied whether foul-smelling shoes influenced someones experience using a shoe rack, and researchers from the United States and Israel who explored whether eating Teflon is a good way to increase food volume. There was also a team of international scientists that looked at whether giving alcohol to bats impaired their ability to fly. Its a great honor for us, said Francisco Sanchez, one of the researchers from Colombia who studied the drunken bats. It’s really good. You can see that scientists are not really square and super serious and can have some fun while showing interesting science. Sanchez said their research found that the bats weren’t fans of rotten fruit, which often has higher concentrations of alcohol. Maybe for good reason. When they were forced to eat it, their flying and echolocation suffered, he said. They actually got drunk similar to what happens to us, Sanchez said. When you take some ethanol, you move slower and your speech is impaired. Among the most animated of the winners was a team of researchers from several European countries who studied the physics of pasta sauce. One of the researchers wore a cooks outfit with a fake mustache to accept the award while another dressed as a big ball of mozzarella cheese got pummeled by several people holding wooden cookware. They ended by handing out bowls of pasta to the Nobel laureates. Michael Casey, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
After Jimmy Kimmel made comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ABC suspended the long-running program. The move came in the wake of criticism from Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who was appointed to the agency by President Trump in November. However, the choice to suspend Kimmel has also prompted swelling backlash from the other side, with people on social media threatening to boycott the Walt Disney Company, which owns not only ABC but a sprawling empire of media and entertainment properties. Many online are vowing to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions as well as other Disney-owned platforms like ESPN and Hulu. The backlash is also spilling into the real world, with hundreds of protestersincluding writers and actorsshowing up outside Disney headquarters in Los Angeles to protest the suspension of Kimmels show and voice their support for free speech. Celebrities including Pedro Pascal, Adam Scott, and Wanda Sykes also shared their support online for Kimmel. Screenwriter and producer Damon Lindelof, who is also the cocreator of ABCs Lost, shared on Instagram that he would not work with Disney on future projects if the decision is not reversed. Marvel star Tatiana Maslany, who portrays She-Hulk in the Disney+ series, encouraged the actions of fans to cancel their Disney+, ESPN, and Hulu subscriptions following the news. ABC, which has aired Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fast Company also reached out to Hulu, ESPN, and the Walt Disney Company. Will a boycott actually work? Some analysts believe that the actual backlash against Disney might be short-lived and wont result in sustained harm to the entertainment giant, which generated $91.4 billion last year. Mike Proulx, vice president and research director for Forrester, previously published research in 2022 about cancel culture, which he still believes is relevant and rings true in this case. Whats changed since this research is that weve now seen instancesBud Light, Targetwhere concentrated consumer-organized campaigns to cancel a business can, indeed, materially affect a companys top line, but theyre still the exception, Proulx told Fast Company. Proulx said when it comes to the current calls to cancel subscriptions to Disney+, ESPN, and Hulu, hes watching to see if this will have any effect on Disneys direct-to-consumer revenue when the company reports its quarterly earnings. Whether it has a wide sweeping and lasting effect or not depends, first, on what the resolution to the Kimmel issue looks like, Proulx said. But it further depends on the willpower of those whove cancelled their subscriptions to not resubscribe.” He adds, “Chances are, when that must see movie or series that everyone is talking about hit Disney+, FOMO will win out.” Forrester’s previous research has found that threats to cancel tend to outpace actual followthrough, Proulx said. Elizabeth Parks, president and chief marketing officer of Park Associates, said Disneys biggest risk in the short-term is potentially losing advertisers, but large-scale subscriber losses for Disney+ or Hulu are unlikelyalthough it’s certainly still possible. According to research from Parks Associates, annualized churn rates for vMVPD and streaming services on average are 30% and higher, but churn rates for Disney, Hulu, and ESPN+ are relatively low at 17%, 16%, and 9%, respectively. All politics is local Parks added that if anything, the public backlash could at least impact local programming. Nexstar Communications Group, which operates 23 ABC affiliate networks, also said it would remove Jimmy Kimmel Live! starting Wednesday, with Andrew Alford, president of Nexstars broadcasting division, saying in a statement that Kimmels comments about Kirks death are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse. If theres public backlash against ABC and Disney due to show suspension, it could affect viewership of ABC network programming locally, Parks said. This could then affect ad rates or demand for slots on local ABC stations, especially in markets where ABC-affiliated stations are strong or high-rated. Meanwhile, Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics, shared a similar sentiment, saying that while the future is uncertain, backlash against major media companies tends to be temporary. While no one has a crystal ball, my gut reaction is that, much like company controversies in the past across the media landscape, including Netflix, this will lead to temporary small-scale churn amid public backlash before returning to normalcy, Katz said. The truth of the matter is thatright or wronggeneral consumers just aren’t as phased by these periodic issues that crop up. Disney also owns Pixar, which is home to many family-friendly animated films, and Katz said that with many families looking for programming to entertain their kids, a cancellation might be a difficult decision for parents to make. Can parents reasonably explain the cancellation of Disney+ to their young kids?, Katz said. The business reality may simply outweigh the sociopolitical considerations involved. Shares of the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) were down slightly on Friday, trading 1.2% lower as of late morning. Late doomers During his monologue on Mondays episode, Kimmel joked that many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk. Following the episode, Carr said that Kimmels remarks were truly sick and suggested that the FCC had a strong case against Kimmel, ABC, and the Walt Disney Company for spreading misinformation. Kimmel’s removal is another blow to late-night television following CBSs cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which came two weeks after the network settled a defamation lawsuit with President Trump. I absolutely love that Colbert got fired, Trump wrote on Truth Social following the cancellation of Colberts show. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.” But Kimmels suspension also marks a turning point in broadcast TV when it comes to free speech and censorship in entertainment. Joe Berkowitz wrote for Fast Company earlier this week that what happened to Kimmel could be seen as a warning to other TV commentators to watch what they say. On Thursday Carr appeared on CNBC saying that the FCC was not done yet with the changes in the media ecosystem.
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E-Commerce
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