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My desk is a disaster. Cold brew from this morning, now room temperature. A stack of unopened mail thats been piling up since the holiday break. Outside my window: rain. Not the romantic kind. This downpour is more Mary J. Blige and Ja Rule than Soul for Real. When I log on to my first video call of the day, I see the same gloom in everyone else’s backgrounds. Well, everyone except Sam. Unlike most people at the Seattle-based organization, Sam, a content strategist, has been working remotely from Mexico for the past four months. His Zoom backdrop almost looks virtual. The solar glare on his forehead makes questions about the weather seem rhetorical. His floor-to-ceiling windowswith palm trees swaying on the other sidescream, “I’m living my best life at 28,000 pesos per month. On a recent call, when Sam casually mentioned grabbing lunch at a restaurant on the beach, I felt it. That ugly little pang of envy. Mase and 112 have a hilarious song about jealous men. I could never relate … until recently. The remote work revolution has tested my emotional limits. Taking Zoom meetings from Zanzibar. Sending emails from Barcelona. Slack messages sent poolside. The digital nomad lifestyle sold us a fantasy: Why be miserable in Maryland when you could be equally employed in Morocco? Last month, Sam and his tropical background were absent for a day. He was offline the following day as well. His Slack status read traveling. Everyone on the call knew what was up. After Mexican authorities killed a major cartel leader in Februaryreportedly with U.S. helpparts of Jalisco erupted in violent retaliation that led to road blockades, burning vehicles, and warnings for Americans in Puerto Vallarta to stay indoors. Sam was in Mexico City, about 500 miles away, but he decided not to take any chances and haul ass. Turns out that work from anywhere hits differently when the “anywhere” is under a travel advisory. I understood the appeal that landed him beyond stateside borders in the first place. Once upon a time, I spun my desk globe and contemplated an expat adventure of my own. I’d been to Dubai years ago and loved it: the energy, the extravagance, the man-made island. After I got home, I started imagining a version of my life with better weather and a better skyline. I did some cursory research about relocating there. Looked at neighborhoods. Crunched the numbers. Then I took an in-office job here, and the idea disappeared like shisha smoke in the air. That old fantasy came back to mind recently after the U.S. attacked Iran, which responded with missile and drone strikes all around the Middle East. Airports in Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubaimajor travel hubs for all, including remote workershave been experiencing shutdowns and delays amid regional instability. I keep coming across tales of Americans stuck out there, steadily refreshing the State Department website, trying to figure out whether they need to escape by any means necessary. I know Black folks who left the States entirelytired of the politics, the anti-Blackness, the everyday microaggressions. They went searching for destinations where they could breathe easier. Accra. Lisbon. Bangkok. The digital nomad life offered an escape from Uncle Sams oppression. But heres the thing: American foreign policy has a long reach. When the U.S. starts launching airstrikes, it doesnt matter if youre in Atlanta or Abu Dhabi; youre still American. And suddenly that little blue booklet feels less like a golden ticket. Obviously, every place isn’t unsafe. I’d never discourage anyone from chasing the digital nomad dream. If you’ve got the opportunity and the resources, do it. See the world. Take your conference calls from Costa Rica. All Im saying is that current events have shown me another perspective. The recent news made me realize how quickly paradise can turn into frantically checking Skyscanner for a flight to literally anywhere else. Sam has since resurfaced on our team calls. Hes in London now, staying with a friend until he figures out his next move. His Zoom background was gray that first day. Overcast. It looked a lot like mine. Hows the weather over there? someone asked. Rainy, Sam said. But Im good with it. Maybe I projected a lot onto Sam. Maybe hes just a guy with decent Wi-Fi, a great view, a tatted-up passport, and quarterly goals just like mine. But in my head, he was the poster child of the digital nomad experience. I looked out my window at the familiar downpour and realized something: Im still open to working from abroad. Im just no longer romanticizing the people already doing it.
Category:
E-Commerce
I teach a course on AI and filmmaking at USCs School of Cinematic Arts, and lately, rather than planning each session well in advance, Ive been structuring the class the night before. Ill browse platforms like X, Substack, and YouTube, selecting the most provocative articles and video clips to present the following morning. Its a testament to how quickly artificial intelligences relationship to filmmaking is evolving: Each week brings newoften startlingdevelopments. The next morning in class, my students and I debate the ethics, the aesthetics, and the storytelling changes taking place in these collaborations with AI. And were not alone: Throughout Hollywood, everyoneaspiring actors and filmmakers, stars, screenwriters, and studio execsseems to have a take on whats coming next. But I think three trends in particular are going to be hot topics of conversation at this years Oscars parties. Nothing uncanny about this clip In February 2026, a 15-second AI-generated video clip of Tom Cruise battling Brad Pitt on a burned-out highway overpass went viral. Depending on the viewer, the video elicited either admiration, outrage, or existential hand-wringing. Created by Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson via a generative-AI tool called Seedance 2.0, the video marked yet another milestone in the propulsive growth of AI tools. Seedance 2.0which was developed by ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTokis now one of the many AI tools available to create short-form video clips. But unlike most AI-generated videos, Pitt and Cruise dont look creepy, uncanny, or animated in the clip, which almost perfectly mimics live-action footage. The appearance of two A-list stars in a fairly realistic scene created by a relatively unknown director using stolen likenesses jolted the industry. A brief clip featuring AI-generated avatars of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise stunned the film industry. The backlash was swift. Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter, claiming that the video was generated from a dataset that most likely includes Disneys copyrighted characters. The actors union, SAG-AFTRA, pointed to the videos blatant infringement of the actors likenesses, as well as their voices. SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by Bytedances new AI video model Seedance 2.0, the guild wrote in a statement. This practice, the guild added, undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood, while disregarding law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. In class, after watching the video, we explored the ethics of using someones likeness without permission, the challenges facing actors who build careers based on their unique ability to embody characters, and what the future holds for our understanding of acting. If filmmakers can prompt fake actors to deliver precise performances, where does that leave human actors? In with the old Since 2023, the skyline of the Las Vegas strip has been dominated by an illuminated orb called the Sphere: an entertainment complex featuring a 360-degree LED screen covering 160,000 square feet (14,864 square meters). The Sphere recently surpassed 2 million tickets sold for a reimagining of the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The film, which premiered in August 2024, was shortened, its color was enhanced, and it was stretched to expand across the interior of the dome. AI was used to transfer the imagery from the films original, modest aspect ratio to the giant dome. This required generating new imagery around the edges of the original shots in whats known as AI outpainting. The technology was also deployed to boost the original films resolution and to enhance certain scenes. Some critics fretted that this fairly radical augmentation of the original classic would offend viewers. Instead, it has drawn them in droves to the Sphere, where theyve been willing to shell out between US$100 and $200 per ticket. Not bad for a movie about a girl from Kansas made in 1939. Given the resounding success of The Wizard of Oz, experts expect producers to plumb the film archives for other potential hits and enhance them with AI before screening them in venues as varied as IMAX theaters and Cosm, another 360-degree dome with locations in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta. Or AI can simply be used to create material that was never completed for a historic film. In fact, The New Yorker recently profiled AI media entrepreneur Edward Saatchi, who is working to recreate and reincorporate lost footage from Orson Welles 1942 feature The Magnificent Ambersons. While Welles was in Brazil shooting a documentary, executives at RKO Radio Pictures reedited the film without his approval after a poor preview screening. They cut around 45 minutes, replaced the original ending with a happier one, and destroyed most of the footage that had been removed. Saatchis idea is to build a dataset that includes the existing film, as well as scripts, notes, images, and even new performances by actors. Then he plans to use his AI platform, Showrunner, to create new scenes from this data. While Saatchihopes to honor the directors creative vision by producing the film he originally intended, his efforts open up some thorny questions. Is it appropriate to take an existing artwork and revise it without the creators input? Isnt there something sacrosanct about a film, the intentions of the director, and the performances of the actors in a films original form? To what extent should these questions be overlooked if refashioning old movies will introduce them to new audiences? Fewer opportunities? Theres also an undercurrent of anxiety in my classes. What will happen, my students often wonder, once they graduate? Theyre worried that within a year or two, AI will have replaced entry-level film industry jobs, from concept artists to apprentice-level editors, before theyve even had a chance to enter the workforce. They have reason to fear. In 2024, the Animation Guild published a sobering report claiming that by 2026, creative workers will be facing an era of disruption, defined by the consolidation of some job roles, the replacement of existing job roles with new ones, and the elimination of many jobs entirely. Some of those predictions have borne out: 41,000 jobs in film and television have disappeared in Los Angeles County alone over the past three years. But Ive tried to counter the hard statistics with some stories of thoughtful practices. For example, filmmaker Paul Trillo at the AI studio Asteria has talked about how he seeks to keep artists at the center of the process. When he detailed the companys work on a music video for the singer-songwriter Cuco, he was keen to highlight the number of artists working on the project. Yes, AI tools were used. But they were integrated in a way that replaced the tedious work, not the creative practice. Rather than removing [artists] from the process, it actually allowed them to do a lot more so a small team can dream a lot bigger, Trillo explains at the end of the video. In January 2026, the management consulting firm McKinsey published a report that largely echoes Trillos positive outlook. It forecasts more adoption of AI throughout the industry. But it also points to ways that the technology could lead to different kinds of work and open up new possibilities. For example, as AI-generated scenes become commonplace, studios will need technicians who know how to blend real footage with digitally created worlds. And as AI lowers the cost of producing polished films and shows, it could allow more micro-studios and independent filmmakers to create professional-quality content. At the same time, the report also quotes a studio executive who concedes that AI could represent a more significant platform shift than we have ever seen before in our industry. So its no wonder my students, along with varied critics, commentators, and industry professionals, are nervous. However, from where I stand, Im convinced that the industry will weather this radical disruption. Its adapted to big changes in the past: the addition of sound in the 1920s, the threat posed by videotape in the 1980s, and streaming in the 2000s. In the end, people will always crave new, artfully told stories. While the filmmaking tools and job market may be in transition, that core need for storytelling is not going away. Holly Willis is a professor of cinematic arts at the University of Southern California. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
Overworked and underpaid has become the modern workplace anthem. The internet is full of advice on how to negotiate harder, quiet quit, or jump ship. Its an easy narrative to embrace: If you feel undervalued, the system must have failed you. That story is comforting. Its also costly. While genuine exploitation exists, most people stop short of asking the harder, and far more lucrative question: What is my contribution actually worth in the market? Effort Is Not Currency We have a tendency to measure our value by our level of exhaustion. We tally up the stress, the late nights, and the emotional labor. But markets do not pay for perspiration. They pay for results. If you feel underpaid, the first step isnt indignation; its an honest audit. You must be able to answer four questions in cold, commercial terms: What measurable problems do I solve? What revenue do I influence or what cost do I reduce? What risk do I remove from the business? What capability exists in the business because I am here? If you cannot answer these, your problem isn’t exploitation, its under-positioning.High performers dont just do the work; they translate that work into the language decision-makers value. That isn’t “self-promotion.” It is commercial maturity. The Hidden Ego in the Hustle Early in my career, I was once frustrated that my title didn’t match my workload. I felt overlooked. In hindsight, I wasnt being ignored, I was being developed. The gap between who we believe we are and how we are officially labelled is where growth actually happens. It is an invitation to become the role before you are given the title.Sometimes the discomfort isnt about the workload. It is about the delay in validation. When we fixate on status over trajectory, we risk stalling the very progress we claim to want. There is also a seductive benefit to the overworked and underpaid story: it absolves us. If the organisation is “broken,” you don’t have to sharpen your skills.If leadership is “blind,” you don’t have to influence better.If the system is unfair, you dont have to examine your own performance. That mindset protects the ego but freezes your growth.If you need the title to act like the next level, youre not ready for it. A more empowering stance assumes agency first. Ask: If I am underpaid, what capability gap must I close? If I am overlooked, how do I become unignorable? If I am overwhelmed, what low-value work am I tolerating or enabling? Agency isnt the denial of injustice. It is a refusal to surrender control. Your Three-Point Audit Before you demand a raise or polish your CV, run these filters: 1. The Value AuditList your core responsibilities. Next to each, write the tangible impactthe metric, the dollar value, or the efficiency gained. If you cant quantify it, estimate it. If it adds little value, question why its on your plate at all. Many professionals exhaust themselves on low-impact work that makes them feel busy but not valuable. Ruthless prioritisation is a career accelerant. 2. The Skill AuditIdentify the capabilities demonstrated by those above you. It’s rarely about technical skill; it’s more often about things like strategic thinking, commercial judgment, stakeholder influence, and composure under pressure. Promotions follow trust as much as competence. Trust is built through visible ownership and sound judgment exercised consistently over time. 3. The Leverage AuditWhen you negotiate from financial pressure, you negotiate from fear. Build personal resilience and market options first. You want to ask for your worth from a place of clarity, not desperation. Employers may empathise with your situation, but your financial stability will always be your responsibility. When the System Actually Is the Problem Lets be clear: Some organizations simply lack the capital, the courage, or the vision to reward talent.If you have delivered sustained, measurable results, operated at a higher level for months, and clearly articulated your impactyet nothing shiftsthat is a signal. At that point, leaving isn’t an act of disloyalty. It is an act of alignment. For the leaders reading this: stretching your people without providing clarity or a path to reward breeds cynicism. Growth must be reciprocal, or your best people will eventually find a market that knows how to price them. The Reframe Stop asking, Why am I not being paid more? Start asking, Who must I become to be worth more, in any market?. That question shifts you from reaction to construction. Compensation is almost always a lagging indicator of personal expansion. You rarely get paid first and grow later; the sequence frustrates the impatient, but it rewards the disciplined. If you feel overworked and underpaid, don’t suppress the frustration. Study it. It may be pointing to genuine unfairness, or it may be pointing to your next evolution. The difference lies in whether you look inward before you look outward. That isn’t the popular message, but its the only one that puts your future back in your hands.
Category:
E-Commerce
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