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Its not an easy time to be a documentary filmmaker. Its getting harder to sell political contentat exactly the time when that storytelling is arguably needed most. Thats one of the reasons that Alex Gibney, the documentarian behind films like the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, partnered with Wendy Schmidt, the philanthropist, earlier this year. Schmidt invested in a majority stake in Jigsaw Productions, Gibney’s company, in February. At this weeks Fast Company Innovation Festival, the partners talked about how theyre confronting the challenge of reaching audiences. We believe that at this moment in time, with growing media consolidation, what’s ending up happening is actually a wall is being built between independent creators and audiences who want to see that material, Gibney said. There is a kind of algorithmic twisting of content, in a way, that I think is interfering with that exchange between creators and viewers. Jigsaw Productions struggled to find a distributor for its recent film The Bibi Files, about the bribery and fraud trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Right now, it can be streamed on Jolt.film.) Other producers have faced the same challenge. No Other Land, a film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, won an Academy Award last year but couldnt find a U.S. distributor. Schmidt’s investment in the company is helping it continue its work as it focuses on how to get films in front of audiences. For Schmidt, the partnership was a natural fit. Before she was a billionaire philanthropist as the wife of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, she was a journalist. She recognizes the power of storytelling to help audiences make sense of the worlds biggest challenges. We’ve been looking to invest in some kind of production company for a while to amplify the impact of the work we do in philanthropy, Schmidt told the Innovation Festival audience. There are so many issues that are really of critical importance to human life right now that are not represented well in any films. We have an opportunity to help educate people and to help bring voices into our public arena that are not heard from. And we’ve encountered these people for the last 20 years in our philanthropy, and there’s a way to give them a voice in film. Jigsaw will now work on more projects related to climate change and ocean health, issues that are priorities for Schmidt. She’s also helping the company brainstorm new approaches to distribution. There’s a need for more innovation in the industry, Gibney says, similar to the way Bookshop.org has helped indendepent local bookstores compete with Amazon. Documentaries have a critical role to play now, Schmidt says. “Film, as Robert Redford made the observation many years ago, is one of the most direct ways to reach peopleto reach their hearts, to help them make sense of the world they’re in, and then hopefully drive them to actions that can make them feel part of a solution instead of being part of a problem,” she says. “I think that’s the moment we’re in.”
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E-Commerce
Nvidia took a cue from the U.S. government on Thursday, acquiring a $5 billion stake in Intel. Last month, President Trump announced that the U.S. government was also making a $9 billion investment in Intel, meaning that now Nvidia and the United States are among Intels largest shareholders. All told, its a major Silicon Valley shakeup that could have wide-ranging effects, especially as the AI race continues to heat up. In fact, the AI arms race is at the center of the new partnership, as the two will jointly develop chips for both personal computers and data centers. This historic collaboration tightly couples NVIDIAs AI and accelerated computing stack with Intels CPUs and the vast x86 ecosystema fusion of two world-class platforms, said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang in a statement. Together, we will expand our ecosystems and lay the foundation for the next era of computing. Theres no denying that the news is big, and investors treated it as such. Intels stock soared more than 30% on Thursday, and Nvidias jumped more than 3.5%. The intel on Intel-Nvidia But theres potentially more at stake than merely share price increases. Nvidias investment may signalor bethe biggest, boldest move yet as American tech firms beef up to battle those in China. It also poses big challenges for competitors like AMD, and represents a new dynamic in the semiconductor industry at large. For instance, Taiwan Semiconductor, perhaps the most dominant company in the space, now has a new adversary to deal withand its stock fell nearly 7% when the trading day opened (though it did bounce back). All told, the investment helps make Intel more competitive and gives Nvidia more avenues for distribution for its chips. Thats important, coming off the news that Chinas internet regulator, The Cyberspace Administration of China, is reportedly telling Chinese tech companies that they cannot buy or use chips from Nvidia, according to the Financial Times. Looking ahead, its unclear whether the combined efforts of Nvidia and Intel will be enough to go blow-for-blow with companies like Huawei, particularly as global trade wars continue. Analysts, too, think that the partnership sends a bigger message to the market: Old dynamics are going out the window. This is truly like the Yankees and the Red Sox coming together to end their rivalrythe companies did not like each other whatsoever, David Wagner, head of equity and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, said per reporting by Reuters. It’s a massive step in the right direction (utilizing INTC’s fab to make chips) for US chip designers, and breathes new life into a poorly run company for decades.
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E-Commerce
The price of most organic food could jump this fall due to new policies and tariffs on imported organic sugar, frustrating manufacturers who say the actions won’t help sugar growers but could put some food companies out of business. More than 90% of organic sugar used by U.S. manufacturers is imported. The price of that product increased in August when the Trump administration imposed steep trade tariffs, and will rise even more when high-tier duties on most organic sugar imports take effect October 1. The result, according to the Organic Trade Association, is that the price of organic sugar is expected to soar by an average of 30%, increasing costs of producing most organic foodseverything from yogurt to cookies. Each year, the U.S. imports 1,825 tons (1,656 metric tons) of specialty sugar because its required under a World Trade Organization agreement. But demand for organic sugar far exceeds that amount, so the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets an annual quota for the amount of specialty sugar that can be imported into the U.S. duty-free. Last year, the quota was 231,485 tons (210,000 metric tons), which still wasnt enough to meet demand. This year, the USDAs quota taking effect October 1 will be zero, and all organic sugar imports beyond the WTO minimum will be hit with high out-of-quota duties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said its restrictions on specialty sugar imports are intended to help the U.S. sugar industry. The department didnt respond to inquiries about its new sugar policy. Specialty sugar policy could lead to higher prices The limits on duty-free imports of specialty sugar plus a new 50% tariff on Brazil, which supplies 40% of the U.S.’s organic sugar, is especially difficult because organic products are already more expensive than their conventional counterparts. Growers must meet more requirements to be certified organic, such as restrictions on pesticides and fertilizers. U.S. manufacturers say that buying domestic organic sugar isnt an option because there is only one U.S. farm that produces the specialty crop, and converting a conventional farm to organic takes at least three years. They warn the combined effect of the tariff and import caps may force them either to raise prices or curb production. Its essentially punishing domestic manufacturers for using an ingredient that we really cant obtain domestically, and dont have any prospects of obtaining domestically any time in the near future, said Britt Lundgren, who oversees government affairs for organic yogurt maker Stonyfield. Tom Chapman, co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association, said he expects dramatic impacts. The high-tier tariff is so high that we don’t see that it’s an absorbable rate of tariff, in addition to all the other tariffs that would apply, Chapman said. Organic food manufacturers will buy most of the imported organic sugar, though some will be offered on grocery shelves, where home bakers likely will see increased prices. U.S. not producing enough organic sugar to meet demand Demand for organic sugar had already been outpacing imports for the past several years, but that did not spur any new domestic producers, organic food manufacturers said. In addition to limited production, the U.S. also has limited organic sugar processing because ingredients that are certified organic must be segregated from conventional ingredients when processed. Whole Earth Brands, a company that sells a variety of sweeteners, is anticipating a 100% increase in organic sugar costs, according to company president Nigel Willerton. We supply every major supermarket in the U.S. and natural food stores. Well see our prices go up quite considerably. Theres nothing we can avoid there,” he said. How much prices will change depends on how much sugar is used in the product. For example, sweeteners that are made almost entirely from organic sugar are likely to see bigger price increases than dairy products, where organic sugar is not the main ingredient. Higher sugar costs may lead some businesses to shut down Many organic food manufacturers are smaller operations, so they are more sensitive to increases in input costs, Willerton said. Some of them may not have the margins to absorb the cost, and they’re unable to replace organic sugar substitutes because it would require product reformulation. Weve got lots of small companies involved in this business, Willerton said. These small premium companies producing these products are literally going to find themselves priced out of the market. The U.S. government has long had a prominent role in sugar production with policies for setting minimum prices and generous loan programs. Still, Chapman said he doesn’t understand what the USDA is trying to accomplish with its restrictions. When we looked at the USDA announcements, they were talking about domestic sugar shrinking and mills closing,” he said. “Theres only one mill. They were in operation before, and theyre in operation now. Florida Crystals Corporation, the only organic sugar producer in the U.S., supplies 8% of the U.S. organic sugar market, up from about 2% a decade ago. Marianne Martinez, the company’s spokesperson, said the USDAs new specialty sugar policy “is encouraging and could result in an increase in U.S.-grown and milled organic cane sugar production if it becomes a long-term policy. The USDA has not announced any other initiatives to support organic growers in the meantime. By Sarah Raza, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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