Working in visual effects in Tinseltown is often a losing proposition — Visual effects (VFX) artists play a key role in the success of films that rely on visual spectacle to sell their realities to audiences. But for years now, the VFX industry has toiled in Hollywood under exploitative, and in some cases, abusive working conditions. Unlike writers, directors, and actors, VFX…

The venerated sci-fi franchise returns much-needed aspiration to speculative television — Critics scoff at Star Trek’s vision of the future as being ridiculously “utopian.” However, this cynical perspective ignores one important fact: we can’t create a better future or existence for ourselves without first imagining what that looks like. Until Star Trek: Discovery’s debut in 2017 on the then CBS All…

Why this introvert embraces the break of dawn — The wee hours of the morning are a treasured time for me. As a child, my maternal grandmother lived with us. She would rise every day at 4 AM, pray, make her first cup of coffee of the day, and begin preparing breakfast for the rest of the family. Mornings…

Why the death of Twitter may have been intentional from the start — With the rebranding of Twitter into the site now inanely christened “X,” the last rites for the controversial social media platform are all but complete. As with many former users, my 14-year relationship with Twitter can best be described as fraught. …

The hypocrisy of U.S. independence — What do you think of every fourth of July? Do you think of valiant colonists fighting for independence against the British empire? Do you imagine “Old Glory” waving in the wind? Do you see Bald eagles soaring majestically against blue skies? Does the national anthem begin playing in your head? …

The convention known as the mecca of geek and pop culture lost its original focus some time ago — San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), the top pop culture convention in the world, is facing an existential crisis. The convention’s biggest draw — Hollywood — will have a severely reduced presence at this year’s event. Confirmed to be skipping SDCC for 2023 are Marvel Studios, Netflix, Sony, HBO, and Universal.

These examples show how lack of vision and forward-thinking can defeat even the most powerful industry players — Many once prominent corporations and businesses have seen their market share drastically diminished - or destroyed entirely - due to hubris and lack of forward-thinking. The following four examples are among the most egregious existential blunders made by big businesses since the beginning of this century:

The most interesting, diverse, and unique onscreen speculative stories are from the independent film world — So, more feature films based on The Lord Of The Rings are being planned, with the original LOTR film trilogy director Peter Jackson reportedly in talks to be involved. This is in addition to the nearly one billion dollar LOTR: The Rings Of Power streaming series on Amazon Prime Video…

One prevalent myth enables bad behavior by the powerful — The American entertainment industry has not only normalized abuse, mistreatment, and exploitation, it has too often relied on these things to function. — Maureen Ryan, Burn It Down I’ve been reading Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, And A Call For Change In Hollywood by journalist Maureen Ryan. …