Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech explores Hollywood's AI-driven tech, artist copyright battles, entertainment policy, and film industry disruption. We also discuss how photography and other visual media are disrupted by AI innovation, exploring the latest global startups and research in AI photography, video, grief, digital afterlife tech, and other visual media. Ginger Liu is the founder/CEO of Ginger Media & Entertainment—a media and entertainment expert, MFA photographer, filmmaker, journalist, and AI/visual media researcher. gliumedia.com gingerliu.com https://gingerliu.substack
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June 10, 20267 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
Artificial intelligence is now reshaping every stage of film and TV production, from script development and planning to editing and viewer analytics. Streaming platforms are racing to feed global audiences, and AI tools that speed up workflows and reduce costs are becoming essential in the cutthroat competition. Actors face little direct threat. Synthetic performers and digital doubles are still experimental. The bigger change is in the production engine, with scheduling software, editing systems, and simulation tools transforming how films take shape well before release.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, AI and Entertainment Reporter and researcher, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
June 3, 20269 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
OpenAI Pulls Plug on Sora and Drops $1bn Disney Deal, Broadcasters Urge EU to Smart TV Platforms, AI Personalization and Streaming Market SurgeGinger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
May 28, 20266 min
At Cannes Marché du Film 2026, AI Takes Center Stage
At Cannes Marché du Film 2026, AI Takes Center StageDuring Marché du Film, I spoke with and listened to a film industry immersed in AI technologyAt Marché du Film, AI felt like a business model taking shape in public rather than a distant abstraction. The language had shifted, with AI now framed as production support that helps with brainstorming, editing, analysis, VFX, and workflow, while the creator remains human. That distinction mattered. In Cannes, the conversation centered on control, and on tools that promise to speed up development, sharpen decision-making, and ease the grind of production without stripping away authorship.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood Film PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
April 28, 20265 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
New framework for content ROI in streaming era.Film market growth accelerates for Disney, Lionsgate, and Columbia Pictures.Europe’s €141 billion audiovisual sector expands, but streaming pay and authors’ rights lag.BTS and Stranger Things top 2025’s most loved entertainment.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
April 21, 20267 min
Digital Afterlife AI News
Digital Afterlife News: Dead Celebrities, Dead Relatives, AI industry set for significant growth.Google’s Sweetwater explores how AI turns grief into a new kind of memory.Character.ai blocks teenagers from chatting with its AI bots amid safety concerns.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI TechTechnologyArtificial IntelligenceMental HealthStartup
April 15, 20266 min
HumanX San Francisco AI Universe
HumanX took over San Francisco this week, drawing more than 6,500 attendees, with an impressive 60% at VP level or above, alongside 400+ sponsors, 300+ speakers, and a packed media presence of 350 journalists. Held across several days in April 2026, the event brought together some of the biggest names shaping AI right now. Speakers and participants included leaders and voices from companies such as OpenAI, NVIDIA, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and Meta, alongside a surge of fast-rising startups entering film, media, healthcare, and enterprise AI.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a journalist and researcher on visual media technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
April 1, 20266 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
AI revolution in film and TV production and industry future reportAI is boosting productivity by 5–10% in development and pre‑production (visual pitches, script breakdowns, A/B story testing, and shot lists), with potential expansion into physical production (virtual sets, fewer reshoots) and post‑production (VFX, clipping, dubbing, faster workflows). Up to 20% of U.S. original content spend — about $10 billion by 2030 — could be addressable, with distributors capturing most of the value through margins as producers fragment.SAG-AFTRA eyes studio tax on digital performers amid unstoppable rise of AIAutodesk sues Google over AI-powered movie-making softwareAmazon plans AI push to accelerate TV and film productionAI loops cause cultural stagnation with no new dataAI set to transform cinema operations from scheduling to box office forecastingAI to make linear TV and streaming feel like a mood-shifting platformGinger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
March 24, 20267 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
AI set to reshape film and TV production from script to screen. Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionise every phase of television and film production, potentially transforming not just how stories are told, but who gets to tell them. As demand for video content surges, US adults now spend almost seven hours daily watching across platforms, stagnant budgets, lengthy production schedules, and fierce competition for viewers’ increasingly fragmented attention challenge traditional media. Amazon Prime Video introduces AI-powered video recaps for original seriesNew Dutch AI time‑travel series from Tilly Norwood creatorsBeta Film launches AI startup Chapter41 with industry veteransKevin Reilly to helm AI startup Kartel as entertainment and tech worlds convergeDisney+ eyes user-generated AI videos despite IP lawsuitsAmazon Prime Video introduces AI-powered video recaps for original seriesEros Innovation raises $150m to power AI media platformGinger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech
March 11, 202610 min
Entertainment AI Tech News
ByteDance promises safeguards for Seedance AI tool, AMC Theatres pulls AI short film ‘Thanksgiving Day’ after online backlash, Streaming viewers want AI assistance but not AI-generated content.At a screening of ElevenLabs’ Chroma Awards-winning AI short films, entries struggled under cinema lights, exposing immature technology and artificial narratives despite bold creative efforts. The limitations were clear: too crude for cinema beyond smartphone fodder. Days later, ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0 online, winning instant praise from enthusiasts while prompting panic and legal threats from Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery, Disney, and Paramount over its uncanny IP recreation.Hollywood studios across the industry are grappling with their growing reliance on artificial intelligence, from post-production enhancements to screenwriting aids. Last year’s Oscar winner, “The Brutalist,” stirred controversy after admitting AI-enhanced actors’ accents. This year, such disclosures have gone quiet, even from the Academy, which maintains a de facto “don’t ask, don’t tell” stance, with every best picture nominee likely touched by AI in production. Artists remain fiercely resistant following the 2023 strikes, screenwriters appear to embrace chatbots, while viral AI demos like the faked Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt fight have circled overblown narratives of Hollywood’s demise.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a writer and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast The Digital Afterlife of Grief.
February 27, 202612 min
Digital Afterlife Tech: AI, Death Tech & Communicating Beyond the Grave
The death tech industry uses AI and digital tools to create interactive afterlives for the departed. Lifelike AI avatars trained on personal data join "deadbots" that respond via text and voice, with companies building posthumous communication platforms, grief therapy chatbots, and virtual memorial services now valued at over $5B globally. The tech powering digital immortality includes neural networks preserving personalities, blockchain wills for data legacies, and ethical dilemmas around consent, privacy, and the psychology of talking to AI versions of lost loved ones.Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a writer and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast The Digital Afterlife of Grief.
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