Ava DuVernay’s Array teams with Google for $500,000 filmmaker grant

Ava DuVernay’s arts and social impact collective Array has continually made good on its mission to amplify the careers of underserved creatives and crew members in film and TV, with a number of initiatives across its various production, distribution, and nonprofit arms. Now Array is extending its reach even further with the help of Google. Announced today, June 2, Array is partnering with Google Assistant to offer a $500,000 grant to an emerging filmmaker. The Array + Google Feature Film Grant, which is specifically geared toward creatives from historically underrepresented communities, is intended to cover the production costs of a filmmaker’s first feature and will be staffed through Array Crew , the collective’s database for hiring below-the-line workers. “Our nonprofit organization Array Alliance has had a strong relationship with Google for a couple of years through various initiatives,” DuVernay says. “This partnership came about pretty organically as both teams discussed the furthering and fostering of equitable moviemaking.” The recipient of the grant will be selected by an advisory committee within the independent filmmaking community, including Gabrielle Glore, festival director and head of programming at Urbanworld; Francis Cullado, executive director of Visual Communications Media; Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative; María Raquel Bozzi, senior director of education and international initiatives at Film Independent; and Smriti Kiran, artistic director of the Mumbai Film Festival. “It was important because we truly believe in collaboration and the community model at Array,” DuVernay says of opting for an outside committee instead of an internal selection process Read More …

Would you bet on sports through your TV? FuboTV is trying to find out

FuboTV subscribers might notice something new this week when they tune into the service’s South American World Cup qualifier coverage. Inside FuboTV’s Roku and Android apps, viewers will be able to pull up a dashboard of live stats by scrolling up on the video stream. From there, they’ll get to answer a handful of quiz questions—for instance, “which team will score first in the second half?”—for a chance to win a free year of Fubo’s service, which normally costs $65 per month. This may seem gimmicky, but Fubo says it’s part of a bigger plan to let people bet on games through their televisions. Fubo plans to launch a sportsbook in the fourth quarter of this year, but by starting with something a little lighter, Fubo is hoping to figure out how much interaction people want from their TV screens and which users would be inclined to bet real money as well. “Our hypothesis is that it’s going to be an engagement driver, but also in the bigger picture, it’s kind of our first step towards our overall gaming strategy,” says Mike Berkley, FuboTV’s chief product officer. FuboTV is one of many companies in the TV business that sees gambling as a potential cash cow, especially as the rising cost of sports and a declining pay-TV audience threatens the traditional channel bundle business. Still, betting on games remains illegal in many states, and Fubo is a fairly small streaming service. Its only choice right now is to move slowly as it builds its audience and pushes for more legalized sports betting. More contests to come For now, FuboTV’s live stats and contests are beta features limited to the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) qualifiers, to which Fubo has the exclusive streaming rights . And while the live stats will also be available on Fire TV devices in the coming days, the contests will only appear on Roku players and Android mobile devices to start. But Fubo plans to expand on both fronts over time. Contest support is coming soon to Fire TV, Android TV, iOS, and the web, and Fubo is aiming to bring contests out of beta in time for football season in the fall. The service could eventually add contests for other types of content beyond sports as well. “Think of this really as a platform feature, where we can create a more enhanced viewing experience for every kind of content we provide on the platform,” he says. David Gandler, FuboTV’s cofounder and CEO, also floats the idea of using contests as an advertising tool, with companies offering a chance to win a car or free pizza. It will also collect data on which viewers are most interested in contests, hoping to turn them on to betting once Fubo’s sportsbook launches Read More …

Would you bet on sports through your TV? FuboTV is trying to find out

FuboTV subscribers might notice something new this week when they tune into the service’s South American World Cup qualifier coverage. Inside FuboTV’s Roku and Android apps, viewers will be able to pull up a dashboard of live stats by scrolling up on the video stream. From there, they’ll get to answer a handful of quiz questions—for instance, “which team will score first in the second half?”—for a chance to win a free year of Fubo’s service, which normally costs $65 per month. This may seem gimmicky, but Fubo says it’s part of a bigger plan to let people bet on games through their televisions. Fubo plans to launch a sportsbook in the fourth quarter of this year, but by starting with something a little lighter, Fubo is hoping to figure out how much interaction people want from their TV screens and which users would be inclined to bet real money as well. “Our hypothesis is that it’s going to be an engagement driver, but also in the bigger picture, it’s kind of our first step towards our overall gaming strategy,” says Mike Berkley, FuboTV’s chief product officer. FuboTV is one of many companies in the TV business that sees gambling as a potential cash cow, especially as the rising cost of sports and a declining pay-TV audience threatens the traditional channel bundle business. Still, betting on games remains illegal in many states, and Fubo is a fairly small streaming service. Its only choice right now is to move slowly as it builds its audience and pushes for more legalized sports betting. More contests to come For now, FuboTV’s live stats and contests are beta features limited to the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) qualifiers, to which Fubo has the exclusive streaming rights . And while the live stats will also be available on Fire TV devices in the coming days, the contests will only appear on Roku players and Android mobile devices to start. But Fubo plans to expand on both fronts over time. Contest support is coming soon to Fire TV, Android TV, iOS, and the web, and Fubo is aiming to bring contests out of beta in time for football season in the fall. The service could eventually add contests for other types of content beyond sports as well. “Think of this really as a platform feature, where we can create a more enhanced viewing experience for every kind of content we provide on the platform,” he says. David Gandler, FuboTV’s cofounder and CEO, also floats the idea of using contests as an advertising tool, with companies offering a chance to win a car or free pizza Read More …

Having trouble focusing? This service pairs you with a remote work buddy

Sometimes we need another person—even a largely silent one—to help us reach our goals. Focusing on tasks intensely enough to make progress is hard enough during normal times. It’s been even tougher as our homes have become both a castle and a prison over the last year. Some of us thrive best in an environment with accountability or collegiality. In a workplace, we may have the thrum of people or the occasional stare of a boss. At home, not so much. A service called Focusmate addresses the challenges of working alone by pairing people to perform separate tasks at the same time in companionable silence during a video call, with each worker being aware that they’re in the virtual presence of someone else. In effect, it gives people who work from home some of the value of toiling among others, in on-demand form. Focusmate is modeled after body doubling , a form of personal task accountability that’s common in circles of people who have trouble focusing and may have a self-diagnosis or professional diagnosis of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). A body double is another person who has a set of tasks to get done, and you agree to pair your unrelated tasks with each other for a short period of time to provide external reinforcement. Setting up body doubling without an in-person component or trusted friends or colleagues can be tricky. You need to find a partner, set the rules, and make sure you both have time at the right time. And if you know someone too well, you can easily slip into the procrastination mode that led you to seek help in the first place. Focusmate connects two people via video, but it’s about focused work in someone else’s presence, not chatting, [Image: Focusmate] “If I were to do this with one of my classmates or colleagues, we [would] certainly spend some larger percentage of our time in chat or discussion, and less-than-focused work,” says Lynn D. Warner, an ADHD/executive-function coach who recently finished her training and relied on Focusmate for studying. “Working with a stranger is much more productive for that reason.” (Warner, my spouse, first alerted me to Focusmate after finding it invaluable.) Focusmate’s matchmaking eliminates all the pain points and friction while still making a human and humane connection. The service answers the questions posed by its founder, Taylor Jacobson: “How can you combine just the ingredients of providing structure, providing accountability, providing human connection and camaraderie and team spirit?” The service sets ground rules to keep chat to a minimum and stresses safety and trust to minimize the possibility of abusive incidents. Users must register even to use the free tier, which allows you to book three 50-minute sessions each week. Those who pay $5 per month have unlimited access Read More …

Having trouble focusing? This service pairs you with a remote work buddy

Sometimes we need another person—even a largely silent one—to help us reach our goals. Focusing on tasks intensely enough to make progress is hard enough during normal times. It’s been even tougher as our homes have become both a castle and a prison over the last year. Some of us thrive best in an environment with accountability or collegiality. In a workplace, we may have the thrum of people or the occasional stare of a boss. At home, not so much. Read More …