![the stupid 'talent is a gatekeeping mechanism' thread that's going around, three posts reading:
tired of having these arguments so i'm gonna lay out the STARK reality of AI for some of you privileged fucks:
1. "talent" is a gatekeeping mechanism that has created a culture of professionalism that is no less of an ivory tower than academia, a moralized proxy for access to time, training, money.
2. being poor means having to make hard choices like:
[a] drawing something yourself in a way society would call "bad" (i.e. unprofessional)
[b] sacrificing resources you don't have to pay a real artist what they're worth (or learn yourself)
[c] not doing it at all, or
[d] using AI.
“just don’t use AI” is a luxury position. when people moralize choices made under scarcity, they’re pretending the menu is the same for everyone. it fucking isn’t.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dei7f7zh74xr3hoghei6ke3d/bafkreig5uei5qn5bkwhgniorhoyesfs73ovo76xwfk2yxprmtnbde4cvp4)
no great artists have ever struggled, a famous thing about artists that we all know. everyone prior to three years ago lived lives of luxury.
Hey Bluesky peeps, could you help spread the word?
Right now my horror novel BEDFELLOW is on sale for $1.99 on Kindle and Bookshop. I have no idea how long the sale will last.
www.amazon.com/Bedfellow-Je...
bookshop.org/p/books/bedf...
I'm on team Gamer.
Becoming a Berlinale Alumni feels like achieving a personal milestone, and I couldn't be happier about it. A great start to 2026, and I hope to be able to share more great news very soon. For now, looking forward to Berlin, to meeting fantastic film people, watching films and pitching new projects.
I'm honoured to be among the 200 Talents chosen from 3,438 applications from 120 countries that will attend the Berlinale Talents this year. Thanks to the Berlinale Talents for supporting arthouse genre filmmaking.
A new @letterboxd.social review by @filipefurtado.bsky.social! Thanks, Filipe!
"eyebrow albatroz"
Brazil for the win (as always) in the bird naming game.
Chavez in 2009, while being labelled as paranoid, outlines exactly what is happening today.
I love this book, and you should get it.
The fact that REFLECTIONS IN A DEAD DIAMOND only went to second-tier "fantastic" fests after its Berlin premiere, and eventually debuted on Shudder with no theatrical, speaks to just how screwed up the world of film is right now.
One of the year's best, hands down.
Just a note to everyone else who has moments of doubt about what they're doing, whether they're capable or talented, just remember that some of the dumbest and privileged fucking people in the world are walking around with all the money and never once consider how unbelievably stupid they are.
"Rusty"
DOG SKIN AND OTHER STORIES, an Obliquebleak Films anthology, is now available at @primevideo.bsky.social and @primevideouk.bsky.social
Written and directed by me and brought to life by the most talented and passionate cast and crew.
Please help us spread the word! 🖤
#indiehorror #horror #release
Not satisfied with just destroying their own brand goodwill, OS companies are now using AI to try to destroy the good names of the apps users install. (Scrivener taking out adds to explain how it has no AI but Apple adds some anyway.)
Follow @avesbrasil.bsky.social for some top Brazilian bird content.
Also check out the FERRO VELHO (junkyard).
Watch our anthology DOG SKIN AND OTHER STORIES on Prime Video today.
Data is the new oil.
Starmer's January 2025 AI Growth Zones obsession is grounded in two forms of capitalism:
Disaster Capitalism and Surveillance Capitalism
Thread
It cannot get lost in the shuffle, even with so much else going on, that the world's most wealthy people have had their minds absolutely rotted out, just saturated to the dripping point with black mold down to the studs and frame, by the all encompassing unhumanity of their wealth.
David and Larry Ellisons’ sloptastic vision for Hollywood is coming into focus:
“Paramount has reportedly signed a $200M+ multiyear deal for Higgsfield AI to use mass-use Popcorn AI model that ingests dailies and script notes, then outputs regional cuts: new leads, alternate jokes, revised endings”
DOG SKIN AND OTHER STORIES, an Obliquebleak Films anthology, is now available at @primevideo.bsky.social and @primevideouk.bsky.social
Written and directed by me and brought to life by the most talented and passionate cast and crew.
Please help us spread the word! 🖤
#indiehorror #horror #release
I've written a deep dive into the Tories and Labour nationwide free zones rollout; every day, new info comes to light.
This article is forensically researched, references included. Please read, share and where possible subscribe, thank you❤️
open.substack.com/pub/european...
In 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves flew to NY.
Her mission? To meet Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm. They claim Blackstone is “the largest provider of newly built affordable housing in the UK for the last three years.”
open.substack.com/pub/european...
Sex scenes are almost never "gratuitous" or "unnecessary." You learn things about characters and relationships during sex that you can't really learn any other way, such as whether they're into fisting.
What's happening behind those relentless headlines about immigration?
A Silent Coup where US corporations are restructuring the British State and commodifying the entire public sector.
open.substack.com/pub/european...
The Macarena.
Sad to hear about the passing of the Michelangelo of Movie posters, RENATO CASARO. The Man painted so many iconic posters, specially in the 70s/80s: CONAN, TERMINATOR, DUNE, TOTAL RECALL, DANCE WITH THE WOLVES, BLOW OUT, FLASH GORDON, RAMBO, NEVER-ENDING STORY, and the list goes on and on. 1/2
David Cross folks.
