Happy Saturday Hollywood tech nerds!

In this issue, you’ll learn:

👽 How Grimes now has an AI version of herself on Twitter

🎥 Nikon’s new robot camera

🍿 Kernels: 3 links worth making popcorn for

Grimes Takes AI Grimes to the Next Level

A couple months ago, I covered how Grimes is letting artists release songs with AI versions of her—and she’s giving them 50% of royalties.

In a recent interview with WIRED, Grimes revealed she wants to be “the self-replicating AI pop star for the Martian Ministry of Aesthetics.” Basically, she wants a bunch of AI versions of her running around making music.

That’s why her team trained a chatbot on all of her work. That chatbot is now on the loose on Twitter. Grimes explained that the reason they didn’t release the chatbot for public usage was that AI Grimes is “insane and problematic […] however she’s based on everything I’ve ever written and I’m extremely problematic despite numerous interventions so it just is what it is.”

Although Grimes AI isn’t available for public usage yet, it’s been quite fun to see real Grimes talk with AI Grimes.

Grimes is at the forefront of experimentation between technology and entertainment. While many Hollywood stars are against AI versions of themselves, Grimes is serving as the guinea pig.

If she really pulls of this “self-replicating AI pop star” and it can prove to be super profitable, perhaps more stars will want to do the same.

Nikon’s New Camera Robot 🤯

Last week, Nikon subsidiary Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) unveiled a new robot camera—the Cinebot Mini—a compact, lightweight, live-action camera robot that gives users full manual control over camera positions.

“Cinematographers can hand-hold the camera in various positions, and the robotic arm will record them”, explains Nikon. “They can also push the track like a standard dolly, and this movement can be recorded and played back.”

MRMC is the king of robotic cameras, producing everything from turntables and spinning camera rigs to simple heads and robotic arms to more elaborate motion control robots. The Cinebot Mini combines a bunch of features from their larger robotic cameras and packs it all in a smaller, more compact device.

“The Cinebot Mini makes it easy to create a perfect camera move without having to learn the complexities of a controller,” explains the team over at Videomaker Magazine. “Instead, a camera operator can grab hold of the camera that is attached to the robot and guide it into various positions. The Cinebot Mini will record those motions and play them back at any speed.”

The Cinebot Mini is available today and will be giving demonstrations at trade shows, but because it’s a high-end device for serious productions, MRMC does not provide pricing on their site.

Kernels (3 links worth making popcorn for)

Here’s a round-up of cool links about Hollywood and technology:

From unemployed to cinematographer for Oppenheimer. Hear the story of Dutch cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. (link)

An app to make virtual avatars of yourself just went viral. No camera or crew necessary. This could be a game-changer for creators. Check out this viral video and app (link)

Lupe Fiasco made an AI writing app. It’s pretty fucking cool. Generate sensory details about a scene, create alliterations, similes, and more. (link)