Susan Thurmond O'Neal

There’s been a lot of talk this week about SAG-AFTRA’s new Verticals Agreement, the first contract to officially recognize micro-dramas and mobile-first storytelling. As someone who works directly with talent, producers, and creators in this space, I see both the potential and the growing pains. On one hand, this agreement legitimizes a format that’s been driving engagement and discovery for sometime now, short, serialized stories designed for our phones. It gives actors a pathway to work under union protections in a space that’s been a bit of a gray area. But here’s the catch: this isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution. Budgets, distribution models, and creative ownership all look different in vertical content. What works for a traditional shoot might not translate to a 3 minute episodic series built for mobile viewing. For the actors, it’s about understanding what you’re signing. For the producers, it’s about rethinking how we build sustainable ecosystems for this kind of storytelling. And for everyone in between, it’s time we start talking about how to do this right, together. There’s a lot more to unpack from industry folks, talent, and their reps alike, but one thing’s for sure: vertical storytelling is here to stay. 😴 (More thoughts on Monday).

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The Music Industry Has Quietly Shifted, And Most Artists Are Missing It. We're no longer in the playlist era. Those carefully curated collections that once drove streams and artist growth on streaming platforms? They're not the primary game anymore. What's changed: The algorithm now decides who gets heard. Data driven singles are leading the charge, and SEO has become as important as the music itself. Individual tracks optimized for algorithmic discovery are consistently outperforming traditional playlist strategies. Here's what smart artists are doing differently: They're treating song titles like search queries, incorporating trending keywords that people actually type when looking for new music. They're writing detailed track descriptions that help algorithms understand and categorize their work. Instead of dropping full albums and hoping for the best, they're releasing singles consistently, every 4 to 6 weeks, to keep the algorithmic momentum going. They're studying their analytics to understand why certain tracks perform better and applying those insights to new releases. Most importantly, they're optimizing for that critical first 30 seconds. That's the make or break window where algorithms decide whether to recommend your track or bury it. The shift is profound: success now requires understanding how search and discovery work across platforms. Artists need to think beyond just making good music, they need to make discoverable music. The reality check: The artists building sustainable careers today aren't just talented musicians. They're content creators who understand that great music without discoverability strategy is just expensive hobby time. Are you adapting your approach for this algorithm driven landscape, or are you still playing by the old playlist rules? #MusicIndustry #Streaming #DigitalMusic #MusicMarketing

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Indie filmmakers interested in soundtrack music placement for their projects should know one key thing: You need licenses! This means you must request formal permission to use someone else's musical IP. Two licenses are (usually) required: 1) Synchronization (or "sync"): This is the license for the musical composition. Always required. 2) Master: This is the license for a recording of the composition. Not required if YOU plan to record the composition, for use in the project. As mentioned above, you do still need the sync license if you plan to record the composition in-house and not place an outside master. This is a terrific cost-saving strategy against the budget and is used by many indie producers and filmmakers. You might also be able to get a deal for both licenses if they are owned/managed by the same entity. However, most of the time, these rights are owned/managed by two or more separate entities. Do yourself a favor though, and hire a professional music supervisor. He/she can save you a ton of time and trouble, if you're serious about placing established music into your project. NOTE: Unless you have a SIGNIFICANT music budget, don't even pick up the phone to try and get licenses to songs/masters by superstar artists of any era. They will not be affordable. Also, consider tracks from new artists/groups just starting out or riding low on the radar. They usually own both sets of rights and are far more likely to work with your budget. You get the licenses, and they get a fee, potential royalties, and good exposure from your project.

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In the world of film and television, terminology matters. Yet, it’s surprisingly common for people to confuse the roles of a Casting Director and a Talent Agent. These are two very different professions, each playing a unique and essential role in the production and representation process. Let’s clear up the confusion once and for all. To read, click the link in our linktree! #atlanta #film #tv #actors #talent #castingdirectors #talentagencies

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There’s a lot of talented filmmakers out there. Why on earth companies don’t hire them to make engaging work is fascinating. Reminds me of that one guy who was Apples evangelist. He said all their competitors could have easily hired their people away. Or just ripped off their style. But they had no taste. So they didn’t. Shocking the amount of disconnected “media” that gets produced by companies that can afford anyone they want.

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With 340+ credited tracks for artists like Lana Del Rey, Coldplay, and Post Malone, I get asked this question constantly: "How much should I budget for professional mixing?" The answer isn't simple. Here's what I've learned: 💰 Budget tier ($100-300): Fine for demos, but often rushed or inexperienced work 💰💰 Mid-tier ($500-1000): The sweet spot for serious indie artists who want professional quality 💰💰💰 Premium tier ($1500-5000+): Major label rates with top-tier engineers But price alone doesn't tell the whole story. Track count, revisions, deadlines, and genre complexity all affect the final cost. And honestly? Some $5000 mixes aren't better than $550 mixes You're often paying for a name, not necessarily better results. I wrote a complete breakdown of what you actually get at each price point Whether you're an artist budgeting your first release or a producer working with clients, this guide helps you set realistic expectations and avoid surprises. 👉 Read the full breakdown: https://lnkd.in/g5RRt_sy What's been your experience with mixing costs? Any surprises (good or bad)? #MusicProduction #MixingEngineer #IndieMusic #AudioEngineering #MusicBusiness

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Producers, curious where you land on this: “Pre-production exists to make execution boring. If execution feels chaotic, stressful, or constantly on fire… chances are pre-production didn’t do its job.” That doesn’t mean the team failed. It usually means alignment, scope, or decision-making happened too late instead of up front. When pre-production is done right, execution isn’t exciting, it’s predictable. Clear goals. Known risks. Fewer surprises. Fewer “how did we miss this?” moments. Chaos during production is often just deferred planning showing up with interest. Would love to hear other producers’ takes on this. Agree, disagree, or somewhere in between? #GameDevelopment #GameProduction #Producers #PreProduction

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Today the DGA sits down with the studios, with AI high on the agenda. WGA ratified. SAG-AFTRA has a tentative deal. But casting directors aren't at any of those AI settlement tables. That should worry anyone who cares about who gets discovered next. And yet, on 15 March, casting won its first Oscar, the Academy's first new competitive category since Best Animated Feature was introduced in 2001. This matters because AI can replicate the known, and predictive models can price the known, but casting is still where the unknown becomes visible. Something not many are connecting: the five inaugural nominees weren't rewarded for attaching stars. They were rewarded for discovery, chemistry, and instinct. → Cassandra Kulukundis, One Battle After Another (winner), after an open-ended search for Willa that considered everyone from trained actors to people found in schools or on the street, before landing on Chase Infiniti. → Nina Gold, Hamnet, non-siblings cast as the Shakespeare twins, chemistry over physical "twinning". → Jennifer Venditti, Marty Supreme, a mosaic of non-pros around Chalamet. → Gabriel Domingues, The Secret Agent, actors and non-actors with real Northeastern Brazilian accents. → Francine Maisler, Sinners, screen veterans and newcomers, chemistry doing the work. While the unions negotiate protections for the people the industry already knows, the Academy just honoured casting directors for finding the people it doesn't. The irony is this. Predictive content intelligence (Cinelytic, Largo, Vault AI) is an increasingly powerful input into packaging, financing and casting. Cinelytic's spring upgrade claims 88%+ accuracy across 80 territories. They share one blind spot: they cannot model the unknown. A model can tell you what swapping Brad Pitt for Leonardo DiCaprio does to projected ROI. It cannot price what a real Recife accent adds to The Secret Agent. It cannot weigh an instinct that chemistry will beat resemblance. The entry-level pipeline isn't dying. It's relocating: to Instagram, TikTok, open calls, rooms where the person reading didn't grow up imagining themselves on a call sheet. Casting at its best is forward-looking. Not who already has value. Who deserves to be discovered next. That's the conversation I want to have today: not whether the future is over, but who gets to be in it. Who gets seen? Who gets valued? Who gets protected? Who gets left out? And who gets to decide? #Casting #CastingDirectors #FilmIndustry #TalentDiscovery #AIinFilm

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MARTIN GROVE'S HOLLYWOOD REPORT FOR 3/15/26: Families kept the multiplexes humming over Oscar weekend with $28.5M in ticket sales for HOPPERS.    The Disney/Pixar Animation PG comedy adventure was playing at 4,000  theatres ($7,125), per Comscore. It's also benefiting from tracking best for first choice with under-25 women (eight points over norm). HOPPERS has done $86.8M domestic & $164.7M worldwide. BUDGET BUZZ: $150M to produce.   Universal's PG-13 romantic drama REMINDERS OF HIM opened #2 to an over-performing $18.3M at 3,400 theatres ($5,362), per Comscore. Hollywood handicappers were initially expecting $10-12M. It's tracking best for first choice  with over-25 women (two points over norm). Rotten Tomatoes critics are negative at 56%, but audiences are happy at 89%. BUDGET BUZZ: a modest $25M to produce.   HIM is directed by Vanessa Caswill (LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT) and stars Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers & Rudy Pankow. It's based on the bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover (IT ENDS WITH US).   Domestic ticket sales were $83.7M, according to Comscore Head of Marketplace Trends Paul Dergarabedian. That's down 13.3% from the prior weekend, but up 54% vs. this time last year. Comscore's year to date tally has 2026 at  $1.41B, up 15.15% from $1.23B in 2025. The prior weekend had 2026 up 13.21% vs. 2025.   Meanwhile, back at the multiplexes: A24's R rated sci-fi thriller UNDERTONE opened #3 to $9.3M at 2,570 theatres ($3,634), per Comscore. Directed by Ian Tuason (EXTREME CLOSE UP), it's tracking for first choice below norm for all demos. Rotten Tomatoes critics are okay at 76%, but audiences are booing at 52%. BUDGET BUZZ: $3-4M to acquire rights.   Paramount/Spyglass Media's SCREAM 7 was #4 in weekend three with $8.4M (-51%) at 3,243 theatres ($2,575). It's done $106.5M domestic and $177M worldwide. BUDGET BUZZ: $45M to produce from Paramount & Spyglass.     Next weekend (3/20/26) 🐝🐝🐝🐝: Amazon MGM Studios' PG-13 sci-fi drama PROJECT HAIL MARY is opening at about 4,000 theatres. It's tracking best for first choice with over-25 men (nine points over norm). Rotten Tomatoes critics are already cheering at 94%.   MARY, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (THE LEGO MOVIE co-directors), stars Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller & the voice of James Ortiz.   . Searchlight/Mythology Entertainment's R rated comedy thriller READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME is opening at about 3,000 theatres. It's directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, who also co-directed the 2019 original READY OR NOT.   READY 2 stars Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton & Sarah Michelle Gellar. It's tracking best and equally well for first choice with under-25 men and over-25 women (each one point over norm). Rotten Tomatoes critics are already positive at 86%.   The first READY episode opened 8/21/19 to $28.7M domestic and did $57.6M worldwide on a budget of $6M.   (See more at www.ZAMM.com)          #movies #boxoffice #hoppers              

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If your game lives or dies on connection…why would you remove the human from it? I spent a lot of time at GDC hearing teams talk about using AI for voices. And I get it, budgets are tough. Especially in indie. But when it comes to performance, voice isn’t just a delivery system for lines. It’s emotion. It’s nuance. It’s culture. It’s lived experience. It’s the thing that makes a player feel something. And that will never come from a dataset. It comes from a human being who has spent years training, working, and honing their craft. There are so many incredibly talented voice actors out there, at every level, who bring depth, connection, and truth to the work. And there are ways to work within different budgets that still respect both the project and the performers. Going fully AI should not be the path forward. All that time, energy, and care you’ve put into your game? This ONE choice risks losing the player connection that makes it truly resonate. #GameDev #IndieGameDev #GameAudio #VoiceActing #Storytelling #NarrativeDesign

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I've been thinking about how much of the behind the scenes work in talent management is changing. Research, scheduling, content briefs, contract summaries etc, AI is quietly moving through a lot of the admin that used to consume entire afternoons. For those of us working in Talent Management, that's not a bad thing. It frees up more time for the work that actually moves the needle. The tools are getting better fast. But the job, at its core, is still about people. Curious ... how is AI showing up for you right now? Are you using it, avoiding it, or still figuring it out? Lets discuss...

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There's a difference between liability and responsibility. Many platforms reduce worker safety to liability language. They're legally covered, but workers aren't actually protected. RevoVend treats safety as responsibility. That means: ✓ Partnering with organized hosts ✓ Prioritizing professional venues ✓ Creating daytime opportunities ✓ Building community around vendors and contractors instead of isolation If a platform profits from your labor, it should design with your protection in mind. That's not revolutionary. That's basic decency. Let's build something better together: https://revovendapp.com #GigWork #SmallBusiness #EcommerceBusiness #VendorLife #EntrepreneurLife #BusinessGrowth #Operations #Logistics #Events #Startup

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HR Briefing #3 Scriptwriters. In this post I talk about the look fors and crossovers with scriptwriters in video work.

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What does it really take to run payroll on an indie feature film? Try this on for size: -> 200+ crew members and talent -> SAG-AFTRA union performers -> Dozens of background actors each day -> 5 consecutive weeks of shooting, 12 consecutive weeks of payroll. Now add the pressure of making sure every single person gets paid on time, every time, while navigating union rules, compliance, deposits, taxes, and the endless stream of start forms and vouchers. That’s the mountain we just climbed at FilmUp, and we did it successfully for a recent independent feature. The truth is, behind the magic of filmmaking is a massive operational engine. Payroll isn’t glamorous, but when it runs smoothly, productions shine. When it doesn’t… everyone feels it. That’s why we built FilmUp: ✨ Seamless onboarding for SAG & BG talent ✨ Union-compliant payroll, deposits, and reporting ✨ Accuracy, transparency, and speed for productions of any size ✨ Team with 60 years + of in industry experience. We believe indie filmmakers should have the same level of payroll support as the big studios. And after processing millions in payroll already this year, we’re proving it. If you’re gearing up for your next production, let’s talk. We’ll take the payroll stress off your plate so you can focus on telling your story. 📩 DM me or connect here, we’d love to support your next project. #FilmUp #IndieFilm #SAGAFTRA #BackgroundActors #FilmPayroll #BehindTheScenes #payroll

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I've been thinking a lot about this idea that we need to resist tech's "takeover" of our industry. For me, when we frame tech (Al) as an invader, it positions Hollywood purely as a victim/defender, rather than as an agent of its own transformation, which in turn limits our agency. Hollywood could co-create integration terms. But, the reality is that Hollywood isn't yet fluent enough in Al to meaningfully participate in setting terms (on the whole). To claim authorship over Al's role in entertainment, we must first become fluent in it. For me, this continues to remain a literacy issue. You can't make sense of a thing you simply don't understand.

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Incidents like this are a strong reminder of how essential real, human QC is — even on rush jobs. A proper review on both sides would have caught this instantly. But in an age of automation and AI-driven workflows, mistakes like these can slip right through and derail all the hard work that should be the focus. Instead of celebrating the restoration or the quality of the show, everyone ends up talking about what should never have been visible in the first place. https://lnkd.in/gkX9SaPf

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The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday filed a joint lawsuit against Chinese AI firm MiniMax, alleging large-scale piracy of their respective studios' copyrighted works. https://lnkd.in/g-ejEW2g

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SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with the major studios, as negotiators have managed to avoid a repeat of the strikes of three years ago. https://lnkd.in/eSJtqqdW

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With Los Angeles production levels in a sorry state, underemployed workers are flocking to a format that’s faster, shorter, cheaper and quite literally overturns film and TV norms. https://lnkd.in/g_TUw6dd

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