Bob Gerard was sitting in an office room, having just watched a public service announcement while wearing a sensor that Dr. Paul Zak had wrapped around his arm.
"When it was done," said Gerard, who had been introduced to Zak by a mutual friend who thought Zak could help Gerard improve his internal training sessions at Accenture, a professional services firm, "Paul showed me the graph that the sensor had generated, and he replayed the video. As it was replaying, he was telling me exactly what I was feeling as he was reading it off the chart. My first thought was: I need this."
<p>What <em>this </em>is, is called Immersion: a software program that, in the words of the L.A.-based startup's Chief Executive Scott Brown, "measures love." The sensor monitors how a person's brain responds to a given stimulus, moment by moment. And the readout that the software generates, for up to dozens of people at a time, provides real-time feedback that could be useful for everything from testing Hollywood audiences to understanding what resonates during a presentation.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI2MTc2OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTU1NDA0M30.RJ8WbaydXhWju7zoKxAmeZjoMgD6lxiA6in5d3XHpuk/image.png?width=980" id="83cac" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="db9cce46d9efea3b31193c37aa8f7d56" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">A sensor measures the brain's response to content and uploads the data</small></p><p>Based on 20 years of scientific research, the company said, the technology can be used to understand which moments in a piece of content — a trailer, an advertisement, a lecture — are emotionally resonant, and which moments aren't. Creators can then adjust accordingly, and gain insight from algorithmic predictions about what actions people will take in response.<br/></p><p>Immersion, Zak explained, specifically measures two factors in the brain: attention, and emotional engagement. When these two levels are high, Zak said, a person is immersed in the material at hand.<br/></p><p>The company, which was founded less than three years ago and has mainly been in stealth mode, grew from Zak's work as a social sciences researcher and professor at Claremont Graduate University. He is also the director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, which "develops neuroscience technologies to understand how people make decisions." Zak said the two main client uses of Immersion have been entertainment — such as for film, TV shows or advertisements — and corporate trainings.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI2MTc2Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTIyNzg5M30.0_zTreGZiBhjuYvbdh4uNTD8_rmd9dD5DAHRe77W_G4/image.png?width=980" id="7c095" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="39d284cb08ba30eca29dfd2ad585be6e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Dr. Paul Zak runs the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate College</small></p><p>Zak's research, which has received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence community, produced a set of findings that eventually formed into Immersion's commercial product. He found that oxytocin, a molecule produced in mammals, strongly correlates with emotional resonance, and he figured out how to measure oxytocin levels and attention non-invasively. Immersion's sensors — and, as of this week, other sensors like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Versa — can capture that data, then upload it into Immersion's software, which displays people's neurologic responses in a way that is designed to allow users like Gerard to get insight about their content "without having to have a PhD in data science," Zak said.<br/></p><p>At Accenture, Gerard estimates that he's used Immersion for hundreds of classes and thousands of trainees since signing up for the subscription service. The program has helped to reveal which parts of trainings are engaging and should be expanded, and which parts are snoozers and need to be improved. Gerard has also experimented with using Immersion for sales training workshops, wherein two employees role-play a sales pitch while the one playing the customer wears a sensor that monitors her reactions and displays them to the class in real time.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI2MTc3MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDk4MTk5OX0.zUU1QfND9j2qhzp__gCVb6otx5yOoiC_sLkjdxnD3uc/image.png?width=980" id="1a6c5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87f7799d507a0a6dd5ea01404ab3a7d3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">An Immersion readout</small></p><p>Brown and Zak said Immersion has also been designed to enable clients to predict future behavior. In fact, they claim, because it relies on brain measurement rather than what people say, Immersion can understand audience response and intent better than audiences understand themselves.</p><p>When someone's levels of emotional resonance and attention are high, Zak explained, the brain "tags" those moments as "more relevant." These moments become "more easily recalled, and therefore more likely to be acted upon," Zak said. That is, the more that one is "immersed" in the content, the more likely they are to, say, watch the film (ie, if the piece of content is a trailer) or buy the product (if it's an ad). Immersion can also, Brown said, predict whether a piece of content will be a hit. Based on numerous studies, including with big companies like Facebook, Paramount and Warner, Immersion claims predictive accuracy of over 80%. </p><p>One hurdle that Immersion faces to growing is skepticism about a "big brother" omniscience about people's "true" feelings. Zak emphasized, however, that users must opt in to having their brain activity tracked, and that clients decide how much data to collect. Accenture, for example, chooses not to gather any personally identifiable information, Gerard said. Zak also suggested to dot.LA that being able to identify specific individuals who were highly immersed could be beneficial, as those people could be used as evangelists or for peer support.<br/></p><p>The coronavirus pandemic is not exactly well timed for the company that according to Zak is "just now taking the lid off" and doesn't have a full-time marketing team, but the founder is confident his company will survive. While some clients, including a major studio and a large appliance-maker, have had to put their subscriptions or negotiations on hold, interest is perking up elsewhere. As companies and society experiment with distributed work, Zak is hopeful that his distributed neuroscience firm – subjects need not congregate in the same room – can fill a void. He's in talks with several potential new clients that are working from home at a distance. </p><p>"You want to test content and see what the brain's responding to?" Zak asked. "Right now, we're the only game in town."</p><p>---</p><p><em>Sam Blake covers media and entertainment for dot.LA. Find him on Twitter @hisamblake and email him at samblake@dot.LA</em><br/></p>
Related Articles Around the Web
Read more
Show less
Here are the latest headlines regarding how the novel coronavirus is impacting the Los Angeles startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for the latest updates.
Today:
- USC, UCLA business school students jointly create a 3-D printed mask in Hack for Hope
- Analyst predicts M&A shakeup as Hollywood grapples with COVID-19 fallout
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
Analyst predicts M&A shakeup as Hollywood grapples with COVID-19 fallout
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg5ODI2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Njc4NTU0OH0.sDywCamIJEsIHGkmkbCzONVXFcmkXBCyxjes6aZA7Hc/img.jpg?width=980" id="035e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d083cd9c433e038afaa99a710b7b0efd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />c0.wallpaperflare.com<p>MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson made a rather dire prediction for the future of the entertainment industry: Prepare for Hollywood studios to consolidate through acquisitions as a way to fiscally survive the global coronavirus pandemic. With movie theaters shuttered (for the time being), the streaming world is now the most dominant channel to distribute content. "Heading into 2020, we had argued that the fundamental pillars of media were starting to crack," <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/film-studios-consolidate-streamers-create-content-analyst-1291665" target="_blank">Nathanson wrote</a> in the Friday report. "Now, we fear that they will crumble as customer behavior permanently shifts to streaming models. The impact should be felt in both the traditional TV ecosystem and the film industry as content producers re-examine the economics of producing linear TV content and feature films. As a result, when this is all done, the top streaming platforms – Netflix, Amazon and Disney – will emerge with the lion's share of scripted content creation." This could have major ramifications for studios like Sony Entertainment, which has long rumored to be on the auction block. Lionsgate, another smaller studio with both film and television assets, could also be eyed as a potential takeover target. </p>USC, UCLA business school students jointly create a 3-D printed mask in Hack for Hope
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzE2MjU2MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTY0NzcwMX0.sPMJ4Z3oJxZ12ByI5RMtB5iPj4LWovOGhG6P-eSVGIU/image.png?width=980" id="9ebd4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1a47a0ea5843be9e03999dc6e4f5e843" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Traditional rivals <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=3M0Lv7h-2BLWf33q4UOnsAOYhL9tHRlm8Mt0VKR5HH5nPxCCVAIeMU9k-2BF8YBxTUGc4SGq_SY9yQJI-2FAWp8Dt219ARgJybm43nkwLI5EOXj1zdfAH8TJIejbITZTOme852CLEVzXGU1M-2FPfa8OtG09Uaf8qgvceLFK1IRUQGUGCxo2QtR94ctZuOd42iCDDPgBg8EvLCJO1RInkqDj2Vxq9J3WI3UA6WB134kUmlNdBaOXhlfF46ol6gTEXb2G6kg7tKFggL3X-2BhW0qvunYFR0CLVg5-2BBbMwaSJ4J2ntD6FCUYpXJgsL1SI4MInq5ixIi-2Ft2HVkbzBneNyJVP0ioScJcfH2MM-2Fi84SW-2FuQFGYULmk4MjhTmt5h1c-2BL-2BUj7fmyshDGTekJcWA2jTTlEJxhIDrk0VXRCX6RJqPnczmOvUx6NWM49U9aTNF-2BlAqbSOpuc93vafKvw5Rm4n3-2Bn1XmNjAQYSuw-3D-3D" target="_blank">USC Marshall School of Business </a>and <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=3M0Lv7h-2BLWf33q4UOnsAOXqmhx5VKVumCvlV9NXnjsNUEJXGflZ-2F7EdnLN2y0-2FEB_hvk_SY9yQJI-2FAWp8Dt219ARgJybm43nkwLI5EOXj1zdfAH8TJIejbITZTOme852CLEVzXGU1M-2FPfa8OtG09Uaf8qgvceLFK1IRUQGUGCxo2QtR94ctZuOd42iCDDPgBg8EvLCJO1RInkqDj2Vxq9J3WI3UA6WB134kUmlNdBaOXhlfF46ol6gTEXb2G6kg7tKFggL3X-2BhW0qvunYFR0CLVg5-2BIiudnlvGB7nc9nazrTq-2F0vMNXzSG9z5e46MwOxddz5fw1-2Fh-2Bbi-2BDBtP5P7sR5E3e-2F9gdDe5Tgh6gw7L6ZHNfwlxOFhCVOkiAHNVEe2LNxWiau885c5KMF5WkGX87MDKE81oW4MllIffp50UBWg8lWuxI0ZSkCXhtgjsaT4bGbRiO9KqGf1giTw9PChEJwOjvw-3D-3D" target="_blank">UCLA Anderson School of Management</a> united earlier in April to fuel a search for solutions to problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The joint effort, an online hackathon called Hack for Hope, involved 600 students from both schools that created 89 projects aimed at helping out during the coronavirus pandemic. Taking away the big prize was a joint project between students at both schools that created 3-D printed, reusable respirator masks that can be easily disinfected. The students also made the print pattern available to others to replicate. </p><p>"We were very impressed by the global scope of the teams; they included undergraduates, graduate students and alumni, along with professionals from business, technology, health care, edtech and entertainment," said Elaine Hagan, associate dean of entrepreneurial initiatives at UCLA Anderson School of Management and executive director of the school's <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=3M0Lv7h-2BLWf33q4UOnsAOXqmhx5VKVumCvlV9NXnjsNb6-2BbXtxh7m1tj4GBjv6SCKoMUluZ9jVAOjcXOu2paKRqOrr81UF2IWxnUx9MYsjny42wVI6S7bePaX7MZ9YrzyYOx_SY9yQJI-2FAWp8Dt219ARgJybm43nkwLI5EOXj1zdfAH8TJIejbITZTOme852CLEVzXGU1M-2FPfa8OtG09Uaf8qgvceLFK1IRUQGUGCxo2QtR94ctZuOd42iCDDPgBg8EvLCJO1RInkqDj2Vxq9J3WI3UA6WB134kUmlNdBaOXhlfF46ol6gTEXb2G6kg7tKFggL3X-2BhW0qvunYFR0CLVg5-2BBj1IScmxuZuFnbXtj5SZ0-2BXBiyQ11viiEts6epa6MCbHC0Y-2FcTqBtZ1VnYE0wbroKdkWiy86-2Bmag8hmyuuFb9UOAa1n3VDEWHyu6uyanysdxFb05Id-2FXVv7aLydwRCsctrbdY5idcfCoQdjBGfTkOr0ZmAlttTgiHZ6M4uaHlbEERbli1I8cZ1H1ziLNwsMHg-3D-3D" target="_blank">Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.</a> "Their ability to provide real-time solutions that have already benefited at-risk community members has given the organizers confidence that we have moved from hope to impact, for which participants should be commended."</p><p>Each team was asked to submit a two-minute video describing the problem and their solution. Judges awarded a total of $38,500 in prize money to the most promising projects — specifically, to fund prototype development, proof of concept work or community outreach directed at students or workers in need of extra support at this time.<br></p>From Your Site Articles
- Los Angeles Coronavirus Updates - dot.LA ›
- Coronavirus Updates: California Unemployment Claims at 1.9M ... ›
- Coronavirus Updates: Mercy Hospital Ship Arrives in L.A., Gates ... ›
- Coronavirus Updates: Cedars Joins Drug Trial, U.S. Consumers ... ›
- Coronavirus Updates: Olympics Postponed, SpaceX Delays Launch ... ›
- Coronavirus Updates: Mattel Using Fabric from Barbie to Make Face ... ›
- coronavirus-updates - dot.LA ›
- Coronavirus Updates: Tesla Steps Up for UCLA, LAUSD Closed ... ›
- The End of Hollywood As We Know It? - dot.LA ›
- The End of Hollywood As We Know It? - dot.LA ›
- USC Gets Funds to Create a Contract Tracing App for Students - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read more
Show less
Having watched his reputation flourish upon a foundation of self-spun fabrications, then crumble into a heap of infamy that led him to change his name, Yves Bergquist knows a thing or two about stories.
As detailed in a November 2019 story in The Hollywood Reporter, Bergquist, who leads artificial intelligence (AI) projects at USC's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), was formerly a national security analyst and ABC News consultant named Alexis Debat. Once his lies were exposed, he left Washington D.C. in 2007, shrouded in shame.
<p>Now, Bergquist is set to go public with Corto, his previously stealth-mode startup that uses AI to help storytellers in the entertainment industry better understand their content, their operations, and their audiences. Since 2016, Corto has worked symbiotically with the ETC, a think tank founded in 1993 by <em>Star Wars </em>creator George Lucas to support cooperative technological advancement in Hollywood.</p><p>As the<em> THR </em>story conveyed, Bergquist seems genuinely contrite. He has embraced working extra hard to overcome his tarnished past and salvage his integrity.</p><p>
"This is a very sensitive thing for me," he told dot.LA. "Twelve years later it's still haunting."</p><p>With the coronavirus indefinitely shutting down production and threatening to erode disposable incomes, Bergquist's comeback may be just in time to help Tinseltown recover from a looming downfall of its own.<br/></p><h2>Introducing Corto</h2><p>
Even in normal times, says Bergquist, Hollywood faces challenges. With front-loaded costs and lengthy investment timelines, it's an inherently risky industry. And Hollywood's customers have unique expertise in the products they consume.
</p><p>
"Cars and yogurt don't deal with car and yogurt experts," he said. "Media sells to customers who are extremely experienced and knowledgeable about the product of media."
</p><p>
Taking a page out of philosopher Yuval Noah Harari's book, Bergquist waxes poetic on the idea that religion, nationality, and modern economies all rely on collective buy-in to stories.
</p><p>
"They're the most important objects in human civilization," he said. "They're the reason we have a society."
</p><p>
Put that way, it's no wonder that people crave stories; and that many seek to profit from satisfying that craving. Indeed, as technology has progressed, the variety and volume of content platforms and stories at our fingertips has exploded.
</p><p>
Where Corto comes in, is to help storytellers–and story sellers–meet that demand and stand out against that competition.</p><p>
The end goal, according to Bergquist: "Better understand what resonates with whom, and why."
</p><p>
Modern medicine offers a useful analogy. Previously, Bergquist explains, doctors made diagnoses with little information.
</p><p>
"Say you (were to) walk into my office. You seem to have a fever, your tongue is white. Those generally are associated with cold or bronchitis. So there's your diagnosis."
</p><p>
Compare that to modern healthcare, which empowers physicians to collect far more sophisticated and useful information. And soon enough, pundits forecast a new era of medicine, where tech-enabled lifestyle data merge with a patient's medical history, genetics, and more to provide the granular insights needed for personalized healthcare.
</p><p>
"It's the same thing for entertainment," said Bergquist.
</p><p>
So how does Corto aspire to bring about a new era of stories?
</p><h2>The What: Content Genomics</h2><p>
Essential to Corto is its database of stories that it has thoroughly analyzed using several AI techniques. Like a submarine, Corto probes the depths of a story at a level and speed that a human brain cannot, and extracts the extent to which the story contains certain features, including dozens of "emotional tonalities" like melancholy, power, and generosity. Soon, Bergquist says, Corto will be able to extract additional deep features, like those related to specific characters and the story's structure.
</p><p>
For now, Corto's value starts with what it can tell a user about a script that's not in its database.
</p><p>
Bergquist showed dot.LA how it works, using <em>Ad Astra </em>as an example. He expressed that the interface, while functional — and actively used by a "major studio" for the past several months — is in early form, and that the feature set is still just about "5% of the vision."
</p><p>
When a user uploads a script, Corto takes about five seconds to "parse" the document. Then, like a doctor receiving a patient's genetic readout, new doors suddenly open.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjE3Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODAzNDQ3N30.EWRq4ETIvUhwNOxp22NEdjNYpi_K-WznUh2nMgNKnwU/image.png?width=980" id="a88e2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7f13ad140cc1f0500d9c2533c6f0b71b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Corto has parsed the script, in this case Ad Astra</small>
</p><p>
Typing "emotion for AD ASTRA" in the command bar brings up a table of dozens of those emotional tonalities, each with a score from 0-100. Anything in the 25-75 range is a weak signal, Bergquist explained, meaning that particular emotion is not especially prominent in the script. Scores below 25 suggest a notable absence of the given emotion, while those above 75 indicate a strong presence.<br/>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjE3Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjc0OTM3OH0.2ziwWNQKNU_X3Qfn5mR4QwLict7a6vZWpvCOMBXrZko/image.png?width=980" id="fb066" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fb39b9883629728a4255323e2fc9e2e1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Corto emotional tonality output</small>
</p><p>
The command "comps for AD ASTRA" yields a list of titles from the Corto database that are similar to the given title based on the deep features that Corto has unearthed. The lower a title's "distance" from another, the more similar they are. "Comp emotion" breaks down these comparisons across each of the dozens of emotional tonalities. Search results can be filtered, such as by type (movie, TV episode, etc.), release year, or country.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjE4NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDI3NDA1NX0.CRZ9PNn8y7IPTvkCm5_SVZtp_tSgGEfw182g-CPwYNA/image.png?width=980" id="d44eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cec5a5d227cc96cec466631dbb530d5f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Comps for Ad Astra</small>
</p><p>
<br/>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjE4NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODI5OTM2OH0.KktyszfQ0SQcPDaOrFpMGQiWq7wJemRN7bQTH5N5QNs/image.png?width=980" id="6b14a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="98f7c4bb5555663f6baee112d7454cca" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Ad Astra comps across emotional tonalities</small>
</p><p>
Importantly, these results can reveal unexpected similarities. The comparable titles that Corto yielded for a test user's spy procedural show, for instance, surprisingly included several Sci-Fi titles, said Bergquist.<br/>
</p><p>
"Suddenly," he said, "there's a whole new audience that they could potentially market this to."
</p><p>
In the future — later this year, according to Bergquist — Corto will add visual analysis to its text parsing. On top of exploring a script's depths, it will also be able to extract insights from video.
</p><p>
"We want to create a tool," Bergquist explained, "that essentially understands how specific human emotions or narrative structures are expressed visually and from a sensory perspective."
</p><p>
It would function similarly to what Corto currently does with scripts, except it would turn audiovisual footage, rather than text, into data and insights.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjE4My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTAwNDQyNH0.i5dnWUA2FdEG6HlwC3tN8__JoRNP_LF1dPKXJWoDxqk/image.png?width=980" id="be421" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9f65c18bf9efcbe9b429c2a35a62cf30" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Parsing video footage</small>
</p><p>
Encoding and labeling the various elements of video would also theoretically increase pre- and post-production efficiency. For example, explained Bergquist, a film editor could say, "'Show me all the times when a female character was smoking a cigarette in the rain' — things like that. You cannot search content like that currently."<br/>
</p><p>
And the content comparisons this would enable–based on attributes that do not exist in a script–would also help to improve recommendation algorithms, which Bergquist describes as the "big kahuna" for Corto's content analysis.
</p><p>
Whether the purpose is to identify just the right title for someone to watch next, or to successfully execute a finely targeted marketing campaign based on a title's comparables, one needs insight not just about the content, but also the audience.
</p><h2>The Who: Audience Genomics</h2><p>
"It's not just, 'okay, people liked Avengers, so they'll probably like this'," Bergquist said. "It's 'why did they like it? What did they like about it? Who liked which attributes?'"
</p><p>
To find these answers, Bergquist explained, Corto probes the wide world of social media.
</p><p>
By analyzing Tweets, Reddit posts and such that are related to a given title, and using analytical methods similar to those used for the content analysis, Corto "can derive positive or negative sentiment for a title based on attributes like the acting, the cast, the director, visual elements, emotional tonalities, the music, the plot and more."
</p><p>
Using a method called knowledge representation to pair this granular data with broader datasets like census data and voting behavior can provide a detailed picture of who these groups are, and where to find them.</p><p>"If you give us a script we'll give you all the zip codes where each narrative domain and/or character will resonate the most," Bergquist said.</p><p>
What's more, Corto layers in network analysis, so that on top of knowing what resonates with whom, and where they are, it also shows how sentiment travels from one group to another. Particularly useful is the identification of "swayable" communities–those whom Corto believes are not yet fans of a given title, but could be converted. Armed with the knowledge of what titles and attributes have historically resonated with such a group, "these are the communities that you can target as a marketer."
</p><p>
"Since we have content analysis integrated directly with audience analysis," Bergquist summarizes, "we can run your script, get a list of comparables, then immediately give you deep insights on the size and type of audience for your script, directly based on millions of social media conversations across all the places where people talk about media."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjMxMi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzY5MzczMH0.BlsWm-hP_FEXatFneotFLlGWa4EyfaCpcvNqkgNDwMo/image.png?width=980" id="40e33" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a619eb4cc9aa54e95793bd2c4c85d383" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
</p><p><br/></p><h2>Helping Hollywood</h2><p>Though Bergquist shared plenty with dot.LA, he showed a practiced guardedness when asked about specific customers and pricing. </p><p>
"I would love to tell you everything," he said, "but I would get sued into oblivion if this stuff was identified. Working with Hollywood is like working for the CIA."
</p><p>
He did share, however, that two studios have currently licensed Corto, with a third set to sign up soon. He declined to provide pricing information.
</p><p>
Corto is not the only AI-for-storytelling game in town. Cinelytic, also L.A.-based, uses AI for film analytics and project management. The firm, founded in 2013, recently inked a deal with Warner Bros. And StoryFit, which is headquartered in Austin but does most of its business in Los Angeles, has found some success licensing its tools which, like Corto, include elements of natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis to analyze scripts.</p><p>
"Marketing is frequently our first stop when we're introduced to a studio, because they're used to using data," StoryFit Chief Executive Monica Landers told dot.LA. "But we're really a better fit during development."
</p><p>
This often entails helping creatives avoid what Landers calls "red flags."
</p><p>
"You may want a character to be intelligent," she explains as an example, "but our analysis will show that she's actually speaking less intelligently than other characters. Or we can surface that your script is too flat. Or that the balance of dialogue and action is off."
</p><p>
StoryFit does a variety of projects, ranging from focusing on one script to a broader landscape analysis. Landers says customers include large and mid-size studios, and networks.
</p><p>
"Annual subscriptions range for most studios from $5,000 - $40,000 a month," she said.</p><p>
"We've taken a radically different approach," claimed Bergquist. "As a result, we're able to output much deeper insights from a much wider dataset."
</p><h2>AI Skepticism</h2><p>
"My feeling about using NLP on scripts, is there's just so many places that can go wrong," said Brian Dolan, who formerly managed NLP analytics as director of research at MySpace and with the CIA, and is now Chief Executive of LA-based AI venture accelerator Verdant.ai.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjMwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODI0MjI1NH0.WQ8Gc4lBwmdTGowQqboYrDim26_zuINAqRfnPICI-k8/image.jpg?width=980" id="cae2a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="40571e6fae6373ea183a407777c11837" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
</p><p>
"I'm skeptical it'll hit two marks," he told dot.LA. "I don't think it'll get to the sophistication where it can (predict performance), and more importantly, I'm not sure it can reach a level of sophistication where it can be tested – how do we know where it's making a mistake?"<br/>
</p><p>
"That's on top of whether machines should (even) be trying to analyze content," Dolan continued. "Aren't we humans making stories for other humans? Who benefits? The finance department – not the audience."
</p><p>
"Look, this isn't a silver bullet," retorts Bergquist. "And it's going to be a long time until it is. What this is, is a set of powerful tools to give development and marketing executives a lot more context and data than was previously available."
</p><p>
"Tens of billions of dollars are being spent every year making and marketing media content," he wrote. "If we can optimize even 5% of that – and it's likely we could do even more, from what our initial tests tell us – that's an enormous amount of money."
</p><p>Neither CEO denied that what they are aiming to do is hard. And they both recognize that appealing to the community that will ultimately use these tools is crucial. To that end, each emphasized that what they seek to do is not replace people and processes, but augment them. Bergquist points out that Corto has the advantage of having been developed with a high degree of Hollywood input through ETC members, which include most major studios.<br/></p><p>
In the future, Bergquist believes Corto can reach the sophistication that's needed to make predictions about a story's bottom line. For now, he is taking it slow.
</p><p>
"The last thing the AI field needs is more buzz."
</p><p>
Knowing full well what can happen when a story gets out of hand, Bergquist appears to be ratcheting up the caution in his personal comeback sequel.
</p><p>
"What bit me in the ass in my last career is I created a story that was false," he reflected.
</p><p>
Time will tell how his story this time around lands with his own target audience.
</p><p>---</p><p><em>Sam Blake covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Find him on Twitter @hisamblake and email him at samblake@dot.LA</em></p>
From Your Site Articles
- Corto Aims to Bring AI to Hollywood Script Writing - dot.LA ›
- artificial-intelligence - dot.LA ›
- hollywood - dot.LA ›
- Los Angeles' Tech and Startup Scene is Growing. - dot.LA ›
- ai - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read more
Show less