In bringing esports to the big screen, IMAX President Megan Colligan said the company is trying to find new ways to make the most of movie theaters at times when ticket sales generally lag. The idea is to bring people together in "hyperlocal" ways, she told Cheddar at CES in Las Vegas Friday.
IMAX and Vindex Studios announced a partnership to bring live streaming esports events and experiences to theaters around the world. The esports infrastructure startup will create those experiences, which IMAX will exclusively stream and host for global viewers.
"As much as movies drive an incredible business for us, there are times when our theaters aren't as utilized as they should be," she said. Before esports, IMAX, which experienced its biggest year at the box office in 2019, had been experimenting with music content, creating a 'Jesus is King' exclusive film to coincide with the release of Kanye West's October 2019 album. The film features West performing at the remote "Roden Crater," a James Turell exhibit in a dormant volcano that would not be easily accessible to many people.
Despite the buzz, Colligan called the moment "fleeting" due to the film's intentionally short run..
"We didn't have 20 shows a day of it," everyday Colligan said. "It was a needle drop that came out with his album."
The experience was just an example of what she calls the "super-intimate, super-realized experience," that IMAX offers, which makes a viewer feel like they're in the same room as their favorite artist or watching a game in a new way.
She said IMAX is trying to bridge the experience of attending an event live and giving instant access to events online.
"People want to be part of an event and they want to be in the room when something happens. It doesn't need to exist all the time, everywhere," Colligan said. "It ruins the specialness of things when accessibility of something is available to you on your phone and it's not an event you were a part of."
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
