Google’s PC Police Algorithm

Toxic_WordsThe PC police are expanding watch over the Internet. No longer will you have true freedom of speech, as Google and other search engines are working to block your toxic words from being published.

I tested Google’s new algorithm to see if my word choices would be blocked. Here is a sentence I wrote that was 2% likely to be perceived as toxic.

“Those who accept media bias without consideration find themselves following unhealthy trends.”

I then decided to make the comment more opinionated to grab the attention of the reader and found my words were 97% likely to be perceived as toxic.

“Those who accept media bias without consideration find themselves following idiots.”

Here is the winning version of my statement that was 0% likely to be perceived as toxic.

“Those who accept media bias without consideration find themselves following trends.”

I next tried a few religious comments. The following statement was 34% likely to be perceived as toxic.

“Shows about Jews should be banded from the media.”

After correcting the word “banded” to “band” the statement was 18% likely to be perceived as toxic.

“Shows about Jews should be band from the media.”

I then switched out the word “Jews” to “Muslim” and then “Christian,” which dropped the likeliness of the statement to be perceived as toxic to 1% for each.

It was apparent that the algorithm used was based on machine learning, which draws from biased news sources. The more sources stating that certain words are toxic, the greater the bias being policed becomes.

In other words, if you fill the Internet with documents, stories and news briefs stating how hateful the word “gismo” is, you’ll actually shift the algorithm to determine that the use of the word is toxic.

While its unlikely a group of caring people will produce 20 million articles using the word “gismo” as a hate word to change algorithm results, some might consider sidelining their competition by turning their important phrases into hate words.

I think we’re at a turning point and need to leave ethical and moral decisions to man, not machines. Then again, can you really trust them?

© 2017 by CJ Powers

New Fan Based Studio to Launch

Have you ever wondered how much crazier our culture can get? Did you ever ask yourself who can make a difference and turn our society right side up? Well, in a short time you will be able to do something specific to make a difference. That’s right, you.

With your help, Maverick 7 Studios will launch this month. Maverick 7 Studios is a fan based film and television company that produces movies and shows to counter trends in the seven areas of culture: Arts & Entertainment, Media, Education, Business, Family, Government, and Religion.

Maverick 7 Studios will launch a new regulated crowdfunding offer to unaccredited fans up to $1MM plus an A+ regulation offering to accredited investors. The total goal is to raise $50MM in funding for the new studio, a part of which you can own.

The first titles headed into development are all redemptive stories. In redemptive movies the protagonist lives in error or evil and takes action to improve his life, but falls short until someone shows grace and saves or redeems his life for the good.

Based on current negotiations, the following titles are in development to be produced:

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Based on the best selling Christmas book by MaryAnn Diorio,

Jody Pettit O’Dair ran away to experience a life of adventure and excitement, but since her departure, she was abandoned by her husband, lost her job, and struggled to keep her two children respectable. Seven years after she last spoke to her mother, Jody dreams about her past family Christmases and decides to head home with the hopes that she’ll be welcome.

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In association with Powers Productions.

Maverick Detective Cassie Steele battles PTSD memory loss, while fighting to keep her cover intact. Her plans to bring down the drug kingpin get side tracked as she spends extra time with Diaz, blurring the lines between justice and her growing love for him.

Realizing her precarious situation, Cassie sees to her son’s safety and works hard to regain her memory from the night of the opera house fire—the night Diaz lost his first love and started his killing spree with all involved in the death of his “Carmen.”

Racing against the clock, Cassie tries to find balance between her motherly duties, her infiltration as the kingpin’s girl, and her role as the officer tasked to close the case. Cassie is forced to face her fears in discovering the missing piece of her memory that will bring Diaz down.

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In association with Midst Entertainment.

Eric Stafford, a renegade law student whose life is not his own, struggles to break free from his father’s plans. After his father gets a mobster boss exonerated on a technicality, Eric begs him to seek justice and restore the family name. When Eric learns that he’s next in line to work for the mobster, he selects a 2,000-year-old debate for his mock trial with the hope that it will break him free from a future of supporting injustice. As the case unfolds, Eric learns that the greatest injustice in history has a life giving power that he’s never known.

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In association with Powers Productions.

Take a group of spirited kids… put them in charge of a streaming web-based television station in a resort with visiting guest stars… and you’ve got intergenerational antics galore!

KIDS-TV offers lots of laughs as the kids and their special guests learn they have more in common than they think.

In the pilot episode, new crewmember Carolyn Morris suffers from a terrible identity crisis. Stacey, the station manager, mistakes Carolyn for someone else, and puts her in an embarrassing situation – during a live broadcast. With a little help from her new friends, Carolyn manages to show her real stuff – through a dazzling animated/live-action musical production number, the likes of which Stacey has never seen.

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From Best Selling Authors Peter Marshal and David Manuel.

The Admiral: A Voyage of the Soul” focuses on Christopher Columbus, a complex man driven by two opposing forces: missionary zeal and a growing desire for money, position and power.

In his personal journals, Columbus reveals the inner passion which compelled him to sail west – a divine call on his life to, in his own words, “bear the light of Christ” to peoples of undiscovered lands. The Admiral explores the inner drive which sustained Columbus through years of frustration and disappointment, and how once he had discovered the New World and its gold, the purity of his motivation became corrupted with the great seductions of the world – money, position and power. The irony is as tragic as it is obvious: Columbus abused and enslaved the very people he had set out to convert.

As an old man, the Admiral looks back with regret on all the suffering he has inadvertently caused. Painfully he acknowledges his diversion from his calling and returns to the conviction of earlier years, where he finds peace.

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In association with Powers Productions.

Pastor Paul Ryann breaks his promise to his wife when a junior high kid’s bad choice prompts him to intercede. Returning home two hours late, his wife sends him on their anniversary trip to Israel alone, in hopes of him learning how to respect her.

During his flight, Paul meets two traveling companions. Together, they tour Old Jerusalem and stumble upon two men assaulting a woman. The men notice Paul capturing the incident with his camera and chase after them. They dodge in and out of crowds and alleys until they duck into an old dark shack where the floor gives way and plunges them down into an ancient stone well.

As the water rises, Paul, in true “Indiana Jones” style leads the three to safety. When they emerge, they find themselves thrust back in time—33 A.D. during the triumphal entry of Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem.

During the week leading to his crucifixion, the three are loved by the Master and forced to face their deepest internal pain. In return, Paul struggles with the decision of saving Jesus from his harsh death and making sure it happens.

 

Additional Projects in Association with Powers Productions.

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Grandma’s Attic

This spectacular holiday musical is about three kids who are told to go into grandma’s attic and find one thing that reminds them of her before the contractor who swindled the property bulldozes the house down.

Filled with new songs of fond memories, Grandma’s Attic is bursting with comedy, the hunt for grandma’s hidden secret that’s sure to save the house, and a patriotic finale that puts the contractor in his place.

Space Academy

High school students living in a space station in geosynchronous orbit, use a space elevator to return to earth for history class in their school’s holographic simulator. During each class the students “relive” history as they walk among historic figures who made a significant difference during their lifetime.

JC Agents

A group of teens go undercover using high technology to perform random acts of kindness throughout their community. This series features missions that kids can do at home and thrilling adventures using tomorrow’s technology.

Adventure at Thunder Falls

Thirteen-year-old Kit Calloway has trouble trusting God after the death of her little brother. When an ill-fated camping trip with her family and friends places her in life threatening danger, she must risk trusting God again.

My Professor’s Study

The professor’s study is an imaginative and safe place where kids can explore their own character traits and make right choices in developing additional skills on their own.

Wonder Worm

Animated children’s series about a mild-mannered worm who fights for truth, justice and Biblical morals.

Crucible of Freedom

The true story of George Washington based on the best selling book The Light and the Glory.

Esther: The Musical

Pageantry, intrigue and treachery based on the biblical book of Esther.

 

© 2017 Powers Productions, Inc.

Directors Pull in Summer Audiences

popcorn-movie-party-entertainmentDecades ago the major studios drew audiences to the silver screen with big extravagant pictures. A few decades later movie stars became the biggest drawing card to pack out film houses. But recently we’ve seen a shift to a new role that is drawing in millions to the box office—the director.

The audience is no longer willing to sit through a star driven movie just because their favorite actor plays a role in the film. Over the past few years, films that had Bruce Willis in its trailer or on the one sheet poster disappointed many. Why? Because the films weren’t really Bruce Willis type films. He was just in the movies for a paycheck.

This summer we saw a lot of film actors fail to deliver audiences to theaters like Scarlett Johansson’s Ghost in the Shell and Rough Night, Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, Charlie Hunnam’s King Arthur, and Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

But it was the directors that brought the solid draw as social media buzz surrounded the filmmakers, not the stars. The successful films used lesser-known actors in leading roles under the guidance of strongly directed vision. The box office successes included Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman.

Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group told Variety, “To be theatrical, you need to be distinctive now. That’s what Spider-Man and Baby Driver have in common. Even though they are as different as night and day, the audience can feel both are distinctive, and so theater-worthy.”

Director Alex Kendrick, of the faith-based Kendrick Brothers, has carved out a niche for himself that draws in enough audience to generate about $60MM every time he releases a film. While Sony has rarely understood how he does it, they have acknowledged his distinctive films. In fact, there have been many who have tried to follow in Alex and Stephen’s footsteps, but all have failed to replicate their distinctive style.

One of the reasons I study a lot of film is to make sure I create something that hasn’t been done before. A director’s style coupled with his writer, DP and Production Designer choice makes for a uniqueness that is seldom replicated. The heart and soul of his vision must come through in order to create a successful title that will storm the box office.

There will never be another Christopher Nolan or Alex Kendrick, no matter how often a budding filmmaker suggests he offers a similar style.

I’ll never forget listening to an interview with Phil Vischer, of Veggie Tales fame, before he became famous. In the interview he was likened to Walt Disney, which surprised me since I was familiar with both artists. The two were highly creative and did the voices for their primary animated characters, but their styles and audiences were very different.

The thing I remember most about the interview was how quickly Phil’s distinctive style was getting lost behind the Disney name. Don Bluth, known for The Secret of NIMH, had the same problem differentiating himself from Disney. It takes a strong director to carve out a niche for his own style that is memorable and draws an audience to the box office.

So who’s your favorite director?

© 2017 by CJ Powers