Crypto industry executives are combing through US President Donald Trump’s National Cyber Strategy after it was released on Friday, searching for hints about what it could signal for government support of the crypto industry.
“Crypto and blockchain are explicitly named as technologies to be ‘protected and secured.’ This is a first for any US cybersecurity strategy,” Galaxy Digital’s head of firmwide research Alex Thorn said in an X post on Friday.
Crypto and blockchain were mentioned once in the six-page report:
“We will build secure technologies and supply chains that protect user privacy from design to deployment, including supporting the security of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.”
However, industry executives have also been interpreting other parts of the document to see how they relate to crypto.
Source: Mark Chadwick
Thorn pointed to a section pledging to “uproot criminal infrastructure and deny financial exit and safe haven.” “This language could easily justify crackdowns on mixers, privacy coins, and unregulated off-ramps,” he said.
Bitcoin VC points out that quantum has been taken “seriously”
Castle Island Ventures founder Nic Carter, who has been vocal about the threat of quantum computing to Bitcoin (BTC) in recent times, pointed to the section saying the government “will accelerate the modernization, defensibility, and resilience of federal information systems by implementing cybersecurity best practices, post-quantum cryptography, zero-trust architecture, and cloud transition.”
“Sure seems like they’re taking quantum seriously. Nothing to worry about, I’m sure,” Carter said in an X post.
It comes as the crypto industry continues to debate about how close quantum computing is to being a serious threat to Bitcoin. On Feb. 15, Carter said that major Bitcoin-holding institutions may eventually lose patience with Bitcoin developers for not addressing quantum computing concerns quickly enough.
Trump points to the next generation as a priority
Trump said that the National Cyber Security outlines his priorities for “ensuring that America remains unrivaled in cyberspace.” Artificial intelligence was a key focus of the report.
“We will secure the AI technology stack—including our data centers—and promote innovation in AI security,” it said.
Trump also emphasized the importance of recruiting the next generation of workers in the cyber workforce to “design and deploy exquisite cyber technologies and solutions.”
The US typically releases a national cybersecurity strategy every administration, outlining the government’s priorities for emerging technologies.
The use of compost from human bodies on public parkland has a Central California conservation group facing criticism.
The soil has been used at Sumner Peck Ranch, a 76-acre site north of Fresno overseen by the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust. Its calendar lists events including school field trips and u-pick citrus and blueberry seasons.
The human compost has put the trust at odds with the San Joaquin River Conservancy, a group with which it has partnered in the past.
The conservancy’s chairperson, Kasey Austin-Tibbets, and Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who’s on the group’s board, were among officials who held a news conference Thursday, March 5, in Fresno to decry the use of the compost, the Fresno Bee reported.
Bredefeld called the action illegal, without specifying what regulation he believes it violates, and implied it is environmentally harmful.
Sharon Weaver, executive director of the trust that oversees Sumner Peck, told the Bee her group believes the practice and the partnership with Earth Funerals is environmentally beneficial. “It’s very disappointing that they are trying to suggest that we’re doing something harmful to the river,” she said.
Weaver said the compost has been used since last year in a field that is away from the river and from agricultural areas.
The soil material is obtained from Earth Funerals, a company that, as an alternative to burial or cremation, converts human remains into what it calls “a nutrient-rich soil that is ready to be returned to nature.”
Families of clients whose bodies are composted can claim some or all of the resulting soil; what is left is used in the company’s two conservation projects, at the San Joaquin River site and on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
At Thursday’s press conference, Bredefeld implied the practice runs afoul of Assembly Bill 351, under which “natural organic reduction” will become legal and regulated in California in 2027. Earth Funeral’s website states that clients in states where natural organic reduction is not yet a sanctioned option can still legally use the company’s facilities, in Washington and Nevada.
Sumner Peck Ranch was acquired by the River Parkway Trust in 2020. The winemaker Solitary Cellars leases the buildings on the land, which are used for wine-tasting, live music and wedding facilities.
City staff have concluded the Vancouver Charter does not allow Bitcoin in city reserves.
The motion followed a late 2024 decree by Mayor Ken Sim to study crypto use.
Municipal finance rules keep assets like Bitcoin outside treasuries, Decrypt was told.
Vancouver staff have recommended closing a council motion that explored whether the city could become “Bitcoin-friendly,” after determining that its rules don’t allow the crypto to be held as a municipal reserve asset.
The recommendation appears in a report to the council reviewing outstanding member motions, where staff said they had “conclusively determined” that Bitcoin is not “an allowable investment asset,” recommending the motion be closed as part of a broader reprioritization of staff resources and efforts.
Staff cited the Vancouver Charter, the provincial law that governs how the city operates, including how municipal funds can be invested, which does not permit the city to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset, limiting Vancouver’s ability to pursue the proposal.
The motion’s sole opponent on council, Pete Fry, told local media he assumed the proposal had already been shelved and was surprised to see it referenced in the report.
“I already thought it was dead in the water,” he said. “It was probably good closure to have it mentioned in here, but I don’t even know that it was entirely necessary.”
The recommendation comes more than a year after Vancouver council initially backed a motion from Mayor Ken Sim directing staff to study whether the city could become a “Bitcoin-friendly city.”
At the time, the proposal asked officials to examine accepting taxes and fees in crypto, and the possibility of converting part of the city’s financial reserves into Bitcoin.
But the proposal had faced legal limits right off the start.
The British Columbia Ministry of Municipal Affairs said at the time that municipalities cannot hold financial reserves in crypto under provincial rules, adding in a statement that the intent of the legislation “is that local government funds are not exposed to undue risk.”
“The legal and treasury-related barriers were reportedly already understood from the outset, so the decision to end the process does not come as a real surprise” Kevin Lee, chief business officer at crypto exchange Gate, told Decrypt.
In Vancouver’s case, the initial prospects “appeared to reflect Mayor Ken Sim’s personal pro-Bitcoin vision as much as a practical municipal finance initiative,” Lee added.
Back then, Mayor Ken Sim defended the proposal, saying Bitcoin had been the top-performing asset “over the past 16 years,” arguing it should at least be considered as part of a diversified portfolio.
Decrypt has reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.
Constraints and upsides
The outcome also reflects limitations in how municipalities operate financially.
“Demand for Bitcoin isn’t the constraint, public balance sheet mandates are,” Dominick John, analyst at quantitative research firm Zeus Research, told Decrypt.
Municipal treasuries are “structured for capital preservation, which keeps assets like Bitcoin outside the reserve toolkit,” he said. “Until legislation, accounting treatment, and custody frameworks evolve, cities like Vancouver will remain stuck at the study.”
When asked whether this could set a precedent for other cities, John said it’s likely the same idea would be explored elsewhere, though most proposals “will die at feasibility.”
This could happen “only if local leaders believe there is political, branding, or ideological value in being seen as pro-crypto or pro-innovation,” Gate’s Lee said.
That value, as in Vancouver’s case, is not guaranteed, he said. “Once the political upside is weak, most of these initiatives are likely to stall at the feasibility stage.”
Still, crypto remains used far more as an investment than for payments, Gate’s Lee explained.
“Government payment options usually follow private sector behavior rather than lead it,” he noted. “If crypto becomes widely used for everyday payments across retail, e-commerce, and services, then accepting it for taxes or municipal fees will be the natural extension.”
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Cracks in the global private credit market are rattling investors, raising concerns the stress could spill into crypto markets.
Bloomberg reported Friday that BlackRock’s $26 billion private credit fund has begun limiting withdrawals amid rising redemption requests. The move follows similar stress at Blue Owl, which sold $1.4 billion in loans last month to meet withdrawals and reportedly has exposure to a collapsed U.K. property lender.
Shares of major asset managers including BlackRock (BLK), Apollo Global Management (APO), Ares Management (ARES) and KKR slid 4%-6% Friday, extending their 2026 rout.
Read more: Blue Owl liquidity crisis has investors bracing for 2008-style fallout
If redemption pressure forces private credit funds to unwind positions, it could trigger broader deleveraging across asset classes that could ripple through digital assets including bitcoin BTC$67,962.60, Andreja Cobeljic, head of derivatives trading at Swiss crypto bank AMINA Bank warned in an emailed note.
Credit stress meets energy shock
U.S. banks extended nearly $300 billion in loans to private credit providers as of mid-2025 and another $285 billion to private equity funds, Cobeljic wrote, carrying risks that credit woes could extend to the banking sector
“In isolation this would be manageable,” he said. “But emerging in the middle of a broader global deleveraging event, alongside an energy shock and collapsing rate-cut expectations, it is a different conversation.”
“For risk assets, including crypto, a disorderly unwind here would represent a significant second-order shock that current pricing does not reflect,” he said.
Contagion to tokenized asset markets
A second channel of credit risk could surface directly on blockchain rails.
Tokenized private credit products — loans and funds packaged and issued on public blockchains as tokens — have grown quickly as part of the broader real-world asset (RWA) trend. According to data from rwa.xyz, the on-chain private credit market now stands at just under $5 billion. That remains tiny compared with the roughly $3.5 trillion global private credit market in 2025, estimated by the Alternative Credit Council.
But the growing presence of these assets inside decentralized finance (DeFi) means stress in the underlying loans could ripple directly to crypto markets.
“Institutions are entering crypto, but often with products that even degens and DeFi natives don’t fully grasp,” said Teddy Pornprinya, co-founder of real-world asset protocol Plume.
Real-world credit products can carry complex risks that are not always obvious to crypto investors, he said, including volatile net asset value swings and headline yields that don’t fully reflect fees or credit risk.
A recent episode shows how off-chain credit stress can spill into DeFi.
According to a report by risk advisory firm Chaos Labs, the 2025 bankruptcy of auto-parts supplier First Brands Group affected a private credit strategy run by Fasanara Capital. A tokenized version of the strategy, mF-ONE, had been issued on the Midas RWA platform and used as collateral for borrowing on the Morpho protocol.
When the underlying fund marked down exposure tied to the bankruptcy, the token’s net asset value slipped about 2%, pushing highly leveraged borrowers close to liquidation and tightening liquidity on the platform. Lenders ultimately avoided losses, but the episode highlighted how tokenized private credit used as DeFi collateral can transmit traditional credit stress into on-chain markets.
Renowned macro investors Anthony Scaramucci and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz discussed the current state of the cryptocurrency market, allegations of manipulation, and future expectations in their latest broadcast.
Amidst geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, markets are giving signals that “the worst may be over” for Bitcoin.
Mike Novogratz displayed cautious optimism when evaluating Bitcoin’s recent price movements. Novogratz stated that he views the $60,000 level as a “tradable bottom.” He noted that sellers are showing signs of fatigue in the market and argued that after testing this level several times, Bitcoin is beginning to encounter upward resistance. However, he emphasized that for a real sense of relief in the market, the price needs to break above the $80,000 barrier.
One of the most striking points in the news article was the “Jane Street” case, which caused a major stir in the crypto community. According to claims circulating on the crypto Twitter (X) world, Jane Street allegedly implemented a systematic selling program during the 2022 Terra (LUNA) crash, thereby driving down the price of Bitcoin.
While Novogratz acknowledged that such giant financial institutions surpass even traditional giants like Goldman Sachs in terms of speed and resources, he noted that attributing the decline in Bitcoin entirely to such “scapegoats” might not be accurate. He stated that liquidity providers in the market are making enormous profits, but this isn’t always positive for society or market health.
Novogratz noted that there is a strong stance against Ethereum falling below the $1,800 level, and reminded that crypto hedge funds are currently in a short position. He predicts that if the price of BTC suddenly rises to $80,000 or $100,000, these funds may be forced to buy again due to fear of missing out (FOMO), which could create upward momentum.
S.C. man stops to buy a drink, wins $200,000 lottery prize
Feb. 5 (UPI) — A South Carolina man made a stop to quench his thirst and ended up buying a scratch-off lottery ticket that earned him a $200,000 windfall.
Throughout his years of development, Connor Hines was concerned that nobody was even going to notice his passion project. Then, last summer, test shots of stars Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. and Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette became an Instagram lightning rod, and he realized that attention wasn’t going to be an issue.
Over its first six episodes, FX’s Love Story has captivated and divided viewers — with debates about historical accuracy, the treatment certain still-living figures have received and, still, the clothing. As a first-time showrunner who’d been fascinated by Bessette and Kennedy long before Ryan Murphy announced plans for their TV treatment, he seems to still be processing his show’s outsized role at the watercooler. “I put it on my bucket list and assumed that I would not be able to write it until much later in my career,” says Hines. “When it was announced that Ryan was doing this new anthology, I pursued the job as I’ve never pursued anything in my life.”
I was obsessed with The Crown and the fact that we don’t have anyone equivalent in the U.S, really, except for the Kennedys — in terms of a dynasty that’s known the world over. I went down a rabbit hole, starting with Joe Kennedy, working my way through the generations. For a while I thought I was going to write something dating back to the beginning of the family. There’s no shortage of stories and trials and tribulations. But reaching John and Carolyn’s generation, specifically their story, I remember texting my manager at the time. I couldn’t believe nobody had done a limited series about the two of them. I put it on my bucket list, assumed that I would not be able to write it until much later in my career. When it was announced that Ryan Murphy was doing this new anthology, I pursued the job. I’ve never pursued anything in my life.
I’d imagine that people haven’t done it before because there’s a certain amount of fear in tackling such a sensitive subject…
Yeah, but I was so struck by the disconnect between the narrative that surrounded their marriage at the time — especially Carolyn — and the woman that her friends described as being this incredibly fun, loving, vivacious woman. Of course, you see a myriad photos of her and she looks quite withdrawn or frightened or shut down. I just thought, “Oh, I want to know who the woman was that nobody got to see, who the woman was before she met JFK Jr.” She had a very storied career at Calvin Klein, starting with folding sweaters at the mall in Boston to being one of his most trusted advisors in the C-suite.
What was your awareness of them growing up?
I grew up right outside of New York City. My dad commuted in every day, so he’d always bring home a copy of the New York Post. I have all of these memories of seeing their photos everywhere. I specifically remember, in Page Six, they always bold the celebrity names. It was constantly their names and images. And I come from two very large Irish Catholic families outside of Boston, so I was already familiar with the Kennedys. My grandmother basically had a shrine to the President and Jackie…
Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr., Naomi Watts as Jackie Kennedy Onassis in Love Story.
Eric Liebowitz/FX
Oh, the Kennedy obsession is very real in Irish American families.
One-hundred percent. He was our first Catholic president, which meant a lot to that community. It meant a lot to my grandparents. [Jackie] was just a rockstar in her own. I don’t think people really give her enough credit for the role she played in the Camelot of it all. She specifically crafted that narrative as, I think, a service to her husband. She was so much more savvy than I think people realized. People think of Jackie Kennedy and they think grace, poise and style. But, and I say this in a positive way, she was a very calculated, savvy person. A political operative.
A lot has been said about your decision not to interview anyone in the family, which operates under this rather hilarious assumption that any of them would talk to you.
Correct. In what world would they want to be like, “Yeah, let’s sit down and kiki!” Obviously, the family has been apprehensive about the show — which I understand. But it’s not like I was screening their calls. I think it was understood from the very beginning that there would not be a collaboration between us. That’s best for everybody involved. You have to be as objective as possible when you tell a story. I know myself well enough that if I started developing personal relationships with members of the family, it would’ve absolutely clouded the way that I wrote the show.
This family still looms large in the American psyche, not just because one member is currently involved in decisions that a lot of us don’t agree with. There is a nod to RFK Jr. in one episode, it’s very subtle. But was there any temptation to have more fun with that?
We are already dealing with a sensitive subject matter as it is. I didn’t have much interest in inviting any more controversy or discussion. I thought that was something we should just steer clear of. Plus, I didn’t really to distract from what the show was about. Anything surrounding him would create headlines that I certainly didn’t want. We’re trying to celebrate different members of the family.
The majority of this show is scenes between two of them, John and Carolyn, in private. Talk to me about the process behind the artistic liberties that you take. These are scenarios in which we don’t know what was said, so what guardrails did you establish?
Basically, you do as much research as humanly possible. You nail down a timeline for each episode, and each episode has a milestone — whether it be a wedding or the engagement. You gather as much information about those periods of times, what their friends and family were saying about the state of their marriage. So much of the volatility was captured by the media, but the loving moments between them, the respect and admiration, they had for each other was not making news. Our job was to recreate that. You just had to have an understanding based off of everything you read about where they were in their journey emotionally, where Carolyn was in the journey with her fame and celebrity, where John was with his career, with George, with his family. Take all the variables that were surrounding them, you gain a sense of how they would be feeling about themselves and therefore towards each other. And then, with that, you take a creative liberty and extrapolate as best you can.
Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in Love Story.
Kurt Iswarienko/FX
But there was this huge kerfuffle, mostly sartorially, when that test shot came out last summer.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. (Laughs.) I haven’t heard about this. This is the first I’m hearing about the test shots.
So, what happened?
It was very preliminary. We were still playing around with the aesthetics for these characters. It wasn’t really anything more than that. Once they were released, I don’t think we anticipated everybody feeling as strongly as they did about the looks. More specifically, I think we just got a sense of how protective and, to some extent, obsessed people still were with the two of them. I’ve been living with this show for four years. I did not think anybody was going to care about it until it came out — and that’s the best case scenario. To have the internet create this massive dialogue surrounding their aesthetics before we even started shooting and have paparazzi show up week one, I was just sort of like, “Oh god, I can’t believe how much people still care about these two.” If anything, it gave me a hope that there was an audience that would be waiting for us when the show came out.
I was shocked at how large that, specifically, the Carolyn Bessette Kennedy fandom is. There are Instagram accounts devoted to her with like half a million followers. Were you aware of that when you decided on her as your point of entry?
I was aware there remains this evergreen presence in the fashion world. She’s a very unique. There are not many people that became as famous as she did that had no interest in fame. We’re so accustomed to people capitalizing on fame, monetizing fame. She was the antithesis of that. She wasn’t going to let you in. She did not give interviews. She did not pose on the cover of any magazines. She did not capitalize on it. If anything, she married him in spite of it. It only adds to the mystique of this woman that, on top of being classically stylish, we never really knew her.
And, despite all that, she remains this hugely famous figure.
But one of the more intriguing parts of telling this story is that she’s so memorialized as this one-dimensional fashion icon. There was just a giant life behind this person and an incredible career and friendships and relationships and a city that she loved and made her own. She was so much more. I appreciate the fact that her legacy has lived on, but she should be remembered for a lot more. This is a rare Ryan Murphy production in which he does not have a writing or directing credit. Knowing that, and knowing that this was something that he was very interested in, what did he tell you about how he envisioned this project?
He was very influential from the beginning. He just really responded to it, and our visions for the show really aligned. When I gave him the first couple scripts, he was very supportive and encouraging. I think he has a dedication to his audience and that our ability to entertain them is a privilege that shouldn’t be wasted. He just has his finger on the pulse in that he’s well aware that when people are watching a show, they could be turning the channel at any moment or picking up their phone. We have a responsibility to keep people engaged. And when it came to the style and the aesthetic of the show, that’s just Ryan. He’s an incredibly visual person. I was very much fixated on the emotional beats of the show. But when we would meet and talk, he sees everything so vividly in a way that I don’t. In that way, we complemented each other. Ss soon as I would give him pages, he knew exactly how he wanted it all to look.
This is a high-profile project that, in many ways, is introducing you as a writer. And it is a huge moment for your two leads, who were in no way household names going into this. How were they prepped for all of the attention that was going to be on them? On my drive in today, I passed five billboards, that I counted, bearing their images.
That’s certainly not me preparing them. (Laughs.) I have no idea what this must feel like [for them]. That’s more Ryan’s wheelhouse: preparing people for stardom. But I can’t tell you how many days I sat on set, watching the two of them and thinking, “Oh, they have no idea how much their life is going to change.” People are going to want to watch the two of them for a very long time. I’ve never had that experience — working with someone that you’re friends and then thinking, “Oh, these people are going to be superstars.” But they’re taking it all in stride. All they wanted was for people to feel that they did justice to John and Carolyn, because they knew it was a very high bar. And I think people are responding positively.
I was literally asking Uber drivers and people on the street if they wanted to read for John. In my mind, if we didn’t find this person, then this show that I’d spent three years working would not come to fruition. We weren’t just looking for somebody that looks like John, which is hard enough as it is. You have to find somebody who looks like they vacation on Cape Cod, launched a magazine, can command a room and hold court with dignitaries. And their mother is Jackie Kennedy. There were so many variables that an actor had to possess in addition to looking like him. But when he came into the room and people saw him in person, it was like, “Oh, this is what we had in mind.”
You were originally an actor before you started writing. What do you consider yourself at the moment?
I grew up doing theater. I studied at a conservatory in New York after college. Performing on stage was always my first love. But, as you know, you very quickly realize how hard it is showing up to auditions for student films — that you weren’t being paid for — with tyrannical 18-year-old directors from Columbia and NYU. I was thinking to myself, “Oh, I don’t know if this is going to be for me.” Even the things I was booking I didn’t want anyone to see. When I started writing, it flipped a switch. It’s like I get to play every character in the script in my head.
Do you know what’s next for you?
I do, but I’m scared to say it out loud in case it doesn’t come into fruition. But it’s a different genre. I don’t know if I could write another love story right now, because I was so in love with the two of them and this project. I feel like I’m reeling from a breakup.
***
Love Story releases new episodes Thursdays at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on FX/Hulu, streaming on Hulu.
For well over 100 years, Hollywood’s entertainment industry was the center of the cultural universe – both geographically and as probably one of the greatest brands in history. It had everything: glamour, intrigue, stars and talented people creating some of the most wonderful stories by way of the very best films and television shows ever produced.
People have historically come from all over the world to visit the big studios, to see where the stars lived and died, to be a part of the magic. At the risk of sounding too nostalgic, it was unlike anything else.
I admit I too was enamored and wanted to be a part of it all. After time on Wall Street, I moved to Los Angeles and established The Lippin Group in 1986 with the vision of creating a strategic, business-focused agency that specialized in entertainment and media. Over the last 40 years, we have worked with clients around the world, developed and implemented corporate and publicity campaigns across all platforms as they evolved.
But the Hollywood I experienced when I first arrived on the West Coast no longer exists. From the streaming wars and the rise of YouTube to a global pandemic, labor unrest and disruption generated by AI and M&A — not to mention the political climate and even destructive wildfires — the industry’s view of this “Roaring ’20s” is far different from the last one a century ago. But I believe we are still a long way off from pulling the plug. My optimism stems from this being an inspiring business and an essential part of our culture, something definitely worth saving.
Today, technology is largely seen as the culprit in this whodunit despite it having brought our industry unparalleled progress, including democratized influence, broadband audio and video access and never-before-available revenue opportunities. The issue is that while AI is increasing efficiency at unprecedented levels, it is also forcing us to change the fundamental foundations of the industry: human capital and creativity.
Or at least we think so. Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?
If we approach this with a different mindset anything is possible. One only needs to recall how following AOL’s disastrous acquisition of Warner Bros. a quarter century ago the entertainment industry concluded Hollywood and Silicon Valley were bad fits and the industry just wrote it off to a terrible decision.
Cut to today, with Paramount (with help from the visionary founder of tech giant Oracle, which recently acquired a stake in TikTok), soon to acquire the iconic Warner Bros. studio and its symbol of prestige TV, HBO. The consolidation has elicited Armageddon-like emotions in the creative community. This follows on the heels of Amazon’s acquisition of MGM and its prestigious library and IP, as well as Disney’s deal for 20th Century Fox assets.
While this technological takeover was happening, the industry was too busy to consider what it all meant because it was obsessively focused on meeting Wall Street’s quarterly earnings reports, including its demands for mass layoffs and production cuts to finance massive leveraged mergers. No long-term strategy needed.
Now that our industry is at a crossroads, let’s remember what kept our business on a straight and narrow course over the last 60 to 70 years — predictability resulting from a variety of secondary tiers after TV shows and movies had their network and theatricals runs. The 10 percent of deficit-financed network shows lucky enough to make it past four seasons would enter syndication or the international market with a hundred episodes, with the top sitcoms and episodic dramas poised to make billions of dollars for their creators. Successful theatrical films would go onto earn respectable pay TV and home entertainment dollars, meanwhile.
Streaming changed all of that. With a business model centered around generating tens and hundreds of millions of subscribers rather than ratings, Netflix bought up all the windowing rights so it would have the content in perpetuity.
Having said that, let’s recognize some opportunities:
— Hollywood risk takers must come back and accept less money upfront in exchange for backend rights. In essence, content producers, by foregoing large upfront compensation, could reap the rewards of long-term content ownership over an increasing number of distribution platforms as, for many years, the producers of network television series have done. They have produced their shows at a deficit, later realizing the greatest financial rewards when those shows were distributed in syndication. Taking risks like this would serve as a significant incentive to many producers and increase the supply of great content. And that would help keep Hollywood employed and subscribers pouring into streaming services.
— We have to also find ways to bring predictability back to our industry, while also being flexible so we can let the unpredictability work for us. For example, a serious analysis of content windowing is needed, not to force things to be what they once were, but to best balance consumer expectations with maximum revenues, while not throwing away what works to spite ourselves. Looking at this from a marketing point of view, we need to take a step back and see what works to maximize attention for content that costs billions to make, yet can be promoted so much better. Outside of the industry, I regularly find myself in conversations about the best shows and movies I’m watching, and more time is spent answering questions (What network is it on? How can I watch it? Is it released weekly or all at once?) than talking about the amazing work itself.
I’m not here to criticize the different business models that dictate the disparate strategies of each media company, but rather am espousing the need to find a way to swing the pendulum back to some form of predictability. That would not only make marketing messages easier to convey but allow companies investing so much in this content to maximize their ROI. The result would be increased revenue rather than mass layoffs of the very marketing and publicity teams who are charged with shining a spotlight on it.
And let’s not forget about all of the focus recently on theatrical windows. We are risking losing sight of the marketing benefits of having films in theaters, and the symbiotic relationship theatrical can have with streaming. People who see a giant billboard for a new movie but wait for it to become available on streaming are still seeing the giant billboard for a new movie.
— Let’s figure out how to lean into technology and make it work for us, while also embracing regulation of AI, collaboratively and across borders. We can’t ignore the tools in front of us that can allow us to spend more time strategically and analytically thinking about what’s next to make our business(es) thrive. But we must fight to protect name, image and likeness rights of individuals to ensure that guardrails are up that preserve the truth and punish malicious creation of deepfakes or revenge porn.
— Finally, we must look at the industry more globally than we already are. The world is flatter than ever, and international production is posing a risk to traditional Hollywood via tax incentives, etc., but also brings opportunities in terms of shared storytelling, breaking down cultural boundaries, and eliciting empathy.
Yes, it’s a challenge that productions are moving to other markets. But it’s also an opportunity for us to find amazing stories that we could bring to our audiences wherever they are. The reality is that “international” productions, even if subtitled or dubbed, are so much more accessible than they once were, universal storylines that translate across borders are being embraced, and people, especially younger generations, see all of the above as a net positive, not a burden.
To be successful today, we must take a cue from these consumers, and identify creativity wherever it resides – doing even more business with companies around the world. By the way, we can embrace this reality while also looking to, of course, preserve jobs and opportunities domestically. It isn’t a zero sum game.
The disruption of the entertainment world has been massive, but this isn’t new — Hollywood has faced disruption and claims of imminent extinction before. Can we recover from what has occurred? It is possible but only if the tech world and the traditional studio leaders who still hold high ranking positions in the industry get together and work out ways that are mutually beneficial – and do so with the entire international marketplace in mind. Then, and only then, will we see perhaps the greatest brand revival ever.
Dick Lippin is founder, chairman and CEO of The Lippin Group, a premier communications agency that specializes in representing companies, creators and content.
‘No excuse for killing girls in a classroom,’ UN experts say, amid push for justice after Minab primary school assault.
Calls are growing for an independent investigation into an attack on a girls’ school in southern Iran that killed 165 young pupils this week, with United Nations experts denouncing the deadly bombing as “a grave assault on children”.
In a statement on Friday, a group of UN experts said girls between the ages of seven and 12 were the main victims of the attack on the primary school in Minab on Saturday – the first day of the United States and Israel’s war against Iran.
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“An attack on a functioning school during class hours raises the most serious concerns under international law and must be urgently, independently, and effectively investigated, with accountability for any violations,” they said.
“A strike on a school represents a grave assault on children, on education, and on the future of an entire community,” the experts said. “There is no excuse for killing girls in a classroom.”
Rights advocates have pointed to the Minab school attack as evidence of potential war crimes being committed by Israel and the US in a war that legal experts say was launched in violation of the UN Charter and in breach of international law.
They also say it is an example of the heavy toll Iranian civilians are paying amid the conflict, which has killed at least 1,332 people so far, according to the latest figures cited by Iran’s state media outlets.
Iran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, told reporters on Monday that the school was “deliberately destroyed” in US-Israeli attacks against the country. “As a result, 165 innocent schoolgirls were martyred. I repeat it – 165 schoolgirls martyred,” he said.
Investigations published in recent days suggest US President Donald Trump’s administration was responsible for the attack.
The Reuters news agency, quoting two unnamed US officials, reported on Thursday that American military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible.
Using satellite imagery as well as verified videos and official statements, The New York Times also said US forces “were most likely to have carried out the strike” as they were attacking an adjacent naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday that Washington was investigating the incident.
“The Department of War and the United States armed forces do not target civilians,” she said.
A coffin is carried during the funeral of mostly children killed in the attack on the school in Minab, Iran, on March 3, 2026 [Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP Photo]
UN human rights chief Volker Turk told reporters on Friday that, “whatever outcome there will be of the investigations, we hope they will be prompt and that they will be done in full transparency”.
“We also expect accountability to be served because obviously mistakes were clearly made,” Turk said in Geneva, Switzerland, stressing that “accountability is absolutely critical” along with redress and compensation.
“It is a lesson to be learned – a horrible, tragic lesson to be learned – when girls are killed in this way,” he said.
“I hope there will be not only guarantees of non-recurrence, but a review of all the standard operating procedures when it comes to these issues, and especially when it comes to conduct of hostilities.”
Meanwhile, DAWN, a US-based advocacy group, has urged Iran to give the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory since the war began.
“From the killing of over 150 students and teachers to strikes on hospitals full of newborns, every day more and more evidence emerges pointing to the commission of grave war crimes in Iran since the start of the war,” said the group’s executive director, Omar Shakir.
“Victims deserve justice. The mechanisms exist and the US has no veto over them.”
Mourners cry during the funeral of 165 schoolgirls killed in the attack on a primary school, in Minab, on March 3, 2026 [AFP]
Rose Byrne is not only going into Oscar night as a first-time nominee for her work in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” but she’ll also be reuniting with her “Bridesmaids” co-stars.
Sources tell me that a “Bridesmaids” reunion is in the works during the ceremony with Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy. Final details are currently being discussed.
The occasion will mark the 15-year anniversary of the hit comedy’s release. Directed by Paul Feig, “Bridesmaids” was written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo.
McCarthy earned the first of her two Oscar nominations for supporting actress. Wiig and Mumolo nabbed noms for original screenplay.
As Variety previously reported, Barbra Streisand is in talks to perform at the Oscars in tribute to her “The Way We Were” co-star Robert Redford.
Streisand is “in conversations” to sing during the In Memoriam segment of the ceremony, according to sources. It has not been decided if the In Memoriam segment would be a solo performance by Streisand or if she’d be joined by other artists.
Billy Crystal is set to lead a tribute to Rob Reiner with other stars of the late filmmaker’s movies, including Meg Ryan, appearing on stage at the same time.
Presenters set for the 98th Academy Awards include Paul Mescal, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Will Arnett, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Kieran Culkin, Chase Infiniti, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Saldaña and Rudolph.
Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the Oscars will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and be televised live by ABC and streamed on Hulu.
