Latest news with #Jerry
Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Altruism or algorithm: The rise of online philanthropy
Canadian content creator Zachery Dereniowski is one of the biggest 'kindness content' creators in the world, raising money through online donations from the public. PHOTO: MDMOTIVATOR/INSTAGRAM SINGAPORE – Wearing a body cam, a man approaches a street artist painting on a pavement. 'Excuse me sir, I'm really hungry. Do you have any food, by chance, or a dollar?' Without hesitation, the painter reaches into his pocket and passes the man a dollar – his last one, as it turns out. Moments later, the man surprises him: 'Jerry, since you were kind to me, I've got $1,000 cash for you.' Overwhelmed, the painter gratefully accepts the money and lets on that he is homeless. The 1 min 35 sec video ends with the caption: 'CrowdFund link in bio.' It is typical of the feel-good content that has made Canadian content creator Zachery Dereniowski – better known by his handle mdmotivator – a viral sensation on social media. In his videos, he often approaches strangers with a simple request, such as a meal or a small sum of money. When they accede to his plea, he flips the script and reveals that he is not actually in need. Instead, he rewards their kindness with a substantial cash gift, typically ranging from US$1,000 (S$1,274) to US$20,000. More often than not, the strangers are usually going through a difficult time. Some are facing eviction, others are battling serious illnesses like cancer. Since 2020, Mr Dereniowski has given out hundreds of thousands of dollars to – among others – small business owners, single mothers and an orphan who lost his entire family in an explosion. With over 19 million followers on TikTok and several million more on other platforms, the 31-year-old is one of the world's biggest 'kindness content' creators, raising money through online donations from the public. Kind and wholesome content Although the internet is often associated with trolls, toxicity and hateful comments, people are turning to social media for something entirely different. Enter 'kindness content' – featuring creators performing spontaneous acts of generosity in public. On TikTok alone, the hashtag #Kindness has racked up over 2.2 million posts, while #SpreadKindness has more than 391,100. According to Google Trends, the word 'wholesome' hit peak popularity in September 2020, right in the thick of pandemic lockdowns when the world was desperately craving feel-good moments. Today, the word has taken on a life of its own in Gen Z lingo, referring to content that is pure, kind and good. Around the same time, a wave of 'core' trends began popping up online, such as cottage core, goblin core and hope core. The idea came from 'hardcore,' but 'core' now refers to the heart of a certain aesthetic or vibe. One of the more touching ones is hope core, which started gaining traction in 2022. It is about restoring faith in humanity through small, meaningful acts. Think handing a stranger a bouquet with a note that says, 'Dear person reading this, the world is a better place with you in it', or complimenting strangers and catching their surprised reaction on camera. One of the genre's most popular creators, MrBeast, with 404 million subscribers, currently has the most-subscribed YouTube channel in the world. The 27-year-old American, whose real name is James Donaldson, is known for videos that test people's limits in exchange for a large cash prize and donating large amounts of money to various needy communities around the world. One video posted in January 2025, titled I Helped 2,000 People Walk Again, shows him giving amputees prosthetic legs that cost between US$5,000 and US$50,000. He sent one amputee home with an additional US$10,000, and another with enough money to cover his daughter's wedding expenses. In another video, Mr Donaldson bankrolls the building of 100 homes in Jamaica. In 2020, he launched Beast Philanthropy, a charity that donates 100 per cent of its revenue generated from content, merchandise sale and brand deals. Its YouTube channel now has more than 28 million subscribers. The MrBeast Effect Singaporean creators have also been jumping on this hope core bandwagon. One of them is Mr Kevin Wee, 30, who posts under the name Radical Kindness and has 66,700 followers on TikTok and more than 9,000 on Instagram. Mr Kevin Wee posts under the name Radical Kindness and has 66,700 followers on TikTok and more than 9,000 on Instagram. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI 'Singaporeans are kind, and I feel like we just require someone to inspire them to take the first step,' says Mr Wee, who posts a video every day. He experienced depression and mania in his 20s, and once almost took his own life. In November 2023, after resolving to be a positive force in the world, he decided to start his channel, inspired by MrBeast. From giving compliments to strangers on the street to surprising families in need with home makeovers, his content is about uplifting others. In June 2024, he reached into his own pocket and handed $1,000 to migrant workers cleaning up the East Coast Park oil spill. He has also started two fund-raisers to help two families, raising thousands of dollars for an elderly woman's cancer treatment, and a family with young children after the father – the sole breadwinner – was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. 'Some of my videos are spontaneous. I give out money to my followers. I don't really have criteria. For those that I raise funds for, I'll pick and be a bit more selective to ensure that their stories are authentic,' says the entrepreneur, who also runs several businesses including a direct sales company and two training and speaking engagement companies . He adds that he gets a lot of requests from followers to be featured, but will select only those he feels are really struggling. Clinical psychologist Alexandrea Tay notes that those who have faced struggles growing up may have a stronger sense of empathy for those in need, fuelling their desire to give back. 'Individuals may seek to promote the visibility of their charitable acts as a means to reinforce their sense of belonging within a community,' she says. Z, the creator behind SomethingForSomeone (@something4rsomeone), did not have a stable environment growing up. His parents are separated, and he lived with other relatives in overcrowded conditions. The 25-year-old, who is self-employed in the food and beverage industry and did not want to be named, started volunteering as a teenager, but felt like he could do more. He started his kindness content channel in June 2024. It now has more than 2,000 followers on Instagram and 18,400 followers on TikTok. 'I have always believed in helping others, even strangers. Small gestures can go a long way and even things that are non-monetary can help, like words of encouragement and acts of service,' he says. 'I don't care if I'm famous or not, as long as my message goes far.' Z, the creator behind SomethingForSomeone (@something4rsomeone), started his kindness content channel in June 2024. PHOTO: COURTESY OF Z Can watching kindness inspire kindness? A 2020 study published in peer-reviewed journal Psychological Bulletin suggested that kindness can be contagious. After analysing 88 experiments involving over 25,000 participants, researchers found that witnessing an act of kindness – whether in a news story, a social media clip or live on the street – can inspire a person to be altruistic by, for example, comforting someone who is crying, donating to charity, or acting cooperatively in a competitive game. Calling it 'moral elevation', the study's lead researcher, Assistant Professor Haesung Jung from Texas Tech University said: 'People resonate when they watch someone do something good.' That ripple effect was on display after local content creator Z posted videos of himself handing out cold drinks to workers cleaning up the oil spill under the hot sun. Viewers were so moved, they flooded the comments with offers to help. One wrote: 'Bro, create a Telegram group so we can volunteer to help deliver the food and drinks.' Z did just that. Today, the group has grown to 384 members. In it, he shares daily words of encouragement and mobilises support for various causes, from crowdfunding efforts to volunteer drives. Local handyman company Howdyman, for instance, launched an initiative to provide free repair work for low-income families and used Z's group to rally volunteer support. For interior designer Aaron Teo, 29, a chance encounter took his social media content in a new direction. 'I used to run a bar in the west, and I would always come across this man chilling or having a nap outside a minimart. One day, I decided to strike up a conversation with him,' he says. He found out that Mr Rajah, who is in his 60s, was homeless and had trouble securing a job. He decided to help the man and, with his consent, documented their journey on video. 'My purpose in life is to inspire others to lead a meaningful life through exciting experiences and quality relationships. Hence, I did not think too much about why I wanted to make a video,' he says. In the first video dated in September 2023, Mr Teo spoke to Mr Rajah about the latter's difficulty in finding a job, before taking him to a family service centre and treating him to a meal. Besides introducing him to a career coach who has helped set up a job interview, the designer also took his new friend to get his hair washed and bought him new clothes in a follow-up video. The video ends with an uplifting revelation: Mr Rajah has secured a job and will be starting work the next day. The two clips hit more than 390,000 views each, garnering thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, mostly positive. Viewers also asked how they could help Mr Rajah. The episode taught Mr Teo that many Singaporeans are willing to help those in need. Soon after, an online media publication contacted him asking to feature his story, but he declined. 'I did not want others saying that I was doing this to seek attention for myself.' Mr Teo, whose social media posts previously revolved around his hobbies and work as an interior designer, has about 3,000 followers on TikTok and over 1,400 followers on Instagram. During a recent call, he found out that Mr Rajah is still working and now lives in a rented flat. The two plan to catch up soon. Genuine altruism or performative? Still, not everyone views kindness content through rose-tinted glasses. Kindness influencers have their fair share of detractors, with sceptics accusing them of turning goodwill into self-promotion or worse, outright scams. On the subreddit thread r/unpopularopinions, one user wrote of his disdain for kindness content. 'It feels like the main objective is to create something that can go viral, and the fact that someone received support is just the by-product.' In October 2024, a prawn noodle business in Singapore posted a video which featured a man asking a migrant worker for a dollar to take a bus. After the migrant worker hands over the money, he reveals that he does not need it and hands $100 to the worker and a bowl of prawn noodles. Netizens questioned the motive behind the video. On the online forum Reddit, a user wrote: 'Just because the worker is poor, doesn't mean he would be OK to be put up online, for someone's clout. He didn't ask for the money, though he may have appreciated the gesture.' 'If the guy really had an intention to help, he could have just given the money. Why was there a need to record it. Makes me question the so-called intention,' another user wrote. In September 2024, Radical Kindness' Mr Wee made headlines for challenging American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed, popularly known as Speed, to a foot race. In a live stream posted on IShowSpeed's channel, he said he would give $10,000 to a charity of Speed's choice if he lost. He did, and was filmed handing the streamer a thick wad of $50 notes. Criticism came in swiftly. In October 2024, a discussion thread criticising Mr Wee was posted on popular Singapore-centric subreddit group, r/SingaporeRaw with the subject heading, 'Controversy over Radical Kindness'. The author of the thread wrote: 'Personally, I don't think it's genuine kindness. I don't see why he has to announce or flex his kind deeds.' Mr Wee is aware of the criticism surrounding his content online. He concedes that he is not a big fan of Speed, but did the challenge to help market his own platform. However, he maintains he has done nothing wrong and is not a hypocrite. He reckons people fall into three camps when it comes to his channel: those who love what he is doing, those who are neutral but a little sceptical, and finally, those who call him an attention seeker. '(Kindness content) might sometimes appear very self-serving. There's a lot of ego involved, and there are questions if these creators are benefiting from their audience. I want to change the narrative,' he says. Mr Wee claims he does not directly profit from his channel. While he's received about $25,000 to date from sponsors, he says the amount was reinvested into creating content and doing giveaways. The influencer readily admits that the version of himself seen on camera is louder and dialled up. And yes, he gives away large sums of money because it grabs attention. But there's a method behind the madness. 'I enjoy telling stories, and media is an amplifier. If I can reach one million people through one video, why would I not do it? I want to inspire more creators to give back,' he says. Ultimately, Mr Wee believes that the positive impact of filming acts of kindness far outweighs the drawbacks. He is confident in his ability to craft content that remains true to his values. 'I think the issue comes in when you lie to your audience about your intentions. I have always been very open about my intentions. I want the influence, I want the attention, because it allows me to expand my media presence and give back more,' he says. Mr Wee has started three more platforms under the 'Radical' brand: Radical Riches, a business media channel; Radical Homes, a furniture retailer that does home makeovers; and Radical Edge, a content training and consulting business. Some of the gifts that Mr Kevin Wee received from his beneficiaries. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Z agrees the lack of accountability and transparency surrounding influencers who run crowdfunding efforts can be a thorny issue. In September 2024, he sprang to action after coming across a news article about a Bukit Merah flat fire that left a family with two young children in crisis. The comments were flooded with people asking how to help. 'I just decided to step in, because I don't know who else can be more accountable, since I somewhat have a platform and maybe a following, I believe some people trust me,' he says. A TikTok viewer, who had some information regarding the family, entrusted Z with the address of the family's temporary housing, and Z went over to visit them. He then launched a fund-raising campaign via his platform, sharing his personal PayNow QR code for donations. Within just two days, the campaign raised over $4,000, a testament to the power of stepping in when it matters most, he says. After his crowdfunding effort was reported by media outlet Mothership, he read comments asking 'how can we know you are legitimate?' and netizens warning that Z might be running a scam account. 'It is not surprising, every part of this digital philanthropy will always have some negativity involved, but I know clearly what I am doing, and I just wanted to take the initiative to help out a family, and that is all that matters,' he says. A week later, more than $30,000 had been raised. To maintain transparency, Z compiled a detailed spreadsheet of the donations that were transferred to his personal bank account, and even shared a screen recording of the document and filmed himself handing the money directly to the family's patriarch. 'I did my best to be as transparent as I could,' he says. But what Z did not anticipate was the wave of online backlash the family would face after going public with their situation. They expressed their thanks, but conveyed this issue to him via social service officers, asking that he end the campaign. Z obliged, but the experience gave him pause. 'These are some ripple effects of digital philanthropy,' he muses. 'We may have the best intentions, but there are blind spots we don't always see. Helping isn't always sunshine and rainbows, especially for those on the receiving end.' One beneficiary's take Rina (not her full name) was scrolling through social media when she stumbled upon a post by Mr Wee on Dec 30, 2023: He was giving away $10,000 to 10 people, chosen at random from those who left a comment. The single mother, now 34, did not think twice. With five children between the ages of five and 13 – two of whom have special needs – every little bit helps. 'I just tried my luck. I said: 'I'm a single mother, have five kids and hope I have a chance to win,'' says the account assistant. Before landing her current full-time job in 2022, she had been unemployed for four years. To provide for her family, she occasionally relies on food rations from local charities. 'My salary alone, to be honest, is not enough to cover all the expenses. So that's why I have to continue searching, to see if there are any resources. I cannot always rely on social services because there are limits to how much they can help. If I see giveaways, I would be willing to try,' she says. She did not expect much from Mr Wee, but to her surprise, she was chosen as one of the recipients. He told her he would ask her a few questions on camera and asked her to prepare her answers. When she told him that some of the questions made her uncomfortable, Mr Wee replaced them with others. On the day of the shoot, Rina brought along one of her children. Mr Wee filmed a short video of him giving her the $1,000 and asking her about her life. 'There was nothing I felt pressured to answer, which I really appreciated,' Rina says. Still, she admits she was nervous in the days leading up to the video's release on Jan 19, 2024. It was her first time sharing such personal parts of her life on camera and with the public. 'I was very worried that people would talk negatively about me and judge me as a single mother raising five children when the video was released,' she says. However, her fears were unfounded. 'Some people commented that they also have special needs kids and that it was good for Kevin to help us out,' she says. Opening up about your struggles and asking for help publicly can feel like a blow to one's pride, Rina says. But she also believes that when there are no other options, one should not reject help just to save face. She has also seen the critical comments floating online about Mr Wee. But having experienced his kindness first hand, she stands by him. 'I could tell he was genuinely trying to understand what I was going through,' she says. 'From the very first time we met, he asked thoughtful questions – not just for content, but to really see what kind of help I needed.' Help came when she was at rock bottom In September 2024 , Sarah (not her real name), 38, hit rock bottom. After years of not paying the utility bills for her family's two-room rental flat, there was an outstanding amount of more than $3,000. She was told that if the sum was not settled, the power supply to her flat would be cut off within a week. Her ex-husband had walked out on the family more than five years ago, leaving her to raise five children aged nine to 16. As she suffers from depression, she has been medically unfit to work for the past eight years. To support her family, she relies on family, friends and government subsidies. 'Whatever help that I get is just enough to get by the month,' says Sarah. 'Most of it goes to feeding my kids.' After coming across Z's fund-raiser for the family whose flat was destroyed in a fire, she decided to ask him for help. Z replied within a day. After learning about her financial situation on the phone, he shared her story on his Instagram page. 'I am quite private so I don't really share a lot of things. He actually took all the details needed to make the post. Although I did not want to share my photo, he said he needed it to run the fund-raising campaign. I asked him to blur our faces in the photo, which he did,' says Sarah, adding that she saw his post and was happy with how Z did not exaggerate her family's situation. His post was captioned: 'She is really stressed and overwhelmed with the current situation. Hope we are able to do what we can to help her start anew by clearing the debt... She has agreed for me to collect on her behalf. Please reference 'Sarah'.' He promised that all proceeds would go to the family, and that he would post updates, including the financial accounts. Within a few days, he raised more than $9,000 for her family. Throughout the process, he showed her receipts and screenshots of the donations that had come in during the campaign. With the funds, Sarah paid the outstanding utility bills, cleared a debt owed to a family member, stocked up on essentials to last through the year, and took her children to a rare meal out. 'He's very young, I can see that, but I can tell he is very honest. He's got a lot of experience, through the way he talks, and he understands my situation and he is very sincere about it,' she says, adding that she is grateful for all that he has done for her. They are still in touch, chatting occasionally via TikTok direct messages. Charity is not just a handout Even after running two successful crowdfunding drives, Mr Wee doubts the model's long-term viability. He's seen TikTokers overseas skim 4 to 8 per cent off donations to pay themselves. 'So technically, I can go with that model, but I don't think Singaporeans will be as receptive about that,' he says. 'When you see someone who is helpless, you can't help but feel like you want to empower them. I believe charity is not just a handout, it's a responsibility to empower,' says Mr Wee. Besides providing the people he helps with resources, he connects them with others who can help them, like social workers. 'It's about helping them, in a personal capacity, to stand on their own feet.' In a space where trust is everything, both Mr Wee and Z tread carefully, balancing heart with accountability. They know that in Singapore, good intentions alone are not enough. Transparency matters. So does impact. But at the core of it all is a simple truth: When help is given with sincerity, and received with dignity, even a digital platform can become a lifeline. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
With ‘F1,' mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is still in the driver's seat
The first thing you notice in Jerry Bruckheimer's Santa Monica office isn't the full-size suit of armor from 2004's 'King Arthur' or the shelves lined with awards and celebrity photos. It's the pens: dozens of ornate Montblancs, carefully arranged in display cases. His wife gives them to him, Bruckheimer explains dryly. After nearly half a century of hits, what do you give the guy who has everything? 'I sometimes write thank-you notes with them,' he says. Alongside neatly stacked copies of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times — which he says he still reads daily, in print — the pens reflect something ingrained in the legendary producer, a fondness for ritual, precision and old-school order. Now 81, at an age when most of his peers are content to reflect on past glories in between tee times and early-bird specials, Bruckheimer still starts each day with a rigorous workout. ('I pick hotels based on the gym,' he says.) Then it's back to doing what he's always done: assembling the next blockbuster. Across more than 50 films — including culture-shaping hits like 'Beverly Hills Cop,' 'Top Gun,' 'Bad Boys,' 'The Rock,' 'Armageddon' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' — his work has earned over $16 billion worldwide, cementing his name as shorthand for sleek, pulse-pounding entertainment. His elegant, brick-walled office, larger than the Detroit home where his working-class German immigrant parents raised him, stands as a monument to what that discipline helped build. 'Our tiny little house was about as big as this room here,' he says, glancing around. For Bruckheimer, success has never been about flash or chance. 'The harder you work,' he says, in what amounts to a personal mantra, 'the luckier you get.' That philosophy is on full display in his latest production, 'F1,' an adrenaline-fueled racing drama starring Brad Pitt as a retired Formula One driver lured back to the track to mentor a young phenom (Damson Idris) on a struggling team. Shot during actual Formula One races across Europe and the Middle East, and with a budget north of $200 million, 'F1' speeds into theaters Friday with the kind of high-stakes ambition only someone with Bruckheimer's track record could pull off. From the outset, the project, which reunites Bruckheimer with 'Top Gun: Maverick' director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger, sparked a bidding war among virtually every studio and streamer, ultimately landing as a co-production between Apple and Warner Bros. 'One of the reasons I went to Jerry,' says Kosinski by phone from his car, 'is because I knew I was asking two massive corporations — Apple and Formula One — to work together. They're both incredibly specific about their brands and how they do things. It took someone with Jerry's CEO style of producing to be the diplomat in the middle and actually make it happen. He's seen it all.' Bruckheimer attributes the early frenzy around the project to the package's pedigree: an appealing story, an A-list star and the global popularity of Formula One. But for Bruckheimer, it's not just about star power or scale. 'It's emotional, it's exciting, it's got romance, it's got humor,' he says. 'It's the reason I got into this business — to make movies that thrill you on that big screen, that you walk out feeling you've been on a real journey and got lost for a couple of hours. That's the goal every time.' Pitt's character, Sonny, is in some ways a reflection of Bruckheimer: a seasoned pro forever chasing one more victory out of a sheer love of the chase. 'Jerry could easily be on an island somewhere relaxing,' says Kosinski. 'But he'd much rather be on set every day, meeting actors, hassling the marketing team, dealing with the studio. He just loves the job. His passion for it seems kind of endless.' 'F1' arrives at a moment when the Bruckheimer-style movie — star-driven, high-concept, engineered for maximum emotional impact — has surged back into fashion. In truth, it never entirely disappeared. But in an age of franchise fatigue, ironic tentpoles and streaming saturation, the earnest, four-quadrant spectacle had started to feel like a relic — until 'Maverick' reminded Hollywood how potent that formula could still be. The 2022 sequel didn't just help bring moviegoing back to life after the pandemic; it earned Bruckheimer his first best picture Oscar nomination and raked in a staggering $1.5 billion worldwide. Even he didn't see that coming. 'The early tracking said that you're not going to get young people — nobody under 35 or 40 cares about this movie,' he remembers. 'It ended up surpassing every possible metric. Anybody who tells you they know what's going to be a hit, they don't have a clue. You just don't know.' 'F1' is not Bruckheimer's first time around the racing track. Thirty-five years ago, at the height of his era-defining run with his late producing partner Don Simpson, he made 'Days of Thunder,' a testosterone-fueled NASCAR drama that reunited the 'Top Gun' team of Tom Cruise and director Tony Scott. The film epitomized the Bruckheimer-Simpson formula: glossy visuals, radio-ready soundtracks and MTV-style swagger. Tales of ballooning costs, nonstop rewrites, off-screen indulgence and on-set clashes swirled around the production, becoming the stuff of Hollywood lore. Asked about the chaos surrounding 'Days of Thunder,' Bruckheimer answers with his trademark restraint, the measured calm of someone who has spent decades managing egos, headlines and costly productions. 'There were definitely rewrites — that's true,' he says. 'As far as the budget going up, Paramount had a strict regime, and it's not like you could go over budget easily. We wrecked a lot of cars, I'll tell you that. I don't think there was one standing at the end.' Bruckheimer remembers the shoot as tough but exhilarating, a product of Scott's notoriously seat-of-the-pants directing style. 'Tony was just balls to the wall,' he says. 'Joe [Kosinski] is balls to the wall too, but calculated. Joe's got everything planned out. Tony would get on the set and see something over there and say, 'We're changing it, we're going over there.' It was a little more of a helter-skelter approach, but we somehow got through it. We held it together.' By the time 'Days of Thunder' was released in 1990, Bruckheimer and Simpson had spent nearly a decade together — a combustible but wildly productive run that had already delivered 'Flashdance,' 'Beverly Hills Cop' and 'Top Gun.' Simpson, with his insatiable appetite for drugs and Hollywood excess, could be volatile and self-destructive. But Bruckheimer credits him with sharpening his eye for story and deepening his understanding of how the business really worked. 'I started in commercials — little 60-second stories — and Don was trained as a story executive,' says Bruckheimer, who began his career in advertising in Detroit and New York. 'He was developing 120 projects every year so he knew every writer, every director. He had this great wealth of knowledge about the business: who's good, who's not good, who can talk a good game but can't deliver. He was great with story and humor. He just was a genius at all this kind of stuff.' The partnership was a crash course for them both: an informal academy with a class roster of two. 'I went to school during those years — and so did he,' Bruckheimer says. 'He didn't know how to make a movie. He was an executive, so when he walked on set, all he really knew was not to stand in front of the camera. I picked up a lot of what he knew — and vice versa.' If Simpson was the explosive, sometimes erratic half of the duo, Bruckheimer was always the steady one: disciplined, controlled, methodical. He's known for rarely raising his voice. But he admits even he has limits. 'I try not to,' he says. 'I usually don't. But when people lie to you, when they say something's going to be there and it's not and they keep giving you a bunch of bulls—, yeah, you can raise your voice a little.' Following 'Days of Thunder,' Simpson and Bruckheimer would go on to make several more hits, including 'Dangerous Minds,' 'Crimson Tide' and 'The Rock' before Simpson's death in 1996 at age 52 from heart failure related to drug use. 'It's unfortunate that we lost him,' Bruckheimer says softly. After decades in the business, Bruckheimer says he has learned to choose collaborators carefully. 'Life's too short,' he offers. 'We're such a small business, your reputation follows you everywhere you go.' When his team hires a director or an actor, he says, they always do their research. 'How were they on their last movie? Brad has a phenomenal reputation. Will Smith has a phenomenal reputation — minus that,' he adds, discreetly alluding to the 2022 Oscars slap. 'Tom Cruise too. I've worked with actors who just want to know when they can leave. I try to avoid that.' The landscape of Hollywood, of course, looks nothing like it did during the '90s Simpson-Bruckheimer heyday. Studios that once ran on instinct and big personalities now operate more like data-driven conglomerates, reshuffling execs and hedging bets in a fractured, streaming-dominated market. 'It's changed a lot,' Bruckheimer says. 'Streaming hit a lot of places hard. They spent too much money and now they've got problems with that. Some of the studios aren't healthy. But the business, if you do it right, is healthy.' For all the hand-wringing about collapse, Bruckheimer has heard it before. 'There always was doom,' he says. 'When TV came in, people said nobody would go to the theaters again. When I started, it was video cassettes. Everyone said that's the end. Then DVDs — that's the end. I've been doing this over 50 years and that doom has been there every time a new technology shows up. And yet, look at what's happened. Look at 'Minecraft.' Look at 'Sinners.' Look at 'Lilo & Stitch.' If you do it right, people show up.' He reaches for one of his favorite analogies: 'You've got a kitchen at home, right? But you still like to go out to eat. You want to taste something different. That's what we are. We're the night out,' he says. 'And if we give you a good meal, you'll come back for more.' By any measure, Bruckheimer has already accomplished more than almost anyone in the business, with a far-reaching empire that spans television ('CSI,' 'The Amazing Race'), video games and sports. In addition to big-budget tentpoles, he has occasionally championed more grounded, character-driven fare, from 'Dangerous Minds' and 'Black Hawk Down' to the recent Disney+ biopic 'Young Woman and the Sea.' But for all his success, he has never stopped looking for the next story. A new 'Top Gun' script is underway. 'Days of Thunder' may get another lap. Even 'Pirates of the Caribbean' is back in motion. Bruckheimer ultimately credits the directors and actors — and the tight-knit team at his company — with keeping him in the game. 'I'm just the guy who says, 'You're really talented. I want to work with you.' ' Even as a kid, he says, that was his gift. 'I can't focus the way a director or writer focuses — I'm too ADD. But I always put things together. I put together a baseball team and a hockey team when I was very young. I always had the ability gather to people around a common cause.' As for thoughts of his legacy, he demurs. 'I'm sure I'll be remembered somewhere along there — maybe not, maybe yes,' he says. 'I'm still working picture to picture. You're only as good as your last movie. So you better be on your toes.'
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
PNG And Bougainville Leaders To Finalise Independence Agreements On Thursday
Leaders of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville are due to hold a one-day meeting on Thursday to sign off on agreements related to the autonomous region's quest for independence. The meeting will likely mark the end of the involvement of former New Zealand governor-general Sir Jerry Mateparae. Sir Jerry was brought in to help find a way forward after a years' long stalemate over the tabling of the results of Bougainville's independence referendum. His involvement is set to end as Bougainville enters its election process, with writs expected to be issued at the end of next week. Most recently, ten days of meetings in Burnham, New Zealand, orchestrated by Sir Jerry, appear to have failed to achieve significant progress. The PNG and Bougainville governments have largely refused to talk about the issues publicly. Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is set to attend a major peace and reconciliation ceremony between PNG and Bougainville in September. PNG Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko has confirmed Guterres' attendance. The Post-Courier reports Tkatchenko saying the UN chief will be in Port Moresby from 2-3 September for the national reconciliation. The national reconciliation was originally going to be staged in 2019 before Bougainvilleans had voted in their independence referendum, but it did not go ahead.
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
50 years of ‘Jaws', 2 days of Martha's Vineyard
'My grandfather, Craig Kingsbury, was in that movie,' Jerry said. 'He played Ben Gardner.' Ben Gardner was the subject of the biggest jump scare in 'Jaws,' an addition so last-minute that it was shot in editor Verna Fields's swimming pool rather than the waters off Martha's Vineyard, where the rest of the film was shot. Gardner's disembodied head popping out from the hole in his sunken boat has been earning screams since 'Jaws' opened on June 20, 1975. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up My first hour in Falmouth was a harbinger for the two major truths I discovered during my time on the Vineyard. The first truth was that everybody had a story about, or a connection to, Steven Spielberg's masterpiece. 'Just find somebody who looks old enough to have been on the Vineyard at the time,' I was told, 'and they'll spin a yarn.' Advertisement Karl and Logan Larsen look at behind the scenes photos of the filming of "Jaws." Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo That was good advice. Everyone I spoke to said they knew Universal was shooting 'some movie about a fish.' It was common knowledge, and for the rare unaware person, there were big blue signs advertising work for extras. Advertisement The second, harsher truth I learned was to never, ever, ever trust your phone service. It will leave you faster than a scorned lover—and always at the worst possible moment. I discovered this when I had to summon a Lyft so I could get to the last boat out of Vineyard Haven. My phone mocked me relentlessly as my panic grew. Thankfully, a fellow journalist graciously shared her ride with me. But I digress. Though most of my short interviews were conducted at the press event held Sunday at the Martha's Vineyard Museum, Saturday's run-in with Jerry was pure rideshare kismet. Before he dropped me off at the hotel, he reminded me that Kingsbury was the inspiration for Robert Shaw's portrayal of Quint. Perhaps he did so because I was wearing a shirt that said 'Quint's Shark Fishing.' Beka El-Deiry, who was the youngest extra at the time of filming, poses with a still of her from "Jaws." Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo On Sunday, a slew of local celebrities were readily available to swap tales of their time on the fictional Amity Island. The common thread in every story I heard from people on the set was Spielberg's constant directorial refrain of 'everybody in the water' and 'everybody out of the water!' There was also mention of Shark City, the place where Bruce the mechanical shark spent his downtime being repaired. But when I arrived on Martha's Vineyard the day before, I was met by a sea of fans wearing 'Jaws'-based t-shirts and hats, many of them from out of town. At Saturday night's screening of the film, there were fans who had travelled from Scotland. That's a lot farther distance than New Jersey, though my hometown was definitely 'in the house.' I met a guy named Valentino who grew up in Jersey City and who'd seen 'Jaws' at the same theater I did. Advertisement Edith Dewart and Michelle Karabelnik enjoy drinks in one of the tents at the Jaws 50th anniversary festival. They traveled to Martha's Vineyard for the first time to enjoy the festival. Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo Rumors swirled that a major 'Jaws' celebrity would be on the Vineyard to commemorate the film's golden anniversary. I kept hearing that celebrity was Spielberg. It turned out to be Richard Dreyfuss, spotted signing autographs somewhere in Oak Bluffs on Friday and Saturday. The man who played Hooper also made a surprise appearance at the screening of 'Jaws' at the Winnetu Oceanside Resort. He was joined by TCM host, Ben Mankiewicz, and the Cape Symphony, who were about to play John Williams's Oscar-winning score live. Since I had to make that last boat out, I only got to hear the live accompaniment until the film cut to the guitar player on the beach in the opening scene. However, I did meet the guitarist in that scene, Michael Haydn. Not only did he perform at Sunday's event, he talked with me at length about music and explained the origin of the phrase, 'break a leg.' Piper Bonnette proudly carries a new shark toy at the Jaws 50th anniversary festival. Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo I also met Gregory Dole, the actor who appeared in the The Falmouth native was 24 and parking cars at a summer job when he auditioned for the role. By coincidence, Spielberg was walking by during his audition and decided to cast him on the spot. Advertisement As for the two kids who pulled the prank, brothers Jonathan and Stephen Searle, they were going to be reunited at the museum with Dole 51 years after they filmed the scene of him pulling them out of the water. Like Roy Scheider's Brody, Jonathan is also a Chief of Police—in Oak Bluffs, not Amity Island. 'You know why everyone remembers our scene?' Jonathan asked me during the reunion with Dole. 'Because at that moment, we hadn't seen the shark yet. Everyone thought our scene was going to show the shark.' You didn't need a major scene to be a celebrity here. Peter Robb snuck onto the beach as a kid and appeared in three scenes (I heard far too many tales of people doing this). He's wearing yellow shorts. Another guy, who introduced himself as 'Willie B from Arlington,' was 23 at the time and also snuck on the beach and was almost selected to be in the scene on the 'Jaws Bridge' in Edgartown. His inability to show an extra's credential to crew members cost him the part. Even the fans had great stories. Turns out I wasn't the only cinephile born after A fan photographs sketches of the final shark attack scene. Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo The biggest surprise in my visit was a passionate and informative defense of Bruce, the Advertisement Marty Milner worked on Bruce every night when the shark retired to Shark City for repairs. Milner did everything. 'I was Bruce's dermatologist, dentist, periodontist and orthopedic doctor,' he said. Then he launched into an extremely detailed explanation about the materials Bruce was made from, and how it worked. I ate all these details up—you know me, I love stories about process! 'It's not that the shark didn't work,' Milner told me. 'Bruce worked like he was supposed to; it was the learning curve that was difficult. No one had ever done this type of thing before.' Well, he convinced me! It was appropriate that my last day on the Vineyard ended with me hearing Dan London sing a song he wrote for the event. It was called 'You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat.' The perfect tribute to a perfect movie. Happy 50th Anniversary! Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
GMA Network
19-06-2025
- GMA Network
For Jerry Acuzar, restoring the heritage houses in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar took a village
It took a village to restore the 63 heritage houses and 34 historically significant structures in the sprawling Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar resort in Bataan. Jerry Acuzar, the founder and owner of the famed resort, guested in the latest episode of "Power Talks with Pia Arcangel" where he shared his inspiration for Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, also known as the "Vanguard of Filipino Heritage." According to the real estate magnate, who started as a draftsman, it was his travels around Europe that inspired him to build the resort. "Dun ko nakita 'yung heritage, buong Europe... Awang-awa ako sa Pilipinas, wala tayong ka heri-heritage, tapos 'yung anak ko nag-graduate pa ng art history. Doon nabuo 'yung Las Casas," said Jerry. "Nakita ko Estonia, maliit na town, 'Ah pwedeng gayahin 'to.' Ta's nadinig ko sa London kung paano nirebuild 'yung London, nakita ko rin 'yung Moscow, kung paano nirebuild 'yung Moscow, kada tour ko." The process of restoration is meticulous. Per Jerry, one must find the source of the raw materials that were used in the heritage houses and follow the method of construction during the time they were constructed. "Dapat gagayahin mo, 'pag pinagtama mo 'yung dalawang materyales at dalawang finished product, hindi nagkakalayo at hindi magkaiba," he said. He also emphasized the importance of having a backup, especially when it comes to manufacturing certain materials. "Dapat marunong kang gumawa ng old Spanish tiles, dapat marunong kang gumawa ng baluster na luma, marunong ka gumawa ng old bricks," said Jerry. One must also know how to create old-fashioned grills and study how these parts are made to know how to properly rebuild the missing parts of a heritage house. Restoring the heritage houses in Las Casas, thus, would not have been possible if it were not for the team of artisans, carpenters, and laborers who made Jerry's vision possible. "'Yung mga support group mo na mga karpintero, mga mason, mga artist, mga painters, tsaka 'yung mga nag-uukit, malaking bagay 'yun. 'Pag walang ganun, walang Las Casas. Kaya 'pag pumunta kang Las Casas, ang una mong titingnan, paano ba ginawa 'yung mga missing parts?" he said. Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar opened to the public in 2010. The centuries-old Spanish heritage houses in the resort were transferred from their original locations in various parts of the Philippines and carefully rebuilt and restored by the resort's artisans and craftsmen. In 2021, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar received the Historic Hotels Worldwide award for the Best Historic Hotel in Asia and the Pacific. Receiving the award through a video message then, Jerry credited the craftsmen whose work made Las Casas Filipinas possible. "We are delighted that the efforts of our artisans, carpenters, and the people who supported us are now recognized, especially their skills,' he had said. "I built this for my love of my hometown Bataan, my love for the Philippines, and especially my family whom I have shared so many beautiful memories with in Las Casas Filipinas. This historic hotel is my gratitude to my country and people." —CDC, GMA Integrated News
