🎬 New Governor, Who Dis?

👋 Good morning. Your brunch photos are about to look like an HBO limited series. Steve Yedlin, who has shot everything Rian Johnson has made from 'Brick' to 'Wake Up Dead Man,' launched Chromagraph, an iPhone camera app that takes the RAW sensor data, skips Apple's image processing entirely and runs it through his own color math instead. Took ten weeks to make, works on iPhone only, and it's only stills for now. It went viral on socials once people started posting results. They’re kind of stunning, so naturally we tested it on a Costco hot dog. Reader, it had gravitas. We’d show you, but our reps said not to before the A24 meeting.

Welcome back to The Dailies. It's Wednesday, the "I Voted" stickers have migrated to the laptop, and you're closer to Friday than Monday. Grab your coffee and we'll catch you up on the latest in Hollywood.👇

🗳️ Say hello to Governor Becerra. The former Biden health secretary and California attorney general defeated Republican Steve Hilton in a race called moments after polls closed. Come January, he'll have a big say in how hard California fights to keep productions in the state. His was one of hundreds of races on ballots across the country yesterday. Meanwhile, the LA mayor's race is neck and neck: Karen Bass and Nithya Raman were within a couple of points of each other in early returns, and mail ballots keep arriving all week, so expect a few days of counting.

👓 The new 'Hunger Games' will play in 3D, courtesy of a new Lionsgate-Meta deal. Lionsgate is converting 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping' to 3D for its Nov. 20 theatrical run, then bringing it to Meta's VR Glasses when they ship next spring, with more titles to follow. It's the first time Meta has partnered with a studio on a 3D conversion, and the start of a bigger push to recruit Hollywood into selling the $1,300 glasses as a theater for one. Apple made a similar pitch with the $3,500 Vision Pro back in 2024. If you've spotted one in the wild, please contact us.

🏰 Disney is planning thousands more layoffs. Some managers have been asked to find as much as 20% in annual cost savings, and the TV networks and film studio are among the divisions in line for cuts. Part of that could come from expenses rather than people, and CEO Josh D’Amaro wants to put part of the savings back into film and TV programming, tech, parks, and cruises. Disney has been doing this in waves all year, ever since D’Amaro took over from Bob Iger in March: roughly 1,000 roles in April, hundreds more over the summer, and 100-200 Imagineering jobs just last week.

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Gavin Newsom wants California's film credit at $1B a year. The termed-out governor proposed raising California's film and TV incentive from $750M to at least $1B, which would make it the largest capped program in the country, and is handing it off to Governor-elect Xavier Becerra. Here's what Newsom wants:

This is all an ask, with no bill attached. Newsom leaves office in January, so it’ll be up to Becerra to push it through a Legislature that took about eight months to pass the last bump from $330M to $750M. And Becerra has said he’d only raise the cap if every dollar out brings a dollar back, so count that $1B as a maybe.

One reason for the rush: New York is gaining fast. California still hosts more film and TV production than any other state ($6.06B in spend over the past year to New York's $4.63B), but New York is growing about five times faster and winning more of the big-budget features California used to take for granted ('Miami Vice: 85' shot there). Back home, LA shoot days slipped again in Q3, despite last year's $750M expansion.

The bigger picture: A federal credit could pass before the year is out. The bipartisan bill covers 20% of US labor (up to 30% with bonuses) and has Trump’s backing. It stacks on top of state credits, coupon-on-a-clearance-rack style. Any production it lures back from the UK, Canada, or elsewhere still has to pick a state, and it'll pick the one with the best deal. Which is why California wants a head start before the state-vs-state arms race goes up a notch.

🤖 Netflix is letting AI pick what you watch next. The streamer's rolling out AI Discover, and the idea is you pick a vibe like "Scare Me" and it does the rest. Engagement's been slipping, so this is Netflix's latest attempt to turn it around. Who knows, maybe now choosing a movie will take less time than watching the movie.

🍿 Turns out people going to the movies is good for the movie theater business. Cinemark's Q3 revenue jumped 22% to $1.05B and profit more than doubled, with attendance up 18% on a summer slate led by ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘The Odyssey.’ AMC reports today after the bell, and analysts expect a similar bump.

♠️ Netflix nabbed Joel Coen's ‘Jack of Spades,’ a gothic mystery with Josh O'Connor, and will give it a fall 2027 theatrical run before streaming. Brother Ethan co-wrote. It seems Netflix's theaters-curious phase survives new management, a week after Peter Rice replaced Bela Bajaria as content chief.

🏆 That AI movie is getting serious about its Oscar push. ‘Gods Don't Give Gifts,’ a fully AI-generated feature from YouTuber Gossip Goblin, hits theaters Dec. 4, and FYC screenings are already underway alongside a Times Square ad blitz, all aimed at Best Animated Feature. Oh, and Grimes is in it too, voicing a rendered version of herself.

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