Brand New School (BNS) has entered into a strategic partnership with BRUT, a Barcelona-based animation studio. This collaboration represents a significant milestone in BNS’s expansion strategy, with BRUT serving as its inaugural global outpost.
Under the leadership of executive creative director Martin Allais, who will now be represented by BNS for directorial ventures, BRUT joins BNS as part of its collective roster. This partnership combines BNS’s established reputation for innovative creative work with BRUT’s expertise in diverse artistic techniques, including 2D cel animation, stop-motion, 3D animation, and seamless integration of live action.
With Allais leading BNS Spain, Brand New School is expanding its reach to serve a growing network of global clients. This partnership incorporates BRUT’s fresh methodology of working and diverse pool of talent to create content that resonates across cultures. Located in the heart of the European market, the new BNS location will further support and enhance its work with international clients, broadening its ability to meet their unique needs. This partnership represents a thoughtful blend of creativity and expertise, designed to strengthen and grow Brand New School’s global presence.
BRUT was founded by director Allais as an experimental incubator for innovative ideas and techniques. He is also a multidisciplinary artist of Latinx heritage who brings a wealth of creative experience to the partnership. His portfolio spans commercials for global brands like Oreo, Facebook, Samsung, and Dr. Pepper, earning accolades including Cannes Lions for his work on the Samsung Holiday campaign. Recently, Allais’ animated VR experience capturing New York City’s punk scene in the ‘70s, narrated by Rosario Dawson, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, received special mention at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and won the grand prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma.
Brand New School, a modern creative company specializing in design, animation and live-action production, maintains offices in New York, Los Angeles and now Barcelona.
Changing OpenAI’s Nonprofit Structure Would Raise Questions and Heightened Scrutiny
The artificial intelligence maker OpenAI may face a costly and inconvenient reckoning with its nonprofit origins even as its valuation recently exploded to $157 billion.
Nonprofit tax experts have been closely watching OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, since last November when its board ousted and rehired CEO Sam Altman. Now, some believe the company may have reached — or exceeded — the limits of its corporate structure, under which it is organized as a nonprofit whose mission is to develop artificial intelligence to benefit "all of humanity" but with for-profit subsidiaries under its control.
Jill Horwitz, a professor in law and medicine at UCLA School of Law who has studied OpenAI, said that when two sides of a joint venture between a nonprofit and a for-profit come into conflict, the charitable purpose must always win out.
"It's the job of the board first, and then the regulators and the court, to ensure that the promise that was made to the public to pursue the charitable interest is kept," she said.
Altman recently confirmed that OpenAI is considering a corporate restructure but did not offer any specifics. A source told The Associated Press, however, that the company is looking at the possibility of turning OpenAI into a public benefit corporation. No final decision has been made by the board and the timing of the shift hasn't been determined, the source said.
In the event the nonprofit loses control of its subsidiaries, some experts think OpenAI may have to pay for the interests and assets that had belonged to the nonprofit. So far, most observers agree OpenAI has carefully orchestrated its relationships between its nonprofit and its various other corporate entities to try to avoid that.
However, they also see... Read More