Executive producer Thomas Rossano to lead new venture
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XRโs offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role heโs held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossanoโs expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the companyโs creative talent network. Rossanoโs career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that companyโs inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile campaigns for such brands as ESPN Sports Center, Progressive, Febreze, Burger King, Mercedes-Benz and more.
Rossano said heโs enthused to be at the helm of Electric XR at โsuch a pivotal time. This venture represents a unique opportunity to combine our strengths and Iโm looking forward to contributing my experience and working with such a talented team to tackle the needs of todayโs fast-paced, ever-evolving industry.โ
After years of collaboration, Yacht Club officially joined forces with SCHROM in 2023, combining their talent and resources to offer a comprehensive approach to live-action, tabletop, CGI and still photography projects, spanning everything from broadcast to social media content. XR-NY allows SCHROM x Yacht Club to provide virtual production stage rentals and workflow solutions beyond their own productions. As part of Electric XR, XR-NYโs 35,000-square-foot facility in Nyack, NY now includes two LED stages: a dedicated XR stage with a 50-foot-wide LED volume wall and a flexible second stage with a movable 15 ft x 10 ft LED wall, ideal for tabletop, inserts and talking heads.
โWith our new virtual production capabilities, we aim to be recognized as a top-tier, full-service partner for brands and agenciesโa one-stop shop for live action, tabletop, still photography, virtual production, and post,โ shared Yacht Club partner/EP Joe DePasquale. โBy integrating virtual production into our daily operations, we treat it as one part of the bigger picture, not the entire focus. Itโs a tool–just like any other–composed of equipment, technicians, and artists. Our goal is to bridge the gap between the various elements of production, so clients donโt have to juggle multiple partners to receive A+ creative, efficiency and service from pre-production through to finish.โ
Be Electric Studios operates a second 10,000 sq. ft. facility in Brooklyn, NY, which features a fully soundproofed 50-foot-wide LED volume. As one of the few commercial production-backed XR companies in the U.S. offering multiple full-sized LED volumes in-house, Electric XR delivers seamless virtual production for projects of all sizes–from single shots to full campaigns–at competitive pricing to suit a range of budgets.
โIโm excited to create a virtual production system that brings the virtual and real words together, transforming how we approach storytelling in film,โ said Justin Lee, ICVFX supervisor of Be Electric Studios. โWith a talented team and a vision for the future, weโre ready to execute on this new frontier.โ
โVirtual production merges innovation with artistry, giving creators the tools to craft immersive worlds and dynamic stories like never before,โ added Andrew Stern, CEO of Be Electric Studios. โElectric XR enhances both creativity and production efficiency, placing us at the forefront of this evolution.โ
Electric XR brings a unique advantage with two locations, one in Nyack, NY and the other in Brooklyn, NY. The Nyack location has an additional mobile LED wall, perfect for tabletop productions and flexible enough to support multiple XR productions across two stages simultaneously. The Brooklyn location is drive-in capable, and has a 20โx20โ adjustable height LED ceiling, perfect for car processes. In addition to serving SCHROM x Yacht Club productions, Electric XRโs services are available for third-party commercial rentals, as well as film, TV and entertainment projects. With an in-house VFX team capable of designing custom backdrops in CGI or Unreal Engine at competitive rates, Electric XR is set to make virtual production an accessible tool, positioning the three entities as a flexible and cost-effective solution for a wide range of production needs.
โIntegrating Electric XR into our operations is a game changer for SCHROM x Yacht Club,โ said head of production Andrew Greenberg. โHaving these tools in-house, along with a dedicated staff operator, allows us to continuously innovate–developing new workflows, exploring the full potential of the technology, and refining how it supports diverse creative approaches.โ
Electric XR was created as a cooperative with XR New York and Be Electric Studios, merging their virtual production operations to offer expanded resources, equipment and personnel. The partnership enhances studio availability and provides clients with the flexibility to shoot in either Brooklyn or the Hudson Valley.
If a project calls for it, clients have the option of accessing SCHROM x Yacht Clubโs directorial roster which includes Michael Schrom, Matt Morgan, Jake Ladehoff and Thomas Leistein Schneider.
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 โ or exceeded โ 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