For Nice Girls, the talented team at CGEV (Compagnie Générale des Effets Visuels) once again showcased their expertise in delivering high-quality visual effects that serve the story. Known as one of France’s leading VFX studios, CGEV brought subtle but impactful enhancements to the film, blending their technical precision with artistic finesse.From atmospheric compositing to seamless digital augmentation, their invisible effects helped heighten the film’s tone without drawing attention away from the narrative. Headed by Alain Carsoux, the Paris-based studio has grown to international acclaim, working with global streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney. With over 700 films under their belt and a dedicated team of artists across France, CGEV continues to push creative boundaries and represent French VFX excellence on the world stage. The post NICE GIRLS – VFX BREAKDOWN by CGEV appeared first on Vfxexpress.

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. The creator economy has evolved from a marketing tactic to a C-suite priority, driven by a cultural shift that positions creators at the core of brand strategy. Over the past decade, it has transformed from a niche segment of digital culture into one of the most powerful forces shaping modern businesses.  Today, creators sit at the epicenter of consumer attention, shaping purchasing decisions, brand perceptions, and cultural trends at scale. This evolution didn’t happen by accident. The movement from the fringes of culture to the mainstream was propelled by creators’ ability to authentically connect with audiences, build communities, and operate as entrepreneurial media company owners. In doing so, they’ve transformed how brands connect with customers and reshaped the core of modern marketing and communications.  Creators have proven they’re more than content producers or influencers. They’re strategic partners shaping the future of business. In 2023, many C-suite executives reached a new level of familiarity and comfort with the creator economy as the industry continued to evolve. Now, part way into 2025, that awareness is cementing. Creators are no longer an experimental line item in the marketing budget; they’re critical growth partners driving innovation, storytelling, and consumer loyalty.   Embrace the creator economy  Creators have become a boardroom priority. They’re shaping conversations at marketing events, influencing business meetings, and redefining how brands connect with consumers. My biggest piece of advice? Plan early and plan integrated. A creator strategy shouldn’t be an afterthought—it should be embedded from the start, whether in a campaign’s early planning stages or during product development. Creators don’t just understand the audience; they are the audience. And they’re masters of the platforms where real influence happens today.  By embracing this early on, brands will position themselves for long-term relevance. Those that hesitate risk falling behind, as creators continue to command cultural and consumer influence.  The rise of creators is part of a bigger cultural shift, and brands can’t afford to ignore it. The creator revolution is changing what consumers expect and how businesses drive product awareness and sales.  This year, we’ll see more creators diversify their collaboration as strategic partners across multi-dimensional industries. The conversations that began as niche marketing discussions are now guiding decisions in innovation labs, investor presentations, and executive off-sites.  Creators are shaping brands  Creators aren’t just marketing assets anymore. They’re reshaping how we think about building brands from the ground up.  “Today, creators are redefining how stories are told, connecting with audiences in deeply personal and immediate ways. Prioritizing creators isn’t just an opportunity—it’s essential, which is why the Tribeca Festival launched its creators vertical in partnership with the Whalar Group last year,” said ​​Chris Brady, president, global chief commercial officer at Tribeca Enterprises. “Creators are shaping culture, driving conversations, and changing the future of entertainment. To stay competitive, global brands and platforms must recognize them as essential voices in this new era.”   The time for hesitation is over. Brands that see creators as mere marketing tools will be left behind. Those that embrace them as strategic partners and extensions of their team will shape the future, while the rest struggle to keep up. The creator economy isn’t just here to stay—it’s a growing focus in the boardroom, and in 2025, it will distinguish the leaders from the followers.  Neil Waller is co-CEO and cofounder of the Whalar Group. 

Denver-based Studio Hock is a drone light show production company with two decades of experience. They recently pulled off this impressive display in New York, coordinating their drones to resemble King Kong climbing the Empire State Building: It can't be understated how technically challenging this was. Most of the drone shows we've seen have been fireworks simulations and aerial displays, conducted over wide-open fields with few vertical obstructions. But 34th Street in Manhattan is a very different animal, bristling with buildings whose reflective glass and steel structures can distort GPS signals and provide magnetic interference. Studio Hock compensated by building their own custom correction network for their drones, allowing for dynamic syncing that managed to block out the noise while correcting for wind drift. The result was that their custom Helios drones could maintain a positional precision of less than 2"!"All of it — the precision, the motion, the timing — ran on something special we've been developing called Helios Protocol," the company writes. "And yes, this all took place in one of the most tightly restricted pieces of airspace in the country. Every detail was cleared, calculated, and executed with zero room for error."You can see more of their stuff here.

I’ve always envied people with tattoos—the commitment, the clarity, the sheer audacity of saying, “Yes, I want this specific thing on my body forever.” Me? I panic when choosing a wallpaper for my phone. Picking one single image to define my space, let alone my skin, is a level of confidence I’ve never unlocked. Even when it comes to wall art, I freeze. I love artwork, I really do, but settling on a piece feels like choosing a tattoo. Sure it’s not permanent, but the friction of changing a wall painting is high. Find suitable artwork, print it, cut it, reframe it. Nope, I want something that’s as easy to change as your phone’s wallpaper. That’s where BLOOMIN8 satisfies that creative itch to constantly change home artwork. BLOOMIN8 is the world’s first smart, full-color E-Ink canvas, and working like framed art but also giving you the ability to change it on a dime. The E-Ink screen feels as close to print-on-paper as possible, while letting you constantly update what it displays – from a photo of yourself or your pet, to welcome note when you have guests over for a party, to your favorite quote of the day, and finally maybe a portrait of Kier Eagan staring you down while you binge-watch Severance. The entire thing operates with a certain magic—cord-free, screen-like without feeling screen-y, and able to swap visuals as easily as you change playlists. Designers: Francis Guo, Skyler, Chen, Piper Click Here to Buy Now: $167 $239 ($72 off). Hurry, only 73/300 left! Raised over $940,000. E-Ink displays have been around for a while, but they’ve mostly been limited to grayscale or muted tones (look at most Kindle tablets). BLOOMIN8 unlocks a full color spectrum, finally making digital art look like actual printed artwork. This is thanks to the Spectra 6 E-Ink display, which has a remarkable 200ppi resolution while offering a 30:1 contrast ratio (depending on panel size) that feels exactly like printed paper and not your average LCD or OLED display. It’s available in three sizes: Small (7.3”), Medium (13.3”), and Large (28.5”). No glaring backlight. No constant battery drain. Plus, the thing sips power so slowly that after a single charge, it can last 3-4 years without needing a top-up. The frame is purposefully minimal, blending in with your home like it’s always belonged there. The bezels are purposefully white, designed to look like the passepartout or the cardboard-ish frame seen around most paintings. The frame itself is even designed to be compatible with IKEA RÖDALM frames, which contributes immensely to the overall artistic appeal of the BLOOMIN8, helping disguise the fact that it’s actually a dynamic e-ink display. Mount it anywhere, swap it out whenever, and you’re good. There’s no ugly cord dangling down the wall either—the BLOOMIN8 is completely wireless, running on a rechargeable battery that hides neatly within its frame. Images get loaded onto the BLOOMIN8 entirely locally. There’s an SD card to let you store media that you can then display on your E-Ink canvas, but if you want app connectivity, there’s an app that lets you share images with your frame through smart-home integration. Everything happens internally, which means your images aren’t shared with BLOOMIN8’s team or even stored outside your home network. You can upload images from your gallery straight from the app, and if you do want to dabble with AI image generation, the app offers free GenAI features too, although those get created online and not on-device. The smart home integration extends to other features too, with future updates including turning the e-display into an artistic wall widget for your weather, calendar, and to-do list notifications. RESTful APIs allow developers to build more unique interactions and features for your BLOOMIN8, so what essentially feels now like just a dynamic photo frame has the capability of being so much more. Honestly, the whole thing feels like it taps into the same energy that’s been pushing TV makers and tech brands into the “art” space for years. Samsung’s Ambient Mode and The Frame TV both tried to blend screens into decor, and we all collectively humored the brief but chaotic moment when people proudly hung NFTs on their walls like they were fine art. The difference? BLOOMIN8 actually feels like art. It has the subtlety, the texture, and the vibe that screens can never fully fake. It looks like ink on paper, but dances to whatever tune you want—without wires, the commitment of a static piece of artwork, or a blockchain receipt. Click Here to Buy Now: $167 $239 ($72 off). Hurry, only 73/300 left! Raised over $940,000.The post This IKEA-Compatible Color E-Ink Photo Frame Lets You Change Art Like You Change Your Mood first appeared on Yanko Design.

And now her career is in jeopardy.

Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt for his final mission in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The official trailer teases everything fans expect from the iconic franchise—high-stakes espionage, breathtaking action, and jaw-dropping stunts. This time, the threat is global, and only Hunt can stop it.Visually, the film is a spectacle, thanks to the combined efforts of top-tier VFX studios including ILM, beloFX (with VFX Supervisor Joel Green), MPC, One of Us, RISE, Rodeo FX, and Untold Studios. Their seamless integration of practical stunts and visual effects elevates every moment, from explosive set pieces to intense chase sequences. With cutting-edge visuals and emotional weight, the final chapter promises a thrilling, unforgettable send-off for one of cinema’s most legendary spies. The post Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)  Official Trailer  appeared first on Vfxexpress.

The historic Buffalo Trace Distillery has temporarily closed after deadly flooding ravaging Kentucky swept into its facilities, forcing the popular bourbon company to turn away the public and staff. In a statement released on Sunday, the Frankfort, Kentucky-based distillery said it would remain closed through April 10 but warned that date could change. “Due to the unprecedented and ongoing rain and flooding, we are not able to advise on the impact to our total distillery footprint,” Buffalo Trace said. “We will assess those realities in the coming days as the facilities become safe to navigate and will make necessary adjustments to operations as required.” A spokesperson for Buffalo Trace declined to comment further. Days of unrelenting torrential rain in Kentucky and across the U.S. South and Midwest have caused catastrophic flooding and raised fears the damage could linger for days as rivers swell. In Frankfort, the Kentucky River curves throughout the capital city and has been known to flood. On Monday, the river was cresting at Frankfort Lock — approaching the record of 48 1/2 feet (14.78 meters) set on Dec. 10, 1978, according to CJ Padgett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Louisville, Kentucky, office. Buffalo Trace is far from the only distillery in Kentucky, the home of bourbon country, but it is one of the closest to the banks of the Kentucky River. Notably, the distillery has markers of several high-water marks from previous floods inside its Frankfort buildings, with the most recent being the 1978 flood. As of Monday, several Buffalo Trace buildings were flooded at lower levels and parking lots and cars were underwater. The water tower bearing the brand’s logo stood over the visitor center and warehouses that appeared to be inundated with water. Residents stopped to take pictures of the well-known bourbon maker’s property as it was flooded out. Traffic signs directing trucks and visitors to parking peeked over several feet of rushing water. Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American, family-owned company that has operated for more than 200 years. Its products include the holy grail for bourbon fanatics: Pappy Van Winkle, 23-year-old, which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars on resale markets. —Kimberlee Kruesi and Kristin M. Hall, Associated Press

Kickstarting your audiophile journey is much more than finding the most expensive pair of earbuds or headphones that you can afford, and playing music from lossless sources or local FLAC files. It is more about fine-tuning the elements to get the best out of your hardware and software. To elevate your audio listening hobby, a balanced output pair of IEMs or earbuds, a DAC that is high-res certified, and a high-resolution player or a phone with a high-end DAC are absolutely essential. However, if you have just started your audiophile adventures, owning these three alone can cost a lot. For that reason, Campfire Audio has released Axion, a pair of earbuds with a USB-C connector and built-in 32-bit/384kHz DAC to ease you into your music explorations. Best of all, the earbuds come at an affordable price of $249. According to Campfire Audio’s founder, Ken Ball, “We set out to provide a high-performance, accessible entry into the world of high-fidelity, portable audio. Axion checks all boxes when it comes to true hi-fi on the go: incredible sonic performance, plug-and-play usability, lightweight and comfortable.” Designer: Campfire Audio Don’t let that price make you believe these buds are average and just have the fancy Hi-Fi label slapped onto them. They actually have substance, adapting tech and nifty elements of their much higher-priced counterparts from the brand, including the Fathom and Andromeda, which cost in excess of $1,000. The in-ear earbuds are tuned very well for a balanced sonic performance and the integrated Hi-Fi DAC makes sure your audio is crisp and has a wide soundstage. The on-board full-range silicon dynamic driver brings the precision of a balanced armature driver and the warm, yet punchy output of a classic dynamic driver. This means an assured, smoother and balanced sound output that’ll please audio lovers. The USB-C cable with an in-line microphone expands the usability beyond just the audio listening experience. You can take calls or attend online meetings with the assurance of clear sound output for the listener at the other end. The three-button control panel allows the user to adjust volume levels or control media playback just like some of the other heavyweight wired options do. Having so many utilitarian features slammed into such a small package speaks volumes about Campfire’s commitment to serving its budget buyers or amateur audiophiles. Connecting them to your smartphone is going to be a breeze, especially the newer models that have ditched the 3.5mm jack for the new standard. You don’t have to buy a separate DAC just to get wired connectivity with this pair. Given all the specifications and features of the Campfire Audio Axion, it seems like a promising option for music lovers who are constrained by a budget of $300. The post USB-C compatible Campfire Audio Axion with built-in DAC comes at affordable price that’s unbeatable first appeared on Yanko Design.

GameChat allows up to 12 players to game together and is limited to friend lists as an added layer of protection.

The future of the popular video app is now at the center of a geopolitical tussle between Washington and Beijing.