Sony Pictures & Music

White House Working on a “Proportional Response” to Sony Pictures Hacking

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 18, 2014 | 5 comments

The Sony Pictures hack that’s been unfolding which has now resulted on the Hollywood studio to cancel all plans to release The Interview is an event that reaches far beyond Sony. Though the incident has rocked Sony Pictures with unforeseen consequences for years to come, other studios have taken note as well. Since the group behind the incident threatened with a 9/11 style terrorism attack on patrons who would dare see the film on its then-scheduled Christmas release, other studios have begun to take note and modify their projects. Specifically, New Regency has cancelled a Steve Carell North Korean thriller that was set to be directed by Gore Verbrinski and Paramount Pictures has pulled Team America: World Police, the satirical film from the creators of South Park, which debuted exactly a decade ago in theaters.

Since Sony Pictures decided to pull The Interview from theaters, The Alamo Drafthouse, an upscale theater chain in Austin, Texas had decided to show Team America instead, which ended with the team killing Kim Jung-il, father of Kim Jung-un, who was the target of The Interview. However, as you can see, Paramount Pictures has since pulled that film as well.

With Hollywood studios deciding to play it safe against would-be hackers and pulling any film that depicts North Korea, it’s up to The White House to formulate a response – and that’s exactly what they might do.

Why Sony Pictures Should Release ‘The Interview’ on Crackle (Which is Free)

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 17, 2014 | 4 comments

Thanks to the whole threat of 9/11 style terrorism and all, Sony Pictures has decided to pull The Interview from theaters. For those unfamiliar, the group behind the Sony Pictures hack recently upped their ante against the Hollywood studio and the American public by declaring all those who opt to see the Seth Rogan and James Franco comedy on Christmas Day as viable targets. While not pulling the film at that time, Rogan and Franco canceled all of their press events to promote the film. Soon after, Sony Pictures made it clear that it would be fine if theaters opted to not show the film.

Now, Sony Pictures is officially pulling the movie from theaters. Though according to Homeland Security there is little evidence of an actual threat, SP likely wants this saga to end as soon as possible. While in an ideal world they would be standing up to terrorists and stand for American ideals where we don’t change our lives due to fear, Sony also likely doesn’t want to be involved with such headlines should there be an actual attack. So will the theatrical cancelation of The Interview mean the former cyber criminals and now terrorist group get the last laugh?

Not if Sony listens to our plan that not only sends a direct ‘F You’ to the group behind it and North Korea, be it if they are involved or not. But it also helps one of the company’s younger services (Crackle) which sure could use a national campaign. Meet me after the jump.

Leaked Channing Tatum Email Only Makes You Like Him More

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 17, 2014 | 0 comments

In my book, it’s kind of hard not to like Channing Tatum. I don’t know the man nor have I ever met him but, from what I can tell, not only is he good at what he does, but he’s having fun while doing it. This is an important thing because when you tend to enjoy what you do, you also bring joy to those around it. I’ve made it quite clear that we won’t be posting any leaked emails and till now we haven’t. You can read my reasonings here. This email however is an exception because it’s short (kind of, you’ll see why) but just shows you his attitude towards things, and doesn’t reveal anything other than Tatum’s fun personality.

When the box office returns for the opening weekend of 22 Jump Street were announced, the action comedy starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill came in second on the list of best-ever opening weekends for R-rated comedy. Till that point, Seth MacFarlane’s Ted held the number two spot. Channing’s email to Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal and other studio execs awaits you after the jump.

Sony Pictures Hackers Graduate From Cyber Terrorism to Real Terrorism

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 16, 2014 | 0 comments

The group behind the Sony Pictures hack that has devastated the Hollywood studio with unknown repercussions that will likely be felt for years has, until now, remained in the realm of the internet. That is to say that, while their attacks have had an enormously negative impact on Sony Pictures and its staff members that are caught in all of this, all of their actions have existed in the cyber world. As we approach December 25th, the release date for The Interview, a comedy by Seth Rogan and James Franco where the two attempt an assassination on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, #GOP, the group believed to be behind the attacks, has steadily upped their threats.

Just yesterday, the group revealed that they have a “Christmas gift” for Sony that will be their biggest one yet. Unfortunately, we know what they mean by that as the group has decided to graduate from cyber terrorism to real terrorism. Details after the jump.

Hackers Preparing “Christmas Gift” For Sony Pictures

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 15, 2014 | 0 comments

The hacker group ~~country?~~ ~~North Korea?~~ behind the Sony Pictures hack doesn’t seem to be done with the Hollywood studio quite yet. Since the original hacking which took place three weeks ago, the group has steadily released sensitive data from Sony Pictures. The released documents have ranged from embarrassing emails between executives with less than flattering language to financial results and accounting practices on films. While we’ve done our best to keep you up to date on this ongoing saga, we’ve decided to not post any of the revealed private information as we’d simply be furthering and helping the hackers in our opinion. You can read about our decision here.

Despite multiple massive data dumps which have included five films from Sony Pictures, four which are unreleased, the group promises more to come with the biggest one yet to be released on Christmas.

We are preparing for you a Christmas gift

After the jump, more details.

Sony Considered Selling Crackle to ‘Save the Year’

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 12, 2014 | 0 comments

One of the lesser reveals from the hacking incident from Sony Pictures that frankly I feel is far more important than what Entertainment Chairman Amy Pascal said privately to somebody else in an email is the fate of Crackle. For those unfamiliar with Crackle, Sony’s free streaming service, I encourage you to read our previous in depth take on the service to really get a feel for it. According to information, Sony Pictures considered selling Crackle as late as November though since that time, the deal seems to be off. Who considered purchasing Crackle and for how much? All those details after the jump.

Why Posting Private Sony Pictures Information Is An Attack On Our Privacy

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 11, 2014 | 0 comments

There seems to be a very disturbing trend among mega sites like The Verge, Gawker (surprised?), and others where every information that’s revealed from the Sony Pictures hack is turned into a full blown, multi-thousand word article. As you likely know by now, Sony Pictures was hacked over two weeks ago by what’s likely a state sponsored attack by North Korea. While the reasoning behind it is unclear, many believe that it’s due to Sony Pictures upcoming comedy The Interview in which Seth Rogan and James Franco attempt to assassinate the country’s leader.

While there have been some interesting tidbits like Sony attempting to work with Marvel in order to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside Captain America and the gang, there has also been no shortage of articles covering private email exchanges between Sony staff members and executives. Instead of treating Sony Pictures as the victim of this attack where hackers illegally stole all this information, sites are now doing the dirty work by revealing every piece of information they can get their hands on and furthering their agenda. It should be made clear that there is a clear difference between journalists uncovering information and simply releasing private emails between Sony employees and spinning a story around them. Furthermore, with each new article covering some private exchange, sites are basically putting a price on our privacy.

Lets me explain after the jump.

Sony Pictures to Officially Name North Korea As Source of Hack?

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 3, 2014 | 0 comments

While still unofficial, it’s believed that Sony Pictures, along with security firm Mandiant, will later today announce North Korea as the hacking culprit. Nearly 10 days ago, Sony Pictures Culver City campus was the target of a brutal hacking incident which took down the studio’s computers and networks. Since that time, the Hollywood studio has made headway with getting their systems up and running though they’ve yet to fully get everything fixed. Beyond crippling their network structure, #GOP, the group which has taken responsibility for the hack, is believed to be the culprit of releasing 5 Sony Pictures films on file-sharing websites, including Fury which is still in theaters. The other four titles have yet to be released.

More details after the jump.

Hacker Group Won’t Give Up Till “Sony Pictures Collapse to the End”

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 2, 2014 | 2 comments

As the legendary Ron Burgundy himself would say, “well that escalated quickly.” Filling this under holy shit, #GOP, the group behind the Sony Pictures hack which devastated the studios computers and has resulted in 5 movies being leaked to file-sharing websites isn’t done with Sony yet. In fact, the group has now upped the ante against SP and released the following statement:

We won’t give up this attack unless Sony Pictures collapse to the end.

To make matters worse, there now appears to be a North Korean connection, further complicating the matters. Depending on how all of this goes down, Sony might as well turn it into a movie because this story is starting to have more twist and turns than a Hollywood production. After the jump, the full details, including a lengthier response from the group behind the attack.

5 Films Leaked from Sony Pictures After Hacking Incident

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 1, 2014 | 0 comments

Exactly a week ago, Sony Pictures network was completely compromised by a group of hackers known as #GOP. While not a lot is known about the group, ‘Guardians of Peace’ claims that they want ‘equality’ for employees. In addition to crippling Sony Pictures internal networks which meant internet among other things, the group claimed to have taken sensitive data from the studio. #GOP threatened that unless SP would met their demands, they would release “damning” information on the company.

While that did not or has not yet come to fruition, over the last few days, five movies from Sony Picture have leaked online, including 4 unreleased titles.

Sony Pictures Hack Partially An Inside Job?

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 25, 2014 | 0 comments

When Sony Pictures employees arrived at their Culver City campus early yesterday morning, they were greeted to a less-than-ideal situation. A group going under the name of #GOP had successfully hacked the entire studio, bringing work to a screeching halt. As a result of the hack, all computers at Sony Pictures displayed an image of a blood red skeleton with links to where Sony could find proof of the hack’s extent. That’s because, besides all computers being down and unable to even reach out to the web, the group claims that they were all able to find damning information that Sony Pictures does not want people to see.

Despite claiming that unless Sony met their demands by 6:00PM EST that they would release the given information, there appears to be no leaked documents yet. However, computers at Sony Pictures remain to be down in what appears to be a partial inside job with a goal towards ‘equality’ for employees.

Plot twist, right? Details after the jump.

Massive Security Breach Hits Sony Pictures

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 24, 2014 | 1 comment

Hot on the heels of – and likely unrelated to – the fake hacking of Sony Mobile earlier today, Sony Pictures has been hit by a massive hacking attack. According to reports, when Sony Pictures employees came to their computers this morning, they were greeted with the picture above when they attempted to log in. Since that time, all computers on the Culver City campus appear to be down. As the image above shows, the creepy skeleton image reads “Hacked by #GOP”and demands that “requests be met” along with links to leaked data to show how legitimate their hack is.

Sony Pictures Crackle Offers Hollywood Without Being Hollywood

by Sohrab Osati | Aug 28, 2014 | 5 comments

Last week on Sunset Boulevard, Sony Pictures held a premiere party for Sequestered and The Cleaners: Season 2. Both shows are original series in the vein of House of Cards on Netflix and star some noteworthy actors. In the case of Sequestered, you can find Jesse Bradford (Flags of Our Fathers), Summer Glau (Firefly), Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement), and Bruce Davison (X-Men) on the freshman 30-minute show while Cleaners, going on season 2, has Robin Thomas Grossman (Pacific Rim) and David Arquette (Scream). As you’d expect with any red carpet event, there were plenty of beautiful people and enough camera flashes to make you dizzy with a fun premiere party to follow that, with full disclosure, we attended.

When you step back and look at Crackle and the event, you notice something interesting – it’s a media platform from Hollywood that isn’t Hollywood. Yes, we attended a red carpet event, but it wasn’t on Hollywood Boulevard. Yes, the shows have star power, but they are not Kevin Spacey, and yes, the service is available on just as many devices that support Netflix, yet their business model is completely different and that’s when it hits you. Crackle, from a distance, is a lot like the establishments we know, yet it’s completely different from them. Instead of creating a Netflix clone, Sony Pictures is taking a different approach with Crackle that gives it the Hollywood ties when it requires it to produce compelling content, and yet also keeps it away from them to give you something different.

So what the heck is Crackle and its shows, like Sequestered? Let’s talk after the jump.

Poll: Have You Heard of Crackle?

by Allegra Osati | Aug 17, 2014 | 1 comment

Crackle is Sony’s response to sites like Hulu and Netflix – with a twist! With free access and original content, it’s a good deal – but have you heard of it?

‘The Last of Us’ Movie to be Different Than Its Game Counterpart

by Sohrab Osati | Aug 12, 2014 | 4 comments

As you’ve probably heard and hopefully experienced, The Last of Us, be it on the PS3 or now PS4 is a masterpiece. Thrilling gameplay, beautiful visuals, and a haunting score make it one of the highest award video games ever. But the true soul of the game like any Hollywood film isn’t in the visual spectacle, but the script. At its heart, The Last of Us is about a broken man that’s told in a post apocalyptic world. Unlike a film thats usually about 2 hours in lengthy, Naughty Dog and company had over 15 hours to tell their tale, something that they won’t be able to do once The Last of Us film is released.

To help make the transition from video game to the silver screen, Neil Druckmann, Creative Director on The Last of Us is doing some major rewrites to make the film happen.

In two hours you can’t tell the same kind of story that you can in a game like The Last of Us, which is 15 hours

More details about The Last of Us movie after the jump.