Creative Projects Group

09/11/2026

We're working to stay ahead of the curve, as AI becomes an increasingly important part, not only academic education, but also in professional practice.
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Pepperdine Caruso Law Launches Practical AI Skills Student Credential
Pepperdine Caruso Law is pleased to announce the new Practical AI Skills Student Credential as part of the launch of P(AI)R for Lawyering (Pepperdine AI Readiness for Lawyering). The credential is a voluntary program designed to help students develop practical, ethical, and responsible AI skills, judgment, and professional habits for modern legal practice. Student participation is flexible, and the credential is not for academic credit and is not required for graduation.

A few highlights of the student credential are:

*A Multi-Year Journey: The credential is designed as a multi-year journey. Students may take as long as needed to complete the requirements while enrolled at Caruso Law.

*1L Fall Participation Limited: To ensure first-year students can focus on core legal studies, 1L participation during the fall semester is limited to approved training and workshops involving Westlaw, Lexis, Gemini, Harvey, and AI & Ethics. First-year students are encouraged to pursue the broader range of credential activities starting in the spring semester.

*Registration: Students can register via a registration form linked in the Practical AI Skills Student Credential Student Guide. Once registration is complete, students may list the credential on their resumes as in progress.

Pepperdine Caruso Law's P(AI)R for Lawyering was recently recognized with the 2026 Excellence in Innovation: Law Schools Award from Insight Into Academia magazine. The law school's approach will embrace and incorporate broader University AI initiatives and policies, so that P(AI)R for Lawyering remains aligned with University priorities while serving the distinct needs of legal education and the legal profession.

This commitment will allow Caruso Law to support the University’s broader vision while preparing its students, faculty, and staff to meet the changing demands of the legal profession.

The credential is a voluntary program designed to help students develop practical, ethical, and responsible AI skills, judgment, and professional habits for modern legal practice.

09/09/2026

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hollywood-ventures-group-global-membership-producers365-1236685137/

Glenn S. Gainor and Sandy Climan's HVG confirms the launch of a network for Hollywood producers and creatives while also closing a screenplay discovery pact with First-Look.

09/06/2026

As we begin the next phase of programming selection for our Impact+Profit 26 Conference, which takes place on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 7th-8th at USC's new Annenberg Center in Los Angeles, we're still looking submissions for speakers, panelists and session ideas.

Presented in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs and hosted by Hollywood, Health & Society (USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center), the Conference brings together leaders working at the intersection of entertainment, social impact, innovation, equity and purpose-driven storytelling.

We're looking for compelling voices, timely conversations and projects that demonstrate the power of storytelling to drive meaningful change. We'd love to consider your leadership team, clients, executives, creators, talent, nonprofit and business thought leaders for the program.

We've been reviewing submissions on a rolling basis, with the current OPEN CALL CLOSING this Thursday, Sept. 10th.
SUBMIT: I+P26 Content Committee Form
https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSfNzxI7q4HCCF.../viewform

Please include:
Speaker name, title, and organization
Brief description of the proposed topic, panel, or session idea
Relevant work, campaigns, research, or thought leadership
Any availability considerations for Dec. 7-8

08/28/2026

Interesting overview on AI leaders: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/ as well as the process for selecting them for this list: https://time.com/article/2026/08/27/how-we-chose-time100-ai-2026/

08/23/2026

Read this article "Harry and Meghan See Their California Dreams, and Riches, Fade Away" https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/22/us/meghan-harry-hollywood-uk-move.html in the "NY Times" this morning.

Delighted to see that our friend, Leo Braudy's epic book https://www.amazon.com/Frenzy-Renown-Fame-Its-History/dp/0679776303 was referenced. Leo was interviewed and quoted in the article, providing context to the recent flurry of headlines about the Royal couple's returning to England.

As noted in the article:

“There has always been this aura here, this magical thinking,” said Leo Braudy, a Los Angeles cultural historian and the author of “The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History.” “Everybody thinks, ‘I’m beautiful,’ or ‘I’m handsome.’ Everybody thinks, ‘If those people can make it in Hollywood, so can I.’”

But most people don’t make it, he said, and throughout history, even otherwise wealthy and powerful people have mistakenly imagined that success in other fields would automatically translate to show business glory.

“If there were an easy path to success in show business,” Mr. Braudy said, “there would be a lot fewer flops in Hollywood.”

And. as noted in review of his book:

"For Alexander the Great, fame meant accomplishing what no mortal had ever accomplished before. For Julius Caesar, personal glory was indistinguishable from that of Rome. The early Christians devalued public recognition, believing that the only true audience was God. And Marilyn Monroe owed much of her fame to the fragility that led to self-destruction. These are only some of the dozens of figures that populate Leo Braudy’s panoramic history of fame, a book that tells us as much about vast cultural changes as it does about the men and women who at different times captured their societies' regard.

Spanning thousands of years and fields ranging from politics to literature and mass media, The Frenzy of Renown explores the unfolding relationship between the famous and their audiences, between fame and the representations that make it possible. Hailed as a landmark at its original publication and now reissued with a new Afterword covering the last tumultuous decade, here is a major work that provides our celebrity-obsessed, post-historical society with a usable past."

08/10/2026

One of the benefits of living in a vibrant creative community, is being able to share in the launch of friends' creations. Yesterday was one such occasion at the book-signing for Jon Boorstin's new work.

The book, as described by the publisher: "What does it mean to be an American? Historian Daniel J. Boorstin, one of the most important public intellectuals of the twentieth century, spent a lifetime pondering that question. In his revelatory book "The American," Boorstin's son Jon, a novelist and Oscar-nominated filmmaker, probes this question to tell the biographical story his father never told: a chronicle of family, racial conflict, and immigrant Jewish life in twentieth-century America." https://www.ugapress.org/9780820377070/the-american/

08/05/2026

What ‘Ted Lasso’ teaches us about friendship

UCLA professor Jaimie Krems talks about the humanity behind the show's humor and the importance of human connection.

08/03/2026

An honor and a pleasure to be one of the nominating Jurors for the annual Norman Lear Awards. It's a chance to watch and admire the incredible work of brilliant creators "telling stories for TV that make a difference."

https://hollywoodhealthandsociety.org/2026-norman-lear.../

08/02/2026

Al Roker’s Looking for Discipline After the Story

At this year’s Social Innovation Summit, a panel from Al Roker Entertainment, moderated by Al Roker, returned the field to first principles with a single question: why are we telling these stories? The panel’s framing drew a distinction every content creator should internalize, that is, attention is a result, trust is a relationship and he located the real work not in the telling, but in what comes after.

For social impact entertainment, that “after” is where our field’s credibility now lives.

We have spent years trying to prove that stories can move people. Reach became our default currency because it is the easiest thing to count. But a metric that confirms a view without telling you whether it mattered is only considering attention.

At this year’s Social Innovation Summit, a panel from Al Roker Entertainment, moderated by Al Roker, returned the field to first principles with a single question: why are we telling these stories? The panel’s framing drew a distinction every content creator should internalize, that is, attentio...

07/29/2026

Saddened to read today's news. We have lost, at such a young age, one of the outstanding artistic voices of his generation.

Along with Gabriel Yared, Glen Hansard composed and recorded such beautiful music and songs for our animated feature film: https://gibransprophetmovie.com/ performing some together with fellow Irish artist, Lisa Hannigan.

https://www.rogerebert.com/tributes/raise-your-hopeful-voice-glen-hansard-1970-2026