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This Realm IQ Sessions episode features Chris Li, a serial entrepreneur and educator, discussing mental health innovation for Gen Z. As the co-founder of Say!t Mental Health, Chris shares his journey from teaching at UCLA and managing billion-dollar portfolios to launching a nonprofit that fuses peer-led campus clubs with a gamified emotional check-in app.

Chris and host Curt Doty explore the role of ChatGPT in mental health, the emotional intelligence gap in AI, and how data from real human experiences—collected ethically—could be used to train AI with empathy and soul. The conversation also critiques traditional university mental health services and addresses the alarming rise in depression and suicide among youth aged 10–24. Say It’s mission is not only to provide access but to train AI to understand human emotion by prioritizing trust, transparency, and Gen Z leadership.

Topics Discussed

• Why Gen Z uses ChatGPT for emotional support
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) vs IQ in the age of AI
• The dangers and limitations of AI as a mental health tool
• Peer-led mental health support vs traditional therapy
• Gen Z’s achievement pressure and emotional struggles
• Ethical and transparent data sharing for AI training
• Training LLMs to be emotionally intelligent (Theory of Mind)
• Opt-in privacy practices modeled after GDPR
• The role of Gen Z in shaping emotionally aware AI
• Challenges in mental health funding and access
• Critique of current mental health infrastructure on campuses
• Big Tech’s failure to build emotionally resonant AI

Quotes

“ChatGPT is a smart parrot. It has no EQ.”
— Chris Li

“The success of any technology is trust. It’s the only thing that matters when you're dealing with Gen Z.”
— Chris Li

“They don’t need another lecture. They need a safe place to be real.”
— Chris Li on peer-led clubs

“We’re not building an LLM. We’re building trust.”
— Chris Li

“Gen Z is the AI generation. It’s their responsibility to train it with empathy.”
— Chris Li

“The problem isn’t access. It’s that the services don’t speak Gen Z’s language.”
— Chris Li

“AI needs soul. And soul comes from real human data—not performative social media.”
— Curt Doty

“At age 15, kids are having panic attacks. That’s just not right.”
— Chris Li

“Let’s go beyond what’s legal and do what’s right.”
— Chris Li on data privacy

“We modeled our opt-in system after GDPR and Apple’s transparency. No hidden third parties.”
— Chris Li

Website:

https://sayitmentalhealth.org

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RealmIQ: Sessions – Episode Summary

In this thought-provoking episode of RealmIQ: SESSIONS, Curt Doty interviews media entrepreneur Joshua Otten, a veteran in IP monetization and emerging technologies. The conversation dives deep into how generative AI is disrupting Hollywood’s traditional studio model — not by replacing creatives, but by empowering them to bypass the system entirely.

Otten shares his vision of a new, creator-led production paradigm where AI tools enable filmmakers to produce high-quality, cost-effective content, own their IP, and control distribution. He argues that the real opportunity isn’t building another AI tool, but applying existing open-source solutions to rethink workflows, rights management, and storytelling.

The duo critiques Big Tech’s race to commoditize AI and extract profits, emphasizing instead the importance of collaboration, hybrid workflows, and public benefit. They address the legal gray areas around copyright in AI-generated content and advocate for workflows that ensure both protection and originality.

Curt and Josh also spotlight the CLOWD AI Film Festival, which promotes ethical, hybrid AI filmmaking and champions creators with real storytelling chops. They discuss the importance of elevating AI films beyond YouTube virality, envisioning a future where real humans and real tools work in concert to reimagine what filmmaking can be.

Whether you're a filmmaker, technologist, or IP nerd, this episode is a compelling exploration of AI’s promise — and peril — in the future of storytelling.

Topics Discussed

• AI disruption in media and entertainment
• Hollywood’s outdated studio system and distribution monopoly
• The studio vs. creator power shift enabled by AI
• Copyright law in the age of AI
• Creative ownership vs. public domain issues
• Commoditization of AI tools and open-source alternatives
• Importance of hybrid workflows for copyright protection
• Opportunities for collaborative, independent filmmaking
• Role of AI in post-production vs. content creation
• CLOWD AI Film Festival and ethical filmmaking
• Transmedia storytelling and future of interactive content
• Public benefit vs. shareholder capitalism in big tech

URLs Mentioned

• Likeness Labs: https://www.likenesslabs.ai
• CLOWD AI Film Festival: https://www.clowdfilmfestival.com (user's implied)
• 24i (CTV platform mentioned): https://www.24i.com

Quotes

“Let’s stop trying to get our movie made by the studios and start making our own movies using these tools.” — Joshua Otten

“The real disruption is not AI replacing artists. It’s AI replacing studios.” — Joshua Otten

“If you’re a filmmaker, your strategic advantage is storytelling. Most AI users have no idea how to tell a story.” — Curt Doty

“AI is not the enemy — it's the tool that gives creatives more control over production, IP, and distribution.” — Joshua Ott

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In this episode of RealmIQ: SESSIONS, host Curt Doty interviews Yulia Gushchina, Head of Strategic Business Development at Filmustage, and discuss how their dynamic AI platform empowers filmmakers in pre-production processes such as script breakdowns, scheduling, analysis, synopsis crafting, and budgeting. She contrasts AI adoption in filmmaking between the U.S. and Europe, highlighting the faster pace in Hollywood and the stricter regulatory framework in the EU under the AI Act.

While AI is accelerating certain tasks and will inevitably transform post-production roles, Yulia stresses that AI output still requires human oversight, cleanup, and responsibility. Filmustage is working to educate users and build trust as the industry navigates this technological shift.

TOPICS DISCUSSED

• Filmustage’s AI pre-production platform
• Differences in AI adoption between U.S. and Europe
• Impact of EU AI regulations on business processes
• AI’s role in speeding up script breakdown, scheduling, and budgeting
• Indie filmmakers as early AI adopters
• Studios’ use of AI for rapid film project analysis
• Importance of interoperability with other tools
• Data privacy, IP protection, and security certifications
• Future of AI in filmmaking and post-production
• AI as a tool vs. replacement of creative roles
• Customer education and user support processes

PULL QUOTES

“Indie filmmakers are making this revolution, that’s for sure. They want results, they don’t have a lot of money, they have brilliant ideas and they want to get the result.”
— Yulia Gushchina

“There’s no magic—it’s just software. Machine learning made by humans, not perfect.”
— Yulia Gushchina

“It’s the Wild West. So it’s very interesting that, as you’re developing your policies and your contracts, the government is weighing in and making recommendations—not really looking over your shoulder, but being that helpful partner, so to speak, to enable AI adoption.”
— Curt

“Indie is going to lead the way in this, and even in documentaries. I think there’s ways to use AI in documentaries with historical recreations and stuff like that… help support when you don’t have footage of Henry VIII.”
— Curt

“The challenge is not making faster films, but always making better films. Even without AI, Hollywood can pump out really bad movies.”
— Curt

“That first AI film that launches is going to be judged as a film, not as an ‘AI film,’ and suffer critique based on the story, the performance, the emotion—all those traditional things found in films.”
— Curt

“I’m interested in seeing what those professionals do with these tools—not be displaced, but become a superpower within the industry.”
— Curt

“It’s good to know that there’s still humans behind customer service, right? Everything can’t get automated yet.”
— Curt

“The number one concern in Hollywood is, number one, the protection of IP.”
— Curt

Learn more at

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In this episode of RealmIQ: Sessions, Host Curt Doty talks with Lisa Trublet de Nermont, a film tech entrepreneur and former Vimeo exec, shares the origin and mission of her new AI platform: Sinima, the first AI operating system (OS) for filmmakers. Designed to protect and empower creators, Sinima aims to bring ethical IP management, ownership, and monetization into the evolving AI filmmaking landscape. Lisa and the host dive into the intersection of AI, Web3, traditional Hollywood, and creator-first ecosystems, discussing the risks of generative AI misuse, the failure of big tech to protect artists, and how Sinima could redefine the future of filmmaking.

🧠 Topics Discussed:

• Lisa’s career from film marketing to B2B SaaS to founding Cinema
• Vulnerabilities of creators using mainstream AI platforms (e.g., Runway, Midjourney, OpenAI)
• The IP ownership crisis and unethical training data practices
• Sinima as a creator-first AI OS with Web3 and blockchain integration
• Watermarking, real-time IP misuse alerts, and military-grade protection
• The Sinima marketplace for creators to sell trained assets and models
• Token usage monitoring for production efficiency and cost control
• Sinima’s support for hybrid filmmaking and legacy tool integration
• A new model for A-list talent to control and monetize their likeness
• Democratizing Hollywood: talent, unions, and the future of collaboration
• Replacing fragmented AI toolchains with seamless, frictionless production
• Future of AI films: hybrid vs. fully AI-generated
• Sinima’s startup strategy: lean, smart, and ethics-first
• Call to action for investors, guilds, and creators to join the movement

💬 Pull Quotes:

“We’re not building a tool. We’re building an operating system—for filmmakers to own, create, and monetize their IP, ethically.” — Lisa

“Legacy Hollywood is slow and bloated. Cinema is lean and lightning-fast—built by filmmakers, for filmmakers.” — Lisa

“We don't even have access to what users build. It's like a bank vault for your IP.” — Lisa

“People have shiny object syndrome. They're moving fast without thinking about the intellectual property damage.” — Lisa

“Studios are chasing cost savings. But the real value is re-employing the creative workforce with new models of ownership.” — Curt

“Imagine if Scorsese trained his own tone, look, and style—and sold it. That’s the future Sinima enables.” — Lisa

“The first truly AI-generated film will be judged like any other. It won't be an AI film. It will be a film.” — Curt

“Actors should have the right to license themselves for reshoots. It’s flexibility and fairness, not replacement.” — Lisa

“If we don’t build ethical AI platforms now, the studios will lose their talent. Full stop.” — Lisa

“I’m not trying to be first. I’m trying to be right.” — Lisa

Join the Waitlist - https://www.bright-theory.com/sinima-os

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In this season 3 episode of RealmIQ: SESSIONS, Curt talks with Tim El Sheikh, founder of Nebuli and host of The CEO Retort podcast, joins from London to unpack his extraordinary journey from biomedical science and competitive sports to launching one of the world’s first augmented intelligence studios. The conversation explores his early exposure to tech in Abu Dhabi, the collision of sports and science in his life, and the ethical dilemmas that led him to create a human-centered, VC-free AI company.

Together, Curt and Tim examine the broken state of AI ethics, the commodification of personal data, why regulation is necessary but insufficient, and how trust—not scale—will define the next wave of innovation. They close by imagining a utopian “solarpunk” future where ethics and imagination guide AI development, not greed or dystopian fantasies.

Topics Discussed

• Tim’s origin story: From martial arts and basketball to biomedical science and coding
• Founding an ad network for scientific journals pre-Google Ads
• Early ethical red flags around user data sharing in biotech
• The birth of Nebuli: ethics-first, VC-free AI studio
• AI in science, healthcare, education, and the environment
• Dangers of unregulated AI and irresponsible VC-driven tech
• Copyright, data scraping, and etiquette in AI training
• Politics, misinformation, and the Hollywood-ification of AI
• Why we won’t reach AGI in five years (and maybe never should)
• The post-hype AI future and the necessity of trust
• Utopian vs dystopian narratives: choosing imagination over fear
• How creators, not governments, may save AI’s future

Quotes

"There's no intelligence in AI. It doesn't know you're a child. It doesn't know the content is toxic."
— Tim El Sheikh

"I realized I could no longer be part of a system where investors said, ‘Let’s just sell Kurt’s data.’"
— Tim El Sheikh

"We pride ourselves as one of the very few AI companies that have no VCs. That independence is an advantage."
— Tim El Sheikh

"Innovation isn’t stifled by regulation. What stifles innovation is lack of imagination and lack of funding."
— Tim El Sheikh

"Trust is going to be the most important differentiator in AI after the hype dies."
— Tim El Sheikh

"If we can terraform Mars, why not regenerate the Sahara? There's still oxygen there."
— Tim El Sheikh

"Hollywood has warped our understanding of AI. We don’t need humanoids. That’s not where the magic is."
— Curt Doty

"I’m an AI optimist—but I’m realistic too. We need to expose the good and the bad."
— Curt Doty

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In this episode of RealmIQ: SESSIONS, Curt interviews Alex Serdiuk, co-founder and CEO of Respeecher, an Emmy Award-winning AI voice cloning company based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Alex shares the journey of building Respeecher, its early breakthroughs, and how the company now works with top Hollywood studios, game developers, and the music industry. He discusses how synthetic voice technology is being ethically applied to dubbing, accent correction, and resurrecting historical or deceased voices—while also confronting controversy, fear, and ethical landmines in emerging media.

The conversation dives into voice cloning used for Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian, accent correction in The Brutalist, and the resurrection of hip-hop artists' voices through Vocal Roots AI. Alex emphasizes the critical importance of ethics, permissions, and trust when using synthetic voice, and shares insights into the future of voice-first interfaces, synthetic media, and new real-time applications of Respeecher's technology.

Topics Discussed

• Origin and evolution of Respeecher
• Voice cloning breakthroughs at Grammarly Hackathon
• AI use in Hollywood films (The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett)
• Gaming industry’s demand for scalable voiceover solutions
• Use of AI for character voices, aging voices, and localization
• The Brutalist controversy and media misinterpretations
• Accent correction and AI’s role in post-production
• Ethics and permission-based voice synthesis
• Vocal Roots AI: Reanimating hip-hop legends with Frank Nitty
• Synthetic voice for multilingual music and interactive artist engagement
• Deepfake concerns vs. synthetic media
• Trust and transparency in AI creative collaborations
• New real-time text-to-speech capabilities
• Respeecher’s future in hospitality, holograms, and real-time AI agents
• Challenges of educating clients, investors, and creatives
• Concept of Creative-Centered AI and synthetic media as a legitimate category

Quotes

"The goal of high-quality synthetic voice technology is to be indistinguishable from real speech."
— Alex Serdiuk

"We are conservative with ethics. No one can use Respeecher without the voice owner's permission."
— Alex Serdiuk

"Trust is what makes top talent like Mark Hamill and Adrian Brody comfortable using our tech."
— Alex Serdiuk

"The technology is neutral. It's creatives who define its purpose and elevate its potential."
— Alex Serdiuk

"Creative-centered AI is what will elevate this technology—it’s not just tech, it's about imagination."
— Curt Doty

"Synthetic media is a new category that deserves distinction from deepfakes."
— Curt Doty

"We’re at the edge of a change where our devices aren’t just tools—they’re partners."
— Alex Serdiuk

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In this podcast episode of RealmIQ: SESSIONS we feature Andy Beach, a technology strategist, advisor, and author, specializing in AI, media, and digital transformation. As the former CTO of Media & Entertainment at Microsoft, Beach shares insights into AI's impact across industries, including media, sports, entertainment, and music. The discussion covers AI-driven workflows, copyright concerns, ethical AI, and how AI is reshaping production, content distribution, and consumer interaction.

Topics Discussed

• AI’s impact on media, entertainment, and sports
• AI’s evolution in content production, distribution, and monetization
• Hollywood’s slow adoption of AI and governance concerns
• Ethical AI, copyright challenges, and content provenance
• The AI "bubble" and rapid industry disruption
• Branding and advertising in an AI-driven landscape
• Deepfakes, digital twins, and AI-generated avatars
• AI in music, including estate management and virtual voices
• China’s role in AI development and global competition
• AI’s influence on streaming and content discovery
• The role of AI governance in media organizations

Quotes

"People were highly unaware of where they were already using machine learning. AI has been in Netflix recommendations, closed captions, and voice assistants for years."
– Andy Beach

"Hollywood has been slow to adopt AI, but the thaw is happening at the studio level."
– Andy Beach

"The AI adoption bubble isn’t bursting anytime soon. People will continue integrating AI into their workflows, businesses, and creativity."
– Andy Beach

"AI will democratize creativity, but the people who push its boundaries will stand out."
– Andy Beach

"The debate over AI’s impact on copyright and provenance is just beginning. The EU is ahead of the U.S. on AI policy."
– Andy Beach

"We are not done with AI’s innovation bubble. The technology is evolving so fast that what’s done today will look quaint tomorrow."
– Andy Beach

"More content isn’t the issue—content discovery is. AI will have to fix that broken experience."
– Andy Beach

"The studios and music industry are moving cautiously with AI, but independent creators are advancing faster."
– Andy Beach

"AI could personalize our streaming experience, but right now, it’s just chaos. Someone needs to fix it." – Curt Doty

"We’ve entered the era of digital twins. AI can bring back artists, but do we really want Elvis selling us hamburgers?" – Curt Doty

"What’s ironic is that billions are being poured into AI, but somehow, they can’t spare funds for licensing fees? If this can be solved with money, there’s no shortage of money." – Curt Doty

"Social media agencies and creative firms are in panic mode. There’s fear, but also opportunity. If you don’t adopt AI, you’ll be replaced by someone who does." – Curt Doty

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In this episode of RealmIQ: SESSIONS, Curt interviews Renard T. Jenkins, President and CEO of I2A2 Technologies, Studios, and Labs, discusses AI’s evolving role in Hollywood, the media and entertainment industries, and the creative process. Renard shares his journey from post-production to leading AI-driven innovations in media supply chains, automation, and content engagement. He provides insights into the changing Hollywood landscape, the impact of AI on animation, VFX, and voice acting, and how creatives can embrace AI to enhance storytelling rather than replace human-driven artistry.

Topics Discussed:

1. Renard’s Background & AI Journey – From post-production at Turner Broadcasting to leading AI-driven solutions.
2. AI in Hollywood – How the industry’s perspective on AI has evolved from fear to cautious adoption.
3. AI Studios & Emerging Trends – The rise of AI-focused studios like Promise, Staircase, and the impact of AI on production pipelines.
4. VFX & Animation – The disruption in the industry and how AI is reshaping workflows.
5. Voice Acting & AI – The ethical concerns and technical advancements in synthetic voice generation.
6. The Future of Hollywood – How AI might reshape the business model for studios, content distribution, and storytelling.
7. Creative-Centered AI – The importance of keeping creatives in control of AI tools.
8. Blockchain & DRM – The potential of blockchain in IP protection and content monetization.
9. AI’s Role in Film & Streaming Disruptions – Can AI be a savior for Hollywood’s current challenges?
10. The Future of Independent Studios – Why smaller studios might rise in prominence while traditional ones shift towards distribution.
11. Inclusive Innovation – The philosophy behind I2A2’s development approach, ensuring AI tools serve real creative needs.

Pull Quotes with Attributions:

• "I'm a creative first and a curious engineer second." – Renard T. Jenkins
• "AI isn't replacing jobs; it's creating new ones." – Renard T. Jenkins
• "VFX and animation will push AI adoption forward more than any other sector in Hollywood." – Curt Doty
• "True creatives need to take the reins of AI, or we'll stay stuck in this AI slop era." – Curt Doty
• "The big studios are going to shift from content creators to content distributors." – Renard T. Jenkins
• "Every technology change has promised efficiency, but quality storytelling remains a human endeavor." – Renard T. Jenkins
• "AI alone won’t save Hollywood, but independent studios will rise and redefine the industry." – Renard T. Jenkins
• "Innovation without purpose is just noise—real impact comes when creatives push AI forward." – Curt Doty

Renard's Company

https://i2a2.io/

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