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New York’s first microdrama film festival searches for its audience

21 October 2026 at 21:49
Actors Taye Diggs, Autumn Federici, Gary Entin, Troy Brookins, Edmund Entin and Eric Guilmette standing on a red carpet together.
Actors Taye Diggs, Autumn Federici, Gary Entin, Troy Brookins, Edmund Entin and Eric Guilmette attend the world premiere of Microhouse Films and Lifetime's Reunion Island during the ALZA Festival. | Getty Images for Lifetime.

It remains to be seen if people really want to watch vertical content on horizontal TV screens, but many filmmakers and creators were confident that their latest projects would play well at Alza - New York City's first microdrama film festival. Founded by former Tribeca Festival chief operating officer Pete Torres, Alza, which took place October 16th through 18th, was billed as a showcase for the "the creativity, innovation, and growing cultural impact of stories made for the vertical screen." The festival featured a selection of microdrama and film premieres as well as industry-focused panels with executives who all seemed to genuinely beli …

Read the full story at The Verge.

TikTok Accused Of Profiting From Child Exploitation Videos

21 October 2026 at 16:45

Current and former workers are speaking out against TikTok, claiming the social media app made money from illegal child sexual exploitation videos. According to recent news reports, staff members clearly pointed out these serious safety problems to upper management, but leadership failed to fix things. Instead of deleting the harmful content and reporting it to […]

The post TikTok Accused Of Profiting From Child Exploitation Videos appeared first on The Mac Observer.

UK watchdogs urged to tackle suicide social media content after death of girl, 14

Adriana Retyte took her own life after viewing β€˜high-risk’ material on the video-sharing platform TikTok

A 14-year-old schoolgirl’s death after TikTok served her suicide content has prompted renewed calls for UK watchdogs to crack down on β€œtoxic” social media feeds.

Adriana Retyte, a pupil at Langley school in Norfolk, took her own life after she viewed videos and images related to suicide on the video-sharing platform, according to a coroner who last week found her access to the material on TikTok β€œmay have played a significant part in her decision to take her life”.

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Β© Photograph: The Good Brigade/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: The Good Brigade/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: The Good Brigade/Getty Images

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