The Alan Smithee Round Table: (“Post in Transition: Automation, AI, and Mixing Light”)

Hey everyone, welcome to the Alan Smithee Podcast! This week the gang discuss NAB New York, the latest industry news including the tension between vertical and horizontal video and, Instagram’s move toward long-form TV viewing. The highlight of the podcast is their interview with Patrick Inhofer about suspending Mixing Light and the changing state of professional color-grading education. And of course there’s a handful of very cool things or us post-production people to get excited about.

Show Notes

Women Without Boundaries award (discover.onediversified.com/women-without-boun…) for Katie

Instagram Tests 90-Minute Horizontal Videos in Major Play for Podcasters and Creators (hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/instagr…)

Instagram chases YouTube with a push for longer, widescreen videos (theverge.com/tech/1018688/instagram-longform-w…)

MotionVFX coming to Apple Creator Studio in November (provideocoalition.com/motionvfx-coming-to-appl…)

Blackmagic offers up discounts for DaVinci Resolve Studio and Resolve products (provideocoalition.com/blackmagic-offers-up-dis…) - until November 20 - but also HW price increases

New York Poised to Overtake California as Top State for Movie and TV Production (hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/n…)

Netflix initiated layoffs affecting approximately 6% of its workforce (npr.org/2026/10/25/nx-s1-6009274/netflix-lays-…).

Skydance started employee buyouts (hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/s…) aka voluntary redundancy

VN.ai’s report found that every AI model generated at least one copyright-protected character (deadline.com/2026/10/midjourney-worst-offender…), even when a character’s name was not referenced in a text prompt.

One Cool Thing

Katie: In NY I met some really amazing women, Ayana Partee blew my mind. She’s a lawyer with a million amazing side hustles. Among other things she’s currently leading akuakromdp.com Akuakrom Development Project, a sustainable city in Ghana, and Haiti Housing Collaborative Initiative to develop disaster-resilient, low-cost housing.

Michael: Bitfocus Buttons (bitfocus.io) (and Companion) + StreamDecks
Scott: Freedom (freedom.to)