Google Formed A Film Production Company To Prove It’s As Cool As Apple
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Summary
- Google has inked a partnership with Range Media to promote its products and technology via movies and TV series.
- One goal is to improve the perception of Android devices and new technology among younger audiences.
- The initiative is linked to a product placement deal with United Talent Agency, and a recently announced “AI on Screen” short film venture with Range Media.
Android users have faced discrimination for years. Apple’s emergence as a lifestyle brand and stable of competent, user-friendly hardware have relegated users of Samsung Galaxies and Google Pixels to mere second-class citizens, with derisive nicknames like “green bubble” rearing their heads every so often. Simply put, Apple is considered a cool luxury brand, and Android phones are often deemed uncool, utilitarian electronics.
To change that, Google is stealing yet another idea from Apple. It recently offered details on a new-ish partnership with talent management firm Range Media Partners to form 100 Zeros, a new production company that seems much like an incredibly ambitious marketing wing. But it’s aiming for far more than just product placement; Google wants to remind everybody that Android phones can be cool, too (Source: Business Insider).
Putting technology at the forefront
From the silver screen to your pocket
Don’t get your hopes up — or worry, whichever the case may be — over an upcoming “Android: The Movie” feature film. Their partner in Range Media produced 2024’s “A Complete Unknown”, a Bob Dylan biopic, and “Longlegs,” an occult horror film, and has worked with a vast group of actors, writers, and directors, including the esteemed Halle Berry.
The initiative actually began last year. The title card for indie horror flick “Cuckoo” opened with, “Neon presents in association with 100 Zeros,” and Google’s film production dreams were off to the races. Roughly a year after contributing to the small-budget thriller, Google decided to open up a little, and Business Insider was able to share some motivations behind the movie and TV production project.
“Through our continued partnership with Range, we aim to collaborate with the Hollywood creative community in a thoughtful and productive way, upkeeping our ongoing commitment to responsibly support creative expression and explore the possibilities of technology through storytelling,” — A Google representative
Most broadly, Google hopes to normalize the sleek forms and impressive functionality that today’s top mobile technology boasts. That doesn’t necessarily mean peppering the props and scenery with Google Pixels and Nest Audio speakers. The project aims to “promote a positive view” of Google products and new technology as a whole, and prop up Android devices as part of pop culture, similar to the venerated position iPhones hold. Google also plans to use 100 Zeros to introduce creative professionals to its most advanced offerings in the realms of 3D imagery and augmented reality.
According to Business Insider, “how [100 Zeroes] impacts popular sentiment around the company’s products and services” will mark success or failure for the initiative. Word also surfaced of a recent Google deal with United Talent Agency, a top international entertainment management company. That one’s more focused on promoting the Pixel phones like it did recently in “The White Lotus” TV Series and “Wicked” movie. The newly unveiled film production partnership comes after Google and Range Media announced a series of “AI on Screen” short films designed to explore narratives surrounding the ever-widening perspectives of consumers on artificial intelligence.
