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Tad Leckman

@tadleckman.bsky.social
421 followers 591 following 1K posts

Ruining the movie-going and game-playing experiences for students since 1999. tadleckman.com UC Santa Cruz Formerly Activision|Blizzard|King, Riot Games, Blizzard, Lucasfilm, ILM. He/him.

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Reposted by Tad Leckman
Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 21h
In one week I click the button and let slip the dogs of fractal history… Tuesday October 6 www.kickstarter.com/projects/lam...
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: Microscope (2nd Edition)
The fractal game of epic histories
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Starfleet Design 🖍🖖 @starfleetdesign.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Finally, here's the famous graphic that was made by the TNG art department (Okuda I think) to convey the true scale of the Enterprise-D to the writers by overlaying its outline on a map of the Paramount lot.
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TimOfLegend @timoflegend.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Ready to share your game with the world? Why not do it in the Day of the Devs Digital Showcase--Game Awards edition! You'll be in great company!
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Frank Conniff @frankconniff.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Watched that Backrooms motion picture last night. Very good. Obsession was also excellent. If this is the kind of cinema the crazy kids today with their hula hoops and fax machines are giving us, I’m not going to yell at them to get off my lawn, I will instead welcome them with lemonade and cookies.
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Todd Vaziri @tvaziri.com · 27/09/2026
I strongly believe documentaries should present archival news reports, newsreels, and any other found footage in their original aspect ratios. Stop cropping!
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I enjoyed Resident Evil! I think Bryan is a worthy addition to this pantheon.
Ash from Evil Dead 2, Jack Burton from Big Troble in Little China, and Bryan from Resident Evil.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
So excited that @bradkerr.net is getting the @themerrymushmen.bsky.social treatment! #ttrpg #osr
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Lee Cronin’s Pablo Hidalgo @infinata.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Paul Verhoeven would be all “no, that’s too unbelievable.”
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I know I read, and enjoyed, this script back in, like, 2001, at ILM, but my memory of it is fuzzy. That will let me see it fresh, which is good. I'm a bit wary of the Skydance of it all, however.
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Logan Dean @logandean.games · 22/09/2026
they should make a way out that isn’t through
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They Might Be Giants @tmbg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
People ask “Do you still play Don’t Let’s Start?” And the answer is YES.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 21/09/2026
George Lucas Frantically Hosing Wasp Nest Out Of R2-D2 Before Museum Opening theonion.com/george-lucas-frantical…
George Lucas Frantically Hosing Wasp Nest Out Of R2-D2 Before Museum Opening
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Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Agree! Seems like we should do everything we can to stop media companies from being controlled by his cronies!
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Yikes.
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Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
since some people apparently have "lives" & "families" & "friends" and so didn't spend the weekend smearing germs around a little screen & missed it, we've extended our DriveThruRPG flash sale for another 24 hours with all issues, including our latest, 1/2 price www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher...
a clever person, or at least their disembodied hand holding an iPad that is displaying the bold, bright and rather amazing cover to Wyrd Science issue 8 by Tom J Newell
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Erika Ishii @erikaishii.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Pray they don’t alter it any further…
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Del @del.art · 20/09/2026
When a game studio ships a solid game, it creates TWO valuable products: 1. A solid game. 2. The team that spent years learning how to work together make a game. Because Western studios keep disbanding #2 while development cycles get longer; we will inevitably see less of #1.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Happy Batman Day!
Die Fledermaus from The Tick.
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Todd Vaziri @tvaziri.com · 18/09/2026
"I can always spot 'CGI'" - - - - - - - - - toupee fallacy
The crowd thing is a true epidemic. I have not seen one example of a CGI crowd that works. GET IT OUT OF YOUR MOVIE! If it's in your treatment, write another sceneTOUPEE FALLACY A form of selection bias in which a thing whose quality is measured in terms of being difficult to detect is wrongly judged to be of poor quality in general, caused by the fact that most people only notice poor-quality instances of A form of selection bias in which a thing whose quality is measured in terms of being difficult to detect is wrongly judged to be of poor quality in general, caused by the fact that most people only notice poor-quality instances of
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Lots of the knock-off movies and shows it spawned were good!
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
youtu.be
Theme from a summer place (Percy Faith version)
YouTube video by shubham pandey
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I *really* enjoyed In a Violent Nature, but it is, like Bone Tomahawk, not a movie that I can recommend to just anyone. But, if you like classic slasher movies, and are ok with gore, it's really great. I'm excited to hear there is a sequel!
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Can confirm!
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Seth Skorkowsky @sskorkowsky.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I would much rather look at a YouTube thumbnail from a photoshop amateur than an AI one. Hell, my immediate distaste for AI thumbnails only encourages me to never improve my crappy Photoshop skills. I already get enough grief from bozos who accuse my poorly photo-chopped images of being AI slop.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Join us in chat!
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 17/09/2026
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
orlandosentinel.com
Docs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’
The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI...
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The A.V. Club @avclub.com · 16/09/2026
"It's based on the style of Leni Riefenstahl," says Verhoeven after President Trump posted a gen-AI mockup of his Starship Trooper-inspired Space Force uniforms. www.avclub.com/paul-verhoev...
avclub.com
Paul Verhoeven reiterates his Starship Troopers are Nazis
Paul Verhoeven reiterates his Starship Troopers are Nazis
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Subscribe to Radio Free America (link in bio) @kleinman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
We should start calling these Cronenburgers
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J. Elvis Weinstein @jelvisweinstein.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"And then two fireman picked me up and whisked me away from Ground Zero." "Oh my, Commander, what did you do then?"
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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 14/09/2026
The only person in public service who has consistently made 100% sense on issues of "AI," which is why they hate her so much.
Law enforcers already have authority to charge companies and their CEOs for creating and releasing dangerous, unvetted, or defective products. We shouldn’t let discussions about new legal regimes distract from the fact that there’s no AI exemption from laws already on the books — a point 
@FTC
 emphasized repeatedly during my tenure.

1. There is an extensive set of laws that govern dangerous and defective products. For example, releasing unvetted AI models or agents can violate consumer protection laws. Shipping flawed AI tools without implementing adequate measures to detect and stop rogue or defective AI agents can be an “unfair or deceptive” act or practice under the FTC Act (and analogous state laws). And some state AGs are already exploring holding AI firms and their CEOs criminally liable when their models participate in criminal activity.

2. Existing laws also prohibit “unfair methods of competition.” This covers instances where AI firms appropriate the competitively sensitive information of their customers, including through tracking their use of various tools. It can also cover instances where firms pursue dangerous behavior, aware that doing so may compel rivals to do the same.As the Supreme Court has noted: “A method of competition which casts upon one's competitors the burden of the loss of business unless they will descend to a practice which they are under a powerful moral compulsion not to adopt, even though it is not criminal, was thought to involve the kind of unfairness at which the [unfair methods of competition] statute was aimed."

3. The highly concentrated and interconnected structure of these markets could be creating major risks and conflicts of interest. We had started investigating these partnerships and cross-investments across the stack (and released a preliminarily overview of some findings: https://ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-issues-staff-report-ai-partnerships-investments-study). 

Both federal and state enforcers should be scrutinizing these opaque relationships and inter-dependencies. We are already seeing how these relationships could undermine accountability. For example, OpenAI could face liability given the Hugging Face incident, but Hugging Face being bought up by Nvidia means that we’re unlikely to see it file a lawsuit over this — given Nvidia’s strong incentive to see OpenAI continue full speed ahead.4. As AI tools dramatically change the landscape of cybersecurity risks and hacks, all businesses should be doubling down on having core security protections in place. Firms that fail to invest in adequate data security measures or fix known vulnerabilities can also be breaking the law. A recent analysis showed that around 1/3 of Fortune 100 companies do not even have a way to notify them about security issues. During my 
@FTC
 tenure, we sued firms for poor data security practices and held CEOs liable when they were personally responsible.

https://this.weekinsecurity.com/dozens-of-americas-largest-companies-have-no-simple-way-to-report-security-flaws/

https://ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/10/ftc-takes-action-against-drizly-its-ceo-james-cory-rellas-security-failures-exposed-data-25-million

5. As policymakers consider new legal regimes, we should be looking to lessons from prior efforts to govern major sectors, such as banking and other networks, platforms, and utilities. Tools like structural separations, nondiscrimination, and supervision could be key, and there’s a rich history of what works and what doesn’t. But we can and must pursue any new efforts alongside enforcing existing laws.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Lovecraft monster sketches!
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Photography by Alfie Goodrich @alfie.photography · 13/09/2026
Getty makes a ton of money out of selling public domain footage. Which is crazy. But that’s Getty. The footage is usually available free elsewhere but it’s hard to find. Great video that helps you understand where and how to find it. youtu.be/2dzqQItDmdg?...
youtu.be
I Killed A Business Model
YouTube video by Elroddd
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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
You know what gets a library perpetual access to a book??? Purchasing the physical book. I guarantee the publisher won’t come steal it back!!!
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Lee Cronin’s Pablo Hidalgo @infinata.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Youth pastor cat.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A vintage Cliff Hanger arcade cabinet.
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vena cava 🩸 @trannieoakley.blood.gay · 12/09/2026
ok but that's a crazy name for a kid
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RPG Sean ➡️ #GameholeCon @seans.page · 12/09/2026
Live at the top of the hour - 8am CT Grabba cuppa and join the chattuh. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQHL...
youtube.com
Between Sessions LIVE Stream
YouTube video by RPG Sean
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Two well-researched articles charting ILM's long history with Star Trek. Great first-hand accounts, including Kim Smith discussing her beautiful work on the Enterprise E model.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Make a band edible: Depeche à la mode
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Sad this is not happening on SCTV as I initially read it to say.
The logo for SCTV.
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Seth Skorkowsky @sskorkowsky.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
In a time when Canadian alcohol is banned, using a Crown Royal bag for your trusty dice becomes a statement of resistance.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Heard about Apple's Duo announcement and got excited for a minute...then was quickly disappointed.
Product photo of an Apple Duo Dock.
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RPG Sean ➡️ #GameholeCon @seans.page · 09/09/2026
Two Shades of Green #DeltaGreen There is no predetermined Big Bad. The campaign opens small — an evidence box, a name on a note card, a cabin in the woods — and where that leads is determined through play.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
On this 60th anniversary of #StarTrek, I am especially proud that my first film credit was on Star Trek: First Contact, or Star Trek 8, as we called it at Industrial Light & Magic. My official ILM credit is "Rebel Unit Production Manager." My team provided digital spaceships and effects.
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Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 07/09/2026
@guyintheblackhat.bsky.social is essential history of why “games” too often = “videogame” & the moral/intellectual hazards of continuing to do so: “it risks ignoring the fundamentals of game design & innovation in favor of a digital-screen-driven, myopic, “startup” cultural view of games history”
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Phil Szostak @philszostak.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
“Tony [Gilroy] finally turned to me, and he said, ‘Hey, you just got to stop pitching plot. Plot is bullshit. Plot is what happens when you get the behavior right. Pitch me a line of dialogue, pitch me atmosphere, pitch me something visual. Stop pitching stuff that happens.’” 1/2
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A fantastic new, searchable resource for public domain video clips. 100% free. Lots of stuff here that Getty and other companies charge for. destockd.com
destockd.com
Destockd
A free, searchable archive of public domain footage from U.S. government films. Search by describing what you see — CLIP-powered visual search, not keywords.
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Tad Leckman @tadleckman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Sean knows what's up with #ttrpg crowdfunding. Sign up to benefit from his hard work!
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The Flop House Podcast @flophousepodcast.com · 05/09/2026
Now this is TONIGHT! Linear time marches on!
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Jason Song Quinn (Comms Open) @hulkhoquinn.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
My current art obsession is this round ass Godzilla by Mike Mignola. Plump but still menacing w/ that classic Mignola line and shape efficiency.
Illustration of a plump Godzilla with their mouth open towards the sky. A smoke surrounding them
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