Andrew "Andy" Grove, co-founder and senior adviser to Intel Corp., speaks during an interview in his office in California (Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg News)
Andrew "Andy" Grove, co-founder and senior adviser to Intel Corp., speaks during an interview in his office in California (Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg News)

Remembering the man behind the magic



There was a time in the early 1990s – somewhere between the end of the typewriter era and the beginning of the internet era – when the most powerful person on any movie or television set wasn’t the star or the executive producer, but was the person – usually a young person, often someone’s assistant – who carried the script around on his or her computer.

This was before wi-fi and cloud computing, before email and synchronised backups, so the copy in the computer was often the only copy, the master copy, of the multimillion-dollar project.

I had a friend back then who carried around one of those PowerBooks from Apple Computer – remember those? They seemed so advanced and sophisticated at the time – when he was working for a director of a major studio picture. Whenever there was a story discussion or a script conference, his boss the director would wave at him and say: “Open up the thingy and get this down.” And he’d open the computer and type in the changes.

My friend soon realised how powerful he was. The script and the changes were saved on the computer and then backed up to a floppy disk, which was also entrusted to the low-ranking assistant. In effect, no matter who had the official writing credit, no matter who was truly in charge of the production, no matter how many executives or movie stars demanded changes, the de facto most powerful person was my friend, the 23-year-old slightly power-mad assistant who carried around the MacBook.

He once confessed to me that he somehow lost an entire scene – something about cutting and pasting – and had to recreate the multi-page sequence from memory. No one noticed. (Which isn’t surprising; the movies he worked on weren’t very good to begin with.)

But as the early 1990s gave way to the late 1990s, and scriptwriting software became more robust and flexible, it became easier to track and follow changes as they happened – hourly, even – and to make sure that everyone, to use that awful phrase people use in business, was on the same page.

It wasn’t just scriptwriting software that became more powerful. Editing pictures and recording sound became so easy and commonplace you can now do it easily on your phone. Movies are shot on digital cameras and recorded onto wafer-thin disks. The cumbersome and laborious phases of movie and television production – from the reams of paper used in scriptwriting to the heavy canisters of film stock – evaporated as computing power went from strength to strength.

Andy Grove, who died a few days ago, was for decades the chief executive of computer chipmaker Intel and the pioneer of the semiconductor industry. He was the impresario of the microprocessor and he did more to change the way we all do business in the entertainment industry than almost any other person.

It was Grove’s Intel that drove the exponential increase in computing power. It was the silicon chip that gave us the Hollywood we know today: streaming video, on-demand movies, tablet-viewing of hit television shows, desktop editing, dazzling computer-generated graphics.

Those of us in show business tend to gloss over the pioneers in the geekier and more boring areas of moviemaking. We’d rather watch beautiful people glide down the red carpet and get awards for pretending to be other people, for crying on cue. Grove and his team at Intel did more to ensure the health and prosperity of our business than every blockbuster picture and every dramatic scene put together.

But the computer revolution he ushered in did more than that. In this business, we tend to think of technology as merely something we use to get our stuff out there – streaming distribution, digital sound recording and photography, online editing. And it’s true that Grove’s Intel chips did much to make everything we do faster and more efficient. But at the very start of every project is a script, and the script is written, almost always, on a computer running software that’s written for a microprocessor, often from Intel. We are all in the technology business now, all of us, not just the one young person with the laptop under his arm.

For better or worse – I’m pretty sure for better – none of us is at the mercy of a single computer or solitary computer operator. And that means that any of us, thanks to Intel and Grove and a lot of other engineers and computer nerds, can write and shoot and edit a movie anywhere we are. We don’t have to be in Hollywood and we don’t have to speak English. All we need to know is some basic techniques and have access to some widely available technology, and we’re as well-equipped as Steven Spielberg.

Andy Grove was more than a computer chip maker. He was the founder of the largest and most democratic movie studio ever known.

Rob Long is a writer and producer in Hollywood

On Twitter: @rcbl

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

Five healthy carbs and how to eat them

Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat  

Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar

Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices

Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants

Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique

I Feel Pretty
Dir: Abby Kohn/Mark Silverstein
Starring: Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski, Rory Scovel
 

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The biog

Name: Timothy Husband

Nationality: New Zealand

Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney

Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier

Favourite music: Billy Joel

Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETelr%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202014%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E65%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20and%20payments%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enearly%20%2430%20million%20so%20far%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

RESULTS

Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)

Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)

Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)

Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)

Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)

Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)

Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)

Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)

Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)

Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)

Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Expo details

Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia

The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.

It is expected to attract 25 million visits

Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.

More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020

The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area

It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia