News roundup: Apple, ARRI, ASC, Bria, CVP, DoPchoice, Door G, Filmworkz, Ghost Kits, Laowa, and Matrox Video

All the latest industry news in handy bite-sized form. Including stories from: Apple, ARRI, ASC, Bria, CVP, DoPchoice, Door G, Filmworkz, Ghost Kits, Laowa, and Matrox Video.

WWDC26 starts June 8

Apple has confirmed that this year's Worldwide Developers Conference will start June 8 in Cupertino. "WWDC26 will kick off June 8 with the Keynote and Platforms State of the Union, introducing incredible updates for Apple platforms, including AI advancements and exciting new software and developer tools," said a statement.

We'll have a full preview soon, but there is a lot riding on this one, which will be Tim Cook's last in charge before he passes the reins over to John Ternus. 

Ghost Kits expands Specter capabilities

Ghost Kits has added new capabilities to its purpose-built Specter wireless device for media production. Specter's new patent-pending Smart Network Switching automatically steers to the optimal cellular network the moment performance degrades, eliminating the manual SIM swapping required by traditional hotspots, while it also now aggregates multiple network interfaces — cellular, WiFi, and Ethernet — into a single high-performance logical connection. It also now has an updated 5G architecture and full WiFi 6E support across the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands.

Matrox Video is up to something...

We don't know precisely what, but the YouTube video teaser also includes the following text. "If you work in ProAV, you know the trade-off: High-quality video, Low latency, Bandwidth efficiency. Pick one. But what if you didn’t have to? A paradigm shift is coming." We will hopefully have more soon...

Filmworkz 2026.1

Filmworkz 2026.1 introduces Phoenix Restoration & Color, a unified platform bringing together Nucoda’s high-end grading and Phoenix’s advanced restoration tools in one seamless workflow. New tools include:

• DVO Despeckle – automatically repair flickering pixels with ease
• Loki Render – scalable remote rendering to keep your workflow moving
• Simplified licensing – faster setup, easier access
• And there are ongoing performance and workflow improvements across the board

More info at https://filmworkz.com.

Bria Video Background Removal Suite

Bria's Video Background Removal Suite uses a hosted real-time streaming API to remove video backgrounds on the fly, priced at $0.01 per video second

This looks interesting. The Bria Video Background Removal Suite has been set up to narrow the gap between still image background removal and the video version. Bria says it does this by deploying the industry's first hosted real-time streaming API. 

"A comprehensive set of capabilities [spans] every output mode, every processing mode, and every deployment scenario the market demands," says the company. "Bria's API lets developers automatically cut out the background from videos in real time — so their apps can swap it for any image, color, or scene, just like a virtual background in a video call, but built directly into their own software."

Pricing is $0.01 per video second. Find out more here. 

DoPchoice adds light-shaping accessories for ARRI Omnibar 

No sooner had ARRI announced its new battery-powered Omnibar, the first lighting fixture of the Riedel era, than DoPchoice had some accessories for it. The new lineup includes a purpose-built Snapgrid, Snapbag, and an inflatable Airglow Lantern, each engineered specifically to complement Omnibar 2 and Omnibar 4 fixtures.

DoPchoice's new Snapgrid, Snapbag, and Airglow Lantern accessories are engineered specifically for the ARRI Omnibar 2 and Omnibar 4

The 40° Snapgrid mounts directly to the bar to control beam spread and reduce spill; the Snapbag softbox converts the LED bar into a larger soft source with reflective interior and Snapcloth diffusion (expanding the Omnibar 2's output area to 25 x 60 cm and the Omnibar 4's to 25 x 120 cm, with adjustable width); and an inflatable Airglow Lantern in 2- and 4-foot versions inflates to around 20 cm in diameter, turning the Omnibar into an omni-directional tube light for ambient and practical use.

Each Airglow includes two removable Spill Covers designed to selectively mask and shape output. One side features black fabric for maximum light suppression, while the reverse white surface can be used for softer reflective control.

Laowa and CVP partner up

Laowa and CVP have announced an expanded partnership covering UK and EU distribution and service support. CVP is now an authorized Laowa repair center for the region, handling service requests through its Pro Repairs Portal. CVP is also now stocking an increased and comprehensive range of Laowa cinema lenses, including the Probe, Anamorphic, Ranger Zoom, and Sword macro series, with the aim of eliminating lead times for production-critical purchases.

ASC elects new president

 Shelly Johnson has been elected ASC president, succeeding Mandy Walker. Johnson previously served as ASC president from 2023–25. Pic: Michael Pessah

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Board of Governors has announced a new slate of officers, with Shelly Johnson elected to lead as president. Johnson, who takes the reins from incumbent President Mandy Walker, previously served as the organization's president from 2023-25. 

“It has been an honor and absolute pleasure to have served as the first female president of the ASC,” said Walker, who termed out after four years on the Board, including one as president. ”Over the last year, I have had amazing support from my board and the ASC staff. Our membership and the committees we now have in place create a socially vibrant and educational service for our members and the filmmaking community. I’m proud to hand over to Shelly who had served me in this role and has helped make the society what it is today.”

DOOR G expands into sports

(add)ventures' new (add)victory division uses Door G's virtual production stage to create sports marketing content with athletes including Evander Holyfield

We've written about Door G and how it's virtual production space is seeing increased use in the corporate space before, but judging by its parent company's latest venture that interest is also bleeding over into the sports world.

Parent company (add)ventures has set up (add)victory to square the circle of sports properties and people having limited time to shoot all the content modern sports sponsorship requires. “We’ve worked with athletes including boxer Evander Holyfield, baseball legend Joe Torre and New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox teams on behalf of non-profits and Fortune 500’s," said Steve Rosa, founder and CEO of (add)ventures.

“The common theme for all these campaigns were the athletes didn’t have enough time, and the marketers needed more time to create content. We transformed marketing for retail and healthcare brands with our virtual production capabilities; and now we will leverage that expertise to transform sports marketing.”