Eric Jason Martin

Shortly after here wrapped up principal photography in April 2023, Hollywood shut down for several months because of overlapping strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. Among the central issues in both labor disputes was how to protect the livelihoods of union members from AI encroachment.

Shortly after here wrapped up principal photography in April 2023, Hollywood shut down for several months because of overlapping strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. Among the central issues in both labor disputes was how to protect the livelihoods of union members from AI encroachment.

Even a year before the strikes, AI was still just a plot device for sci-fi thrillers for most people in the movie industry, not a pressing real-world threat. Then, OpenAI unveiled its first public version of ChatGPT in November 2022. Suddenly, AI was an asteroid hurtling toward Los Angeles. Any day, studio executives would start using ChatGPT to spit out screenplays,

Even a year before the strikes, AI was still just a plot device for sci-fi thrillers for most people in the movie industry, not a pressing real-world threat. Then, OpenAI unveiled its first public version of ChatGPT in November 2022. Suddenly, AI was an asteroid hurtling toward Los Angeles. Any day, studio executives would start using ChatGPT to spit out screenplays,

eliminating all those pesky writers, and using text-to-video programs like Runway's Gen 1 to auto-generate all the filmmaking elements that professional artists get paid to create now. Costumes, set design, cinematography. And even though the guilds managed to extract strict limitations on AI use in their ratified labor agreements, their victories felt pyrrhic.

eliminating all those pesky writers, and using text-to-video programs like Runway's Gen 1 to auto-generate all the filmmaking elements that professional artists get paid to create now. Costumes, set design, cinematography. And even though the guilds managed to extract strict limitations on AI use in their ratified labor agreements, their victories felt pyrrhic.

I spoke with more than two dozen people across the industry for this article and discovered that while there's no shortage of AI optimists in the movie industry, they're often reluctant to share that sentiment out loud for fear of seeming to side with the machines or appearing too sanguine about a technology that everyone agrees will cost some people their jobs.

I spoke with more than two dozen people across the industry for this article and discovered that while there's no shortage of AI optimists in the movie industry, they're often reluctant to share that sentiment out loud for fear of seeming to side with the machines or appearing too sanguine about a technology that everyone agrees will cost some people their jobs.

There were also a couple of occasions when an eager early adopter scheduled an interview only to cancel at the last minute at the behest of skittish corporate overseers. And yet, the reality of AI's adoption within Hollywood so far has been more muted and incremental and considerably less dystopic than the nightmare scenarios.

There were also a couple of occasions when an eager early adopter scheduled an interview only to cancel at the last minute at the behest of skittish corporate overseers. And yet, the reality of AI's adoption within Hollywood so far has been more muted and incremental and considerably less dystopic than the nightmare scenarios.

What was billed as an industry earthquake has been more like a slow leeching into the topsoil, AI in Hollywood right now is like AI in here. It's everywhere and it's nowhere. It's invisible and it's all over the screen.

What was billed as an industry earthquake has been more like a slow leeching into the topsoil, AI in Hollywood right now is like AI in here. It's everywhere and it's nowhere. It's invisible and it's all over the screen.

There's too many people in Hollywood today who think that if you type movie and press enter, you get a movie, says Cristobal Valenzuela, the co-founder and chief executive of Runway, whose AI video generation engines are among the most widely used.

There's too many people in Hollywood today who think that if you type movie and press enter, you get a movie, says Cristobal Valenzuela, the co-founder and chief executive of Runway, whose AI video generation engines are among the most widely used.

The moment you start using it, you understand, oh, it actually doesn't really work that well yet, and it's full of flaws, and it doesn't actually do what I want. The critical limitation with generative AI tools for now is the absence of control. CGI requires a factory line of hundreds of artists working one frame at a time, but you control every freaking pixel.

The moment you start using it, you understand, oh, it actually doesn't really work that well yet, and it's full of flaws, and it doesn't actually do what I want. The critical limitation with generative AI tools for now is the absence of control. CGI requires a factory line of hundreds of artists working one frame at a time, but you control every freaking pixel.

You control every character, says Oded Granote, a visual effects artist at a generative AI video startup called Hour One, who worked on the Oscar-winning team behind Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 2018. Making images with AI, Grenote explains, is like Russian roulette or a slot machine. The front end requires just a simple prompt.

You control every character, says Oded Granote, a visual effects artist at a generative AI video startup called Hour One, who worked on the Oscar-winning team behind Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 2018. Making images with AI, Grenote explains, is like Russian roulette or a slot machine. The front end requires just a simple prompt.

You write, I want Spider-Man hanging from a building, and it generates it. But that still leaves countless decisions up to the machine, and you're stuck with the output. What does the building look like? How is he hanging? Upside down? Sideways? And that's a single still image, not a full sequence, let alone a feature-length film.

You write, I want Spider-Man hanging from a building, and it generates it. But that still leaves countless decisions up to the machine, and you're stuck with the output. What does the building look like? How is he hanging? Upside down? Sideways? And that's a single still image, not a full sequence, let alone a feature-length film.