Everyone Is Already Using AI (and Hiding It)

The headwinds buffeting Hollywood are no mystery. What’s also no mystery is that in AI, studio executives see a way to get more for much, much less. But as in so many industries, what benefits the distributor punishes the creator, and Lila Shapiro’s new feature for New York puts a grim new face to the phenomenon. One “ethical” AI startup, one AI startup fending off lawsuits from angry artists—and in between, an industry in flux.

That morning, Burns had asked Valenzuela to generate a trailer for a film they hadn’t even shot. The plan was to take it to a film festival — but first they would presell the film off AI-generated scenes reverse engineered from the script. It might cost only $10 million, but it would look closer to a $100 million movie. “We’re going to blow stuff up so it looks bigger and more cinematic,” he said.

The collaboration with Runway was open-ended and flexible. “We’re banging around the art of the possible,” Burns said. “Let’s try some stuff, see what sticks.” He listed some ideas they were currently considering. With a library as large as Lionsgate’s, they could use Runway to repackage and resell what the studio already owned, adjusting tone, format, and rating to generate a softer cut for a younger audience or convert a live-action film into a cartoon. He offered an example of one of Lionsgate’s signature action franchises: “Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie.” He would have to pay the actors and all the other rights participants, he added — “but I can do that, and now I can resell it.”