Hollywood is toast

Remember the AI video of Will Smith trying to eat pasta? It came out in 2023. That is only three and a half years ago, but an eternity in AI.

Watch the film OVERMAN in the link below, an AI film of almost half an hour, and you get a small taste of the singularity. The film is well written and well shot, and visually good enough that it is no longer glaringly obvious that it is AI. Some signs are still there; action scenes and dynamics in particular reveal weaknesses, but they are not as obvious any more and will be gone before we know it.

The film is made by Chinese filmmakers. One of them lists five years of experience as director, cinematographer and screenwriter. With powerful AI tools they have made something that feels like a big production; it is not clear what it cost or which models they used, but a team of a handful of people is credited.

I recently wrote about “taste”: seeing what works, discarding what does not, and making the whole come together. You can feel that ability here. AI can give filmmakers images that used to require enormous sums. Here someone also knew what they wanted to tell, and how to keep us watching. To me this looks like taste beating raw resources.

From pasta Will Smith to this in three and a half years. I think we will get a feature film made mainly with AI that people actually want to watch as early as next year.

And after that? I think Hollywood and Netflix are toast as we know them. They still have money, rights and distribution. But much of the advantage of being able to pay for big productions may disappear. Adapt or die. If you work in the film industry, you should have a plan.

Soon anyone can make almost anything. But will people watch it? Who gets us to press play, and who manages to keep us there?

Perhaps the next super-directors will look more like influencers: small teams with a clear vision, good taste and an audience that follows them directly. A new elite of filmmakers may grow up outside the studios.

Watch OVERMAN:

https://lnkd.in/eSbkKTfH