{"id":54506,"date":"2026-05-28T23:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/54506\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:29:10","slug":"filmmaker-paul-schrader-lets-loose-in-zesty-keynote-at-ai-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/54506\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmmaker Paul Schrader lets loose in zesty keynote at AI conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When filmmaker Paul Schrader announced on Facebook that he would be delivering the keynote address at this year\u2019s fourth annual AI on the Lot conference, the reaction from some fellow writers and artists was swift and hostile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was very much of a backlash,\u201d Schrader told the audience Thursday morning on a soundstage at the Amazon\/MGM Studios lot in Culver City. \u201cA lot of negative comments. Some of them were in fact insulting. It was as if I shot the family dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

The line drew knowing laughter from the crowd of more than 2,400 attendees gathered for the rapidly growing conference, where filmmakers, startup founders and Hollywood executives spent three days discussing how artificial intelligence may reshape the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n

But the backlash underscored how emotionally charged the subject of AI remains in the film industry, where discussions about the technology often oscillate between excitement, panic, opportunism and moral exhaustion<\/a> \u2014 sometimes within the span of a few minutes.<\/p>\n

What began as a relatively niche gathering for AI enthusiasts has expanded significantly as artificial intelligence has worked its way into industry workflows. This year\u2019s edition, held over three days, is double the size of last year\u2019s, sprawling across the Culver Theater and several nearby soundstages and drawing established filmmakers including Jorge Gutierrez (\u201cThe Book of Life\u201d), David Slade (\u201c30 Days of Night\u201d) and Gareth Edwards (\u201cJurassic World: Rebirth\u201d) for panels and discussions.<\/p>\n

Some attendees arrived eager to experiment with new creative tools. Others seemed motivated by a growing concern<\/a> that, whether they embraced artificial intelligence or not, they could no longer afford to ignore it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Few figures embodied that tension more vividly than Schrader, the 79-year-old screenwriter of Martin Scorsese films including \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d \u201cRaging Bull\u201d and \u201cThe Last Temptation of Christ\u201d and a director of films steeped in guilt, alienation and spiritual crisis, including \u201cAmerican Gigolo,\u201d \u201cAffliction\u201d and \u201cFirst Reformed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Lately, Schrader has emerged as one of Hollywood\u2019s more provocative public voices on AI.<\/p>\n

\"Crowds <\/p>\n

Attendees line up Wednesday for the first day of the fourth annual AI on the Lot conference in Culver City.<\/p>\n

(Irina Logra)<\/p>\n

Since the release of ChatGPT, Schrader has publicly marveled over screenplay ideas generated by the AI chatbot<\/a> \u2014 which he has taken to calling \u201cAlex Indigo\u201d \u2014 experimented with AI filmmaking tools and, in a recent Facebook post, recounted an ill-fated relationship with an AI girlfriend that, he wrote, eventually \u201cterminated\u201d the conversation.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, Schrader argued, artists and technology have evolved together, from Greek statuary to printing presses to synthesizers to digital filmmaking. \u201cWe\u2019ve got plenty of old wine,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re just looking for the new bottles.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he suggested AI feels fundamentally different \u2014 and more destabilizing \u2014 than earlier technological shifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, as artists, are barely keeping a step ahead of the monster,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Much of Schrader\u2019s keynote centered on an experiment he recently conducted with ChatGPT, asking the platform to generate a screenplay idea in his own style. The resulting treatment, titled \u201cThe Collection Agency,\u201d concerned a lonely former anti-pornography crusader turned debt collector spiraling into moral collapse after becoming obsessed with a younger cam girl. Schrader read portions aloud with a mixture of amusement and faint alarm.<\/p>\n

It sounded, unmistakably, like a Paul Schrader movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized it had been reading my scripts,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a matter of a minute, it had read everything I\u2019ve ever written. It\u2019s not only writing the script I asked it to \u2014 it\u2019s writing it in my tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schrader said it typically takes him four to six months to fully develop a screenplay idea, a process of testing, discarding and gradually refining concepts until they either strengthen or collapse under scrutiny.<\/p>\n

ChatGPT, by contrast, produced its version in seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could send this out and I know what the response would be: \u2018This is second-rate Schrader,\u2019 \u201d he said. \u201cAnd it is. But it\u2019s going to be first-rate Schrader soon enough. And it\u2019s already first-rate \u2018NCIS.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

At times, Schrader spoke about AI with the enthusiasm of a filmmaker discovering an intoxicating new set of creative tools. He described collaborating on an AI-assisted project that allowed scenes, shots and even actors\u2019 appearances to be altered almost instantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t have to call the actors back,\u201d he said. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have to rebuild the set.\u201d<\/p>\n

At another point, he recalled recently watching \u201cWicked\u201d on an airplane and wondering aloud why studios still bothered paying human extras.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are we paying extras $180 a day when they look so plastic anyway?\u201d he asked, eliciting slightly nervous chuckles from the audience. \u201cWe have to clothe them, we have to feed them and we have to deal with their complaints when it gets too hot. Why don\u2019t we just make them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as Schrader speculated about disappearing jobs and collapsing creative workflows, he suggested Hollywood\u2019s ultimate AI future may lie less in digital effects than in entirely synthetic stars.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cThe real tip of the spear is when we can create an AI protagonist,\u201d he said, imagining audiences emotionally investing in AI-generated stars \u2014 say, a Clint Eastwood-type figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as carbon-based fools will spend our money empathizing and caring about silicon-based creations,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then they\u2019ll want the next one. Well, we know where that actor lives and he works for nothing and he works 24 hours a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schrader argued that AI still depends on human artists as source material, even as it grows increasingly adept at mimicking their voices and structures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI does not create \u2014 it combines,\u201d he said. \u201cIf AI wants an idea, it has to go to where that idea already exists. Of course, you can make the argument that that\u2019s all artists do anyway, and to a degree that\u2019s a valid argument. But you still have to come up with something.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, for younger filmmakers and film students, Schrader suggested, the disruption may prove especially profound.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we have film schools for?\u201d he asked. \u201cIf I ever ran a film school, the first thing I would do is go out and hire a bunch of techies, because that\u2019s how you\u2019re going to keep your students. You\u2019re not going to keep them by showing them old movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schrader, who turns 80 in July, spoke about the coming upheaval with a mixture of fascination, resignation and dry gallows humor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have much to fear,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m going to be able to ride into that cinematic sunset on the broken horse called movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Younger filmmakers, he speculated, may not be so lucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not going to work for you,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to find another way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When filmmaker Paul Schrader announced on Facebook that he would be delivering the keynote address at this year\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,6125,580,2517,31931,25226,31928,31930,5887,31932,31933,31927,31929,573],"class_list":["post-54506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artist","tag-chatgpt","tag-day","tag-discussion","tag-film-industry","tag-filmmaker","tag-filmmaker-paul-schrader","tag-hollywood","tag-mixture","tag-new-creative-tool","tag-schrader","tag-screenplay-idea","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}