{"id":65952,"date":"2025-07-14T22:29:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/65952\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T22:29:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:29:39","slug":"ai-can-cut-costs-but-it-cant-spill-tea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/65952\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Can Cut Costs, but It Can’t Spill Tea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Friday saw the birth of the ChatGPT browser<\/a>, which already promises to visualize your data, coach your workouts, and trade your stocks; we must now contend with Velvet Sundown<\/a>; and before the summer\u2019s out, we expect the quantum leap of ChatGPT-5<\/a>. It felt like a good time for In Development<\/a> to offer some optimism to anyone worried AI<\/a> might soon take over all that\u2019s good in Hollywood. (For those of you ready to embrace our new AI overlords, that\u2019s a future column.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m certain AI is transforming the entertainment industry for better and worse. I have zero faith in Hollywood\u2019s ability (or inclination) to \u201ccontrol\u201d it, if that were possible. AI can radically increase output and reduce costs (and: jobs), and of course, the industry will follow that path until it hits a wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"'Superman'\"<\/a> \"Sian<\/a> <\/p>\n

So where\u2019s the optimism? I think I found a wall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The insight isn\u2019t solely mine. Credit goes to Ethan Helvering<\/a> at audience intelligence firm Pulsar and Milo Chao<\/a> at 100% Human, with a shoutout to Diana Williams<\/a> of Kinetic Energy Entertainment for pointing me their way. The essential idea: Our connection to creativity is rooted in humanity. Without a backstory, stories fall flat. And AI has no backstory game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe me? Studios spend billions to make sure you know everything there is to know about what went into making their movies and TV shows. Marketing costs often match production budgets, even when they run to the hundreds of millions. Directors, stars, producers, writers, crew \u2014 they give thousands of interviews across every possible platform around the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes they\u2019re thoughtful and reflective; sometimes they\u2019re playing with puppies. (Sometimes, they\u2019re talking about What No One Tells You<\/a>.) But ultimately, every panel, article, video, and TV spot is in service of a single, powerful message: \u201cThis is who I am and why I made this, and that is why you should see it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Can you mount an Oscar or an Emmy campaign without a backstory<\/a>? (My husband still teases me about our coverage of Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s Oscar-winning \u201cThe Revenant<\/a>\u201d: \u201cYou know, I read that it was<\/a> a<\/a> really<\/a> hard<\/a> movie<\/a> to<\/a> make.<\/a>\u201d) Creation stories are the engine of awards campaigns, so vital that strategists launch counter-narratives: That\u2019s not the way I heard it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t even get into the backstories of the backstories. Creative differences! Reshoots! Rewrites! The stars are in love! They won\u2019t speak to each other! Studios rarely want to amplify those stories (at least not overtly), but there\u2019s no better magnet for human attention than \u201cWhat really happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

OK. Now let\u2019s assume there\u2019s no if, only when: The first feature-length film<\/a> is made entirely by AI, from script to final frame. The production scale is massive; the budget is not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now imagine being the studio that must sell it. Better yet, imagine being the studio that must sell the second AI film \u2014 the one without first-mover advantage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Film and TV publicists have hard jobs even in the best circumstances with the crisis control, travel logistics, and the hand-holding that comes with endless junkets and press appearances. But if all of that disappears, how do you promote a film that only has a creator and a team of software engineers behind it?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Technology exists to reduce friction, whether it\u2019s renting a house, calling a car, buying a washer, or creating a blockbuster\u2019s explosion. AI promises to smooth everything that\u2019s messy about filmmaking: costs, egos, creative clashes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Awesome \u2014 only without conflict, there is no story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reduce the turbulence and you also lose the frustrating, expensive, and chaotic collaboration. And without that, you lose the one thing AI can\u2019t do: create the story worth telling about the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet. I haven\u2019t seen ChatGPT-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udce9<\/strong>\u00a0Want more?\u00a0
Subscribe and check the\u00a0\u201cIn Development\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0box.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2709\ufe0f\u00a0<\/strong>Have an idea, compliment, or complaint?\u00a0
dana@indiewire.com<\/a>;\u00a0 (323) 435-7690.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\nWeekly recommendations for your career mindset, curated by IndieWire Weekend Editor\u00a0Rance Collins<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

5. Dance, Monkey, Dance: The TikTokification of An Arts Career<\/a>\u00a0by Emily J. Edwards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kristen Lopez\u2019s The Film Maven is worth the paywall. Writer Emily J. Edwards pens the latest for the Substack, looking at exactly what role TikTok may\u00a0have to\u00a0play in establishing an entertainment career in 2025.<\/p>\n

4. Why \u2018The Searchers\u2019 is the Great American Movie | From the Vault<\/a> by Tyler MacQueen<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to make great cinema, you have to know great cinema. Cinemantics\u2019 gives a clinic on the seminal John Ford western \u201cThe Searches,\u201d and explains exactly why it continues to be so celebrated nearly 70 years later.<\/p>\n

3. \u2018Potentially Transformative\u2019: Indie Studios Are Cautiously Optimistic About California\u2019s New 35% Tax Incentive<\/a><\/strong> by Jamie Lang<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cartoon Brew reviews how exactly the animation community is feeling after the recent passage in California of an increased $750 million (with an up-to 35% rebate) tax incentive for film and television productions \u2014 which does, indeed, include animated projects for the first time in the credit\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

2. Viv Loves Education<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0by Viv Loves Film<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Viv Loves Film Substack is offering a free educational screen industry masterclass, aimed at 18-24 year olds who are looking to break in and figure out their place in the world of film and television. Set for July 24 from 5-7 p.m. and just requires a sign up. Read to learn more.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0AI Panic: The Latest Chapter in 2,000 Years of Storytelling Technology<\/a><\/strong> by Kristina Budelis<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article was posted a couple months ago, but is worth unearthing for its relevance to this week\u2019s newsletter. In it, Kristina Budelis explains as to why the anxiety we\u00a0all\u00a0feel around AI isn\u2019t exactly a new phenomenon. The more things change\u2026 the more they stay the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Friday saw the birth of the ChatGPT browser, which already promises to visualize your data, coach your…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,1020,11850,46771,158,46772,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-65952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-film","11":"tag-future-of-filmmaking","12":"tag-in-development","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-the-revenant","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114853954404388192","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}