{"id":844498,"date":"2026-06-04T19:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/844498\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:58:14","slug":"lionsgates-michael-burns-says-ai-will-save-tens-and-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/844498\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionsgate’s Michael Burns Says AI Will Save “Tens And Tens Of Millions Of Dollars A Year”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLionsgate<\/a> Vice Chairman Michael Burns<\/a> says AI<\/a> will save the company \u201ctens and tens of millions of dollars a year\u201d across film and TV production as well as areas like FAST channel curation.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlong with the cost efficiencies, which studios and creatives alike have been touting of late, Burns even included AI firms as \u201cwild-card\u201d candidates to one day buy Lionsgate, long considered a ripe acquisition target.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s like Moore\u2019s law on crack,\u201d Burns said Thursday at the Gabelli Sports & Media Symposium in New York, alluding to the tech industry maxim that posits regular gains in computer processing power, powering innovation. \u201cIt is going so fast. If you own the existing IP, you get a lot of different ways to monetize it. So, I think it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt a recent meeting, Burns recalled, colleagues showed him \u201call the stuff we\u2019re doing in the world of AI, which is with our movies, specific shots, previewing the movie, figuring out how to budget.\u201d AI, he added, \u201cis going to save us tens and tens of millions of dollars a year.\u201d For context, Lionsgate\u2019s film and TV studio business took in more than $3 billion in the most recent fiscal year, according to SEC filings.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile most media and streaming companies have been trumpeting the efficiencies of AI, the topic remains a delicate one given the sensitivities in the creative community about the future of copyrighted work. The Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA managed to strike contract renewals with the AMPTP in recent months, averting a repeat of the strikes in 2023 that were fueled in part by AI anxiety. Still, considerable uneasiness remains about protection and guardrails for artists. <\/p>\n

\n\tExecutives leading media and streaming companies who have been quizzed about their AI strategies generally take pains to emphasize the involvement of human creators and the need for developing \u201cresponsible\u201d protocols. They also generally refrain from venturing any dollar figures for the potential savings, stressing the innovation aspect of embracing new technology.<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked by a moderator about the legal risks involved in systematizing AI, Burns said he expects a viable set of protections to soon be established via a collaborative process among stakeholders. \u201cActors\u2019 likenesses, you know, with cooperation, I think that there\u2019s a participation with them. \u2026 everybody can monetize it together.\u201d (Hasbro this week announced the launch of an AI studio designed to let third parties use company properties like Transformers, for a fee.)<\/p>\n

\n\tLionsgate, which has a deep library of films and TV episodes, has long sought ways to make money on those titles. AI, Burns said, speeds up the process of curating FAST channels, AVOD services or other offerings.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe topic of AI linked back to a longstanding area of speculation around Lionsgate, which is its suitability as an acquisition target. Particularly since splitting from Starz last year, the studio seems to be attractive, though industry and Wall Street pundits have observed that since Burns and CEO Jon Feltheimer took the reins of the company in 2000. Instead of selling, it has grown by being a prudent buyer.<\/p>\n

\n\tToday\u2019s M&A marketplace, Burns said, is ripe for deals but some challenges for partners to get the math to work. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEverybody has the same issue, which is you want to show growth and you only have two ways to show growth, which is organically, which is really hard to do, or inorganically, which is by doing deals,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re an interesting strategic partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs to who that strategic partner could be, Burns didn\u2019t rule out private equity firms but also said media peers would be candidates. He also classified sovereign wealth funds and AI companies as \u201cwild cards\u201d in the mix. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou look at some of these AI companies with staggering valuations and growth rates that are just incredible,\u201d he said. One such entity is Runway<\/a>, which initially teamed with Lionsgate<\/a> in 2024, and earlier this year raised funds at a $5.3 billion valuation. \u201cI made a joke with [CEO Crist\u00f3bal Valenzuela] when we first did our deal with him, I said, \u2018You know, maybe someday, we\u2019ll buy you.\u2019 Now, he\u2019s probably smirking at me, saying, \u2018Well, let\u2019s take a look at how our valuation turns out.’\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns says AI will save the company \u201ctens and tens of millions of dollars…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":844499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,12262,345436,12271,16994,158,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-844498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-lionsgate","tag-michael-burns","tag-runway","tag-techline","tag-technology","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116693611679244605","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844498","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=844498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}