Sundance Punts on AI Festival Entrants

Eugene Hernandez, Sundance Director, is welcomed in Boulder

 As reported in a prior post, the Sundance Film Festival is moving from Park City to Boulder. The reason for the move is that the Festival has outgrown its Utah home. The Boulder venues offer much more space and are all within walking distance of one another.

The Festival will have four major competition categories: U.S. dramatic, world cinema dramatic, U.S. documentary, and world cinema documentary. There will also be an Offscreen category featuring live podcast-recording entrants. A new sub-category, the New Frontier, will feature "cutting-edge" films; however, there was no mention of  AI-generated content being allowed.

Sundance is working with Dolby to complete the necessary sound and screen upgrades to the Festival venues.

IMO, Sundance is skirting the AI issue. Why? My guess is that they are being pressured from the Hollywood community and its known opposition to AI-produced content. Eventually, Sundance will have to bow to the technology, as will all of Hollywood.

Sundance is the largest and longest-running independent film festival in the U.S.

One Man's Conversion to AI Produced Movies

 "The idea of an AI-generated actress terrified me. The notion of a machine replacing a movie set offends me", so says Jonathan Yunger, Millennium Media's executive."However, the industry has made it impossible to produce a movie as the costs have outstripped any reasonable revenue predictions. Additionally, new talent in directing, scriptwriting, or acting have no chance at even a shot, because no producer can justify the risk in terms of cost/benefit."

The point of bringing AI into production is not to make films without people. It's to make movies that were impossible to fund by removing functions from the production process. AI doesn't change the art; it changes what gets greenlit. Integrating AI workflows into the pre- and post-production process allows for more creativity and more output.

Yunger just produced a short AI-generated movie, entitled 'Echo Hunter', whereby the movie used human actors but AI-generated visual effects and animation. The movie cost $50,000 to produce; it has had over 600,000 views on YouTube.

Yunger with Scott Eastwood on set of movie "Lucky Strike"

Yunger is right; AI is coming in-house to movie production at all of the studios and independent content creators. It should be used as a new tool in creating more and better content.

Staff Bleeding Continues in Hollywood

 

As movie production grinds to a halt, Hollywood studios are still laying off hundreds.

The latest is Disney, which announced it was axing hundreds of jobs in its Pixar, National Geographic Productions, and at ESPN Entertainment. This will be the third round of layoffs for Disney this year, and others will follow.

Josh D'Amaro, Disney's new CEO, stated, "We have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations throughout the company to ensure our continued delivery of world-class creativity and innovation."

IMO, the staff reductions will continue throughout the entertainment industry at all levels and in all sectors.

Mouse Meets Relish

 

Disney meets Kraft Heinz

Disney and Kraft Heinz inked a multiyear brand deal that involves bringing KH brands to Disney films, TV shows, theme parks, and cruise business.

The deal includes 10 KH brands, including: ketchup, cream cheese, mac and cheese, and mustard, which will all be prominently displayed in Disney content and sports events.

Todd Kaplan, KH Chief Marketing Officer, says, "This allows us to show up in mealtime situations that matter most to consumers. Having a shared experience throughout all of Disney's iconic brands and sporting events."

KH is one of the largest marketers in the U.S. Kaplan added, "This is about merging one of  America's best-known entertainment brands with the owner of the best food brands."

IMO, product placement in films and TV shows has long been the norm. How impactful these 'ads' are on the fan base, in my opinion, is negligible. Having KH products at Disney parks and cruises,, again, is a big yawn.

No financials of the deal were disclosed.

By: Jim Lavorato

AI Should be Great News to Movie Exhibitors

 Shortly, the cost of movie-making will drop dramatically. A film that cost $100 million (and in many cases never gets green-lit) will, with the use of AI, cost only $30-40 million.

All of the background, props, animals, special effects, and even actors will be AI-generated. What this means is that studios and other content creators will be producing a lot more content.

The number of films released could double or triple. Blockbuster films will be the norm and not the exception. Exhibitors will have a lot more choices in what they screen and really cater to their demographic.

Tilly

The next 5-10 years will see a shift in the movie-making process and rewards into the hands of exhibitors. This shift in content control has already begun. AI-generated actors, like Tilly Norwood, are already being used - she stars in the first of many films and can be seen in the upcoming comedy-drama 'Misaligned'. Norwood represents a new form of digital art. She has her own media accounts; see her on Instagram and other media platforms.

AI will be the much-deserved panacea the exhibition industry has been waiting for. Lots more content means more admissions.