Whither Hollywood Creatives?

"Can they prompt?"

Audrey Henson runs a podcast about AI and creativity. She also makes TikTok videos, which is how I found her ("I was looking at it, so I guess it’s for me”). In her video she says studios are asking whether writers and showrunners can prompt. In particular, can they use tools like Runway or Midjourney to create visuals to illustrate the script?

This is an evolution of the storyboards, clips, and other pre-visualization tools that the industry has been using for a while.

I understand people, particularly people in the creative industries, are worried about what AI may do to their livelihoods. To date, in software development, where AI adoption has been fastest, the jury remains out on where it complements labor, and where it substitutes, and even on what the macro impact is. AI aside, the movie industry has been harmed by Netflix, home theatre, and COVID long before AI appeared.

Is it better or worse to have a writer take on the role of storyboard artist? On the one hand, it’s more demanding on the writer, but on the other hand, they get to craft their vision more directly, and tell the story just as they want. Similarly, a story board artist, who has a flair for visuals but struggles with plot structure and dialogue, can now use AI to fill in the gaps in their skill set and tell the stories they care about.

I’m also curious about how better pre-visualization tools will change the stories we tell. Will they become more creative and personal, because an individual can try more things and ensure they work before the expensive task of filmmaking. Or will commodity images make movies even more cookie-cutter than they are today?

Ultimately, while the conversation is about AI, the forces having bigger impact on the industry are cost structure, distribution, the competition for attention. Good communication, helping others see what you see and marketing you work, is a critical skill for creatives who want to be successful, and I think AI can only help with that.