What AI Use Will Mean For Hollywood’s VFX Industry
By Movieguide® Contributor
AI’s increasing use in Hollywood means big changes for the VFX industry, from cheaper effects to a decrease in jobs for VFX artists.
“The rosiest outlook on AI deployment envisions an invigoration of the production landscape by bringing down costs in areas related to conceptualization, visual effects and animation, just to name a few,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “The trade-off? Chunks of the Hollywood workforce gone, mostly those in postproduction who are staring down the barrel of potential automation due to labor protections and legal and technological constraints surrounding AI use that protect actors, writers and directors from but not other crew.”
Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns explained that AI can “save money” in many different areas, adding that this could be a boon to filmmakers, allowing “movies that might not have otherwise been greenlit to be made.”
However, most VFX workers probably don’t see it that way. In an article about the potential effects of widespread AI use in the entertainment industry, The Conversation wrote, “The VFX industry was already struggling with profits and sustainability before the AI boom. Visual effects companies often face bankruptcy — even Oscar-winning ones. In many cases, artists will get laid off once a project is complete.”
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The Animation Guild reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but “AI usage can be required if there’s advance notice.”
“Studios can replace workers with AI,” Mike Riana, director of THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, wrote in an Instagram post. “We didn’t get staffing minimums to protect crew sizes from AI job losses.”
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