How will artificial intelligence, including generative AI, impact the film industry and its creatives? That was one key question discussed during the opening day of Locarno Pro, the Locarno Film Festival’s industry strand, on Thursday.
The debate came a day after the 77th edition of the Locarno fest opened with a lineup that features several movies with AI themes, topics, and technology.
During a panel discussion that drew a huge crowd, Alex Walton, co-head of WME Independent, Katie Ellen, the former BFI executive who is now head of production at HanWay Films, and Romania’s Ada Solomon (Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann), producer at Hi Film Productions and MicroFILM and deputy chair of the board of the European Film Academy, discussed the state of the business, including thoughts on AI, funding, diversity and more.
“The advancement in virtual production is really exciting, which AI is helping really fuel as well,” as that helps with the film industry’s need to “bring cost down” in filmmaking, Walton said.
Ellen echoed that, saying about financial pressures: “There has been much haggling – who’s going to defer their fees, who’s going to cut their fees? The slice of pie left is so tiny.” The question has increasingly been whether a film is worth the investment. “Who’s getting anything? Who’s getting paid? Because it is a business, and these are people’s livelihoods, so costs have to come down, however that is,” she said. “And if AI can help with that – I don’t know about the issue of jobs, but no one has a job, if you can’t make films.”
Solomon also said that AI can help with cost and efficiency in filmmaking, meaning it can help creatives, “as long as we tame it” to keep creatives in the driver’s seat. As such, AI “is just a tool that we can use,” she argued. “How we use AI or are used by AI” is a key challenge to discuss these days, she concluded.
“The bullseye for success has become smaller,” Ellen argued about recent trends, especially in the independent film space, adding that this is where human feeling and intuition come in and can help pick projects that could find an audience.
Walton noted though that prediction technology and models are already in use, mentioning an Amazon script reading algorithm which continues to get updated. “So it’s an inconsistent decision maker,” he said. “Of course, human decision making comes in after that as well,” but there will be concern that this can be “dangerous” since this process affects “the whole eco-system, because we need to sell to platforms when you are selling up front, or selling down the line to try and feed into the algorithm.” Walton concluded that this could create a “vicious cycle.”
Since film projects and productions can take years to finish, Ellen said playing to an algorithm that changes every three months can be “deeply problematic.” After all, “are you going to really create your whole project for a certain buyer and then find they don’t want it in a year and a half when it comes out? And now, are you happy with the project you have created?”
Film funding questions were also in focus for the Locarno Pro panelists. For example, Solomon highlighted that Eastern Europe has fewer distribution platforms and financing opportunities than in the U.S. or Western Europe. Public financing is coming “towards the end of an era,” she warned, urging film industry people in the region to look for new models. The risk here is that some will say, “We are looking for direct profit. We are looking for direct commercialization,” which would put at risk the kind of indie arthouse fare she likes to focus on.
Is arthouse film funding getting harder, especially for younger filmmakers? “I am producing a lot of debut features,” she said. “I come from the country of Dracula, and I am feeding myself with new blood. … There is a risk but it is an assumed risk. … If you break through, you can make more money” than on a director’s bigger fourth or fifth film.” Solomon’s takeaway: Even if you fail, you lose less. But if you pick talent wisely, three of five projects can succeed.
She mentioned a current film project she is working on from a Romanian Roma woman who grew up in an orphanage and is telling her story in a positive and empowering way.
For a new filmmaker a strong, experienced production partner “who has been through that process” is key as “talent wants to work with new voices,” Walton said. “So it’s finding the right way that you can get yourself in front of the talent that you feel is right that then will help you raise the money. It will help you go to a distributor who doesn’t want to buy first-time filmmakers who is then competing to buy that film, because it’s got talent that they can put real value behind,” he explained.
“So it’s really challenging, and we have multiple movies with first-time filmmakers in Toronto this year,” Walton added. “All of them were really challenging at every stage, with the final financing bringing talent in. But those are hurdles that you have to push through.”
The executive mentioned the “many famous examples” of films that took long to finance and make, such as Whiplash, concluding that the discovery of new voices “is the lifeblood of the industry” and finding new filmmakers is key for the film sector.
Diversity and inclusivity also were part of Thursday’s debate. For example, Ellen said that new voices, such as Charlotte Wells, Charlotte Regan, and Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap are among the success stories attributable to public funding in the U.K.
“The Ground Is Shaking” was the theme of Thursday’s StepIn 2024 program on day 1 of Locarno Pro, touching not only on such topics as AI and the impact of the Hollywood strikes, but also the rise of streaming, and the future of the theatrical business and independent film.
Before the panel, Kelsey Farish, a media and entertainment lawyer with expertise in generative AI, shared her insight during a session entitled “Scripting New Realities: The Role and Risks of AI in Modern Filmmaking.” A consultant at Reviewed & Cleared, she specializes in the intersection of personality and publicity rights, copyright, and the use of GenAI, including for deepfakes.
Farish shared that her interest in AI and deepfakes started when she read comments from Scarlett Johansson about people using images of her to create adult deepfakes. She noted that AI can be used for good, such as content creation, production, and post-production, but also to handle back-office functions, such as rights and royalties.
She also highlighted “maximizing talent” as an emerging opportunity. “If you have AI for repetitive and technical aspects of acting, like ADR, it can free up those actors to then focus on more creative and emotionally challenging performances and other elements of their craft,” the expert said. “And if you are an actor with multiple digital replicas in play, you are … going to see your earning potential go up. You can go enjoy sun and beaches and whatever your AI replica can do some work for you so.”
While there are AI opportunities, there are also many risks, Farish emphasized. Among various others, she mentioned that AI may be getting better but lacks authenticity, especially in complex scenes, as well as human originality. “Will narratives become homogenized? Will studios be discouraged from taking creative risks,” asked one of her slides. “You can’t guarantee success based on a few spreadsheets,” Farish further highlighted, noting that AI firms can’t be sued for wrong predictions.
Meanwhile, using AI in post-production “might be too formulaic” because of a lack of “human touch,” the legal expert noted. And she said it still has to be discussed whether AI-generated content should be judged and honored with awards the same way as traditionally made movies. And who should get the Oscar, for example, the acting talent whose digital likeness was used in a film, the AI programmer, or their company?
For actors, key questions are those of control and consent, such as how they can “maintain agency over their digital likeness in a world where AI can replicate their appearance voice?” And should talent have the right to approve or veto every use of their digital replica?
Farish concluded with some tips for the use of AI: maintain human accountability and meaningful oversight; manage innovation strategically and responsibly; supplement, don’t replace, human creativity; be transparent with your people; use good lawyers to stay ahead of case law and new policies, be on top of contract requirements and strategy – after all, there are currently more than two dozen big AI-related lawsuits that will likely change the industry; and keep asking yourself “does this pass the vibe check,” meaning does this feel right?