Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios president Sam Register recently joined a group of fellow entertainment industry executives for a Los Angeles Times panel about the most significant topics that affected their work in 2023.
Issues discussed included the directors’ and writers’ strikes, the state of streaming, the decline of linear tv, and perhaps most interestingly for the world of animation, the emergence of generative artificial intelligence technology.
When asked if their companies were using AI, Register replied:
Animation is a visual medium. But so far, I haven’t seen anything AI can do visually that an artist doesn’t do better currently.
Another panelist said that they had seen storyboards created using generative AI technology, to which Register responded:
As an animation studio, I just think it’s important we protect the artists and the art form as long as we can. Because I think we should give jobs to people who really do that and so they can get their entry-level experience.
Another illuminating answer came when Register was asked if linear tv and streaming can coexist. He said he thinks they can but that the balancing act is becoming more difficult with time.
As part of Warner Bros., we have lots of linear networks. They’re very profitable, and we’re still selling great stuff to them. But we’re also making sure there’s a place that they will live also on streaming, so we’re doing ambidextrous programming and selling.
Register’s response conflicts somewhat with Warner Bros. Discovery’s track record. The company’s streaming platform, Max, has very famously removed many animated series originally produced for WBD linear networks, ensuring they won’t live on streaming.
Register’s take on the rise of adult animation was also noteworthy. According to him, animation audience demographics are shifting older, affecting how companies commission, acquire, and produce animated series.
We make everything from preschool to adult animation, and it’s the kids, that 6-to-11 core, that basically Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and Disney all made their bones on. That is disappearing. We’re seeing a lot more YA and adult animation doing great. And we see a lot of younger content being produced. But it’s that space in the middle, and it’s not just streaming that’s getting kids away from linear. It’s Youtube and it’s Roblox.