AI STAR Is Born

How artificial intelligence is already changing filmmaking

- Nick Bilton

A SCREENWRITER FRIEND once told me about a young assistant who was handed a script by his boss and told to drive it across town, to Bel Air, to the stately home of one of the world’s most celebrated directors. He walked up the long driveway, past the manicured gardens, before handing off the script. As the director inspected it, the assistant said nervously, “I have to say, your house is just incredible.” Without skipping a beat, the director shot back, “Yeah, well, no one who lives in it is happy” and slammed the door. When I asked why the director was so miserable, my friend replied: “Probably because he works in Hollywood.”One reason the industry is so much more taxing than other creative fields is because it’s so expensive to make anything. According to producers and studios I’ve spoken to, TV show budgets now range between $6 million and $25 million an episode, not including marketing costs. Most mainstream movies now cost between $100 million and $250 million to make. Years ago, you could make a blockbuster for a fraction of that. The first Top Gun (1986) cost $15 million to make. The 2022 sequel cost $170 million.