Amazon has revealed intentions to utilize artificial intelligence to expedite and lower the cost of movie and television production, even as fears continue throughout Hollywood about the technology’s potential to remove jobs and fundamentally disrupt the entertainment business.
At Amazon MGM Studios, renowned entertainment executive Albert Cheng is leading a team developing new AI technologies aimed to minimize expenses and streamline the creative process. The startup hopes to launch a closed beta program in March, allowing industry partners to evaluate the tools, with findings due by May.
A ‘Startup’ Within Amazon
Cheng defined the AI Studio as a “startup” functioning under founder Jeff Bezos’s “two pizza team” philosophy—keeping the group small enough to be nourished by two pizzas. The team consists mostly of product engineers and scientists, with a tiny creative and business contingent. “The cost of production is so exorbitant that it genuinely makes it tough to boost capacity and take substantial risks,” Cheng told Reuters. “We fundamentally believe that AI will expedite processes, but it will not supplant the innovation and unique contributions that humans provide in the creative process.”
The AI Studio is developing tools that connect what Cheng referred to as “the last mile” between the precise control directors want for cinematic content and the current consumer AI products. This entails integrating with industry-standard creative software and enhancing character consistency across shots.
To give filmmakers more alternatives, Amazon is collaborating with several major language model providers through its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services. Oscar-winning “Maleficent” director Robert Stromberg and his business Secret City, Kunal Nayyar (“The Big Bang Theory”) and his business Good Karma Productions, and former Pixar and ILM animator Colin Brady are examples of industry partners.
Industry Precedents And Tensions
The announcement comes as AI use in Hollywood expands. Amazon alludes to their biblical drama “House of David” as an example, where director Jon Erwin employed AI coupled with live-action footage to produce fight sequences for the second season—increasing from about 70 AI-generated shots in season one to between 350 and 400.
Netflix has similarly embraced the technology. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos announced last year that the Argentine series “The Eternaut” employed generative AI to produce a building collapse scene 10 times faster than traditional approaches would allow.
Yet the technology has provoked major opposition. Oscar-nominated actress Emily Blunt voiced alarm last October upon learning about AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood, stating, “Good Lord, we’re in peril. That is really, truly scary. Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop taking away our human connection”.
Amazon has slashed around 30,000 corporate jobs since October, including those at Prime Video—layoffs the company has partly attributed to AI-driven productivity gains. CEO Andy Jassy said in June that the company expects to need “fewer people for certain roles” as AI use increases.