Writer-director Daniel Epega’s filmmaking journey was always tied to technology.
He was seven years old when he began posting stop-motion and ‘let’s play’ videos under the pseudonym “Lego Crafter Studios” on YouTube. Epega went from bringing Lego Iron Man to life in epic recreations of Avengers: Infinity War to animating an award-winning short film about a stick figure who can draw objects into reality.
Now, faced with the onset of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative software, Epega is trying to stay ahead of an uncertain future in the entertainment industry.
Epega says the development of AI poses new possibilities and potential barriers for people working in entertainment.
“The fear of AI and what it’s going to do to change the whole landscape is why I pursue opportunities,” Epega said. “I like AI. I’m studying it because I respect it and fear it enough to know it’s going to change things.”
Epega is a sophomore at USC studying cinema and media, minoring in AI applications and pursuing a master’s degree in data analytics. He and other aspiring filmmakers face the challenge of adapting to new AI technologies across the entertainment industry, including rapidly developing generative software that can originate realistic sound and video from simple prompts.
The fear is especially apparent in the writers’ community after record-breaking strikes last year pushed for protections against AI usage. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) struck a deal that determined AI cannot be used to undermine a writer’s credit or be used as a reason to reduce compensation.
“The screenwriter is the most visibly threatened by AI,” Epega said. “The chatbot writes scripts. It can put words on paper. That is the thing we all are presently afraid of.”
AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT can generate full-length scripts in seconds. Scripts that may take Epega months to develop can be generated with a click of a button. However, Epega is confident that writers can continue to stand out by leveraging their humanity.
“I have worked with chatbots and AI…and what I know that they still cannot do is hit the wits, ingenuity, and the heart of a real person,” Epega said.
He said companies will favor multitalented people who can work with the future.
“Across any space, you will get professionals who can work with AI. They will replace those who cannot,” Epega said. “If you are unwilling to work with AI assistants, then companies will see you as less efficient than those who can.”
Epega has interned with AI companies, tutored AI at Rice University and trained AI chatbots. He hopes that by learning about the technology and business of entertainment, he can educate others and lead responsible integration of AI across the industry.
“I can’t predict the future but I am doing I am doing my best to be a master of both spaces,” Epega said. “Whatever happens, I will be able to maneuver it and make changes to protect the artists and art that I love.”
Screenwriters are not the only ones who must adapt to the times. Directors may seek opportunities to create content quickly and at a low cost. AI can generate visuals and streamline time-consuming processes like mastering sound and rendering video.
Jaden Kirshner is a junior studying the business of cinematic arts and president of the AI in entertainment club, Art.Ificial. He claimed the most major upset to traditional filmmaking is emerging generative video software like Sora and Runway, which can turn images and text into video.
“I think those are the most disruptive ones because you can argue it gives anyone a camera and a sizable budget,” Kirshner said.
Despite their technical capabilities, Kirshner added that even with AI tools, filmmakers still need creative vision, skills and talent to tell a great story.
Legally, generative AI technologies fall into a grey area. AI is not yet copyright-protected, so creators can’t commercialize AI-generated content. Because of this, Kirshner said that most AI applications are currently used behind the scenes in post-production and sound.
AI software like Flawless AI can automatically dub sound and enhance dialogue, while other models can translate content into hundreds of different languages.
“Imagine you can translate [a film] into perfect Korean without ruining the actor’s performance, with the actor’s consent,” Kirshner said. “I think that revolutionizes the content world and the globalization of content.”
To explain the power of AI in sound, he gave the example of a movie called Fall (2022), in which actors played climbers scaling a 2,000-foot cell tower.
The filmmakers shot the movie practically, meaning they captured the raw reactions of actors as they climbed hundred-foot cell towers. Fearing for their life, the actors repeatedly dropped F-bombs. To maintain a PG-13 rating, the filmmakers turned to an AI sound company to redub the sound and replace profanity with appropriate language.
Kirshner said AI saved the film because as a small indie movie, the filmmakers lacked the time and budget to afford reshoots. Future films may utilize AI software to save millions of dollars in post-production costs, according to an article by Forbes.
Kirshner and Epega encourage other creatives to research AI and learn to work with new technology. AI poses a genuine threat to many jobs, including screenwriters. However, like any major change, there are ways to adapt and stay ahead of the times, according to Epega. He said creators will find success by being flexible and staying open to AI as a possibility for creative growth.
“You have to become a multifaceted leader on set because technology can become your right-hand man,” Epega said. “...Keep an open mind and keep changing because if you get stuck in the past or stuck into what you are familiar with, you may get booted out or fall behind.”
Kirshner founded Art.Ificial at USC to help students explore opportunities in developing AI artwork and provide a space to learn about AI integration. He said there was a strong interest and curiosity about the development of AI in entertainment, but no community existed for students to come together and talk about it.
“Ultimately, it will be our generation that’s using these tools out in the workforce and being impacted by the developments happening now,” Kirshner said. “So I felt that having that space to talk and learn about AI is really important.”
Kirshner stressed the importance of ethically developing AI. He hopes that by keeping the conversation open, the club will help establish a moral standard for integrating technology in entertainment.
The club hosts workshops and panel discussions with creatives from major companies in the AI space. At the end of the year, members can show off what they learned by creating a capstone project.
“The goal is you take everything we learned from the club and get interested in the topic, then go out, do your own AI-related work, and explore,” Kirshner said. “It could be a research paper, it could be a film using AI…there are no limits.”
Epega encouraged writers to stay bold and remind the industry why they are needed. He said creating value for personal skills and talents is the best way to stay relevant, even when certain roles are threatened by AI.
“We all have the impulse to punch the program in the face because it’s affecting our industry, but we can’t,” Epega said. “AI is going to be rolling around very soon, so if you can get experience working with computer science or get even a little bit of exposure to it, that will be a huge help.”
Clips made by AI may lose their artistic meaning without human touch, according to Kirshner. He said that post-production will become increasingly important to carry creative value and enable human storytelling.
“The big question is, will there be a point where you can’t tell when a short film or TV show is AI or not,” Kirshner said. “That is a really scary question to ask, and even though I am really interested in the AI space, I hope that there is never a world where we put in a prompt and it makes the show for us. I don’t think that is good for anyone.”
Kirshner said the industry will likely never reach that point. Given where the technology is headed, he does not foresee an AI takeover happening any time soon.
Kirshner and Epega hope for a future where humans and AI will collaborate on visual projects. Kirshner said great stories can emerge from human talent and emotionally driven storytelling, combined with the technical and creative abilities of emerging AI models in entertainment.
“It’s the collaboration of humans and technology that will unlock new stories, new creativity, and great art,” Kirshner said.