Writer-director Roger Avary, who won an Academy Award alongside Quentin Tarantino for the screenplay of Pulp Fiction, announced his foray into AI filmmaking, adding that he has “three features” in the works with lots of buzzing interest.
Avary revealed his new filmmaking plans during a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, saying he turned to AI after it became “impossible” for his movies to get “traditional” funding.
“I go out there and try to get stuff made, and it’s almost impossible,” Avary said. “And then I built a technology company over the last year, basically making AI movies, and all of a sudden, boom, like that, money gets thrown at it. All of a sudden, just by attaching the word ‘AI’ and [the fact] that it’s a technology-based company, all of a sudden, investors came in, and we’re in production on three films now.”
“It was so easy for me to get that going and so difficult for me to get a traditional movie going through the traditional route,” he added. “Just put AI in front of it and all of a sudden you’re in production on three features.”
Avary said his three AI films are “a family Christmas movie that’ll be in theaters this holiday season” along with a “faith-based movie for next Easter,” followed by a “big romantic war epic.”
Academy Award-winning writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) concurred with Avary’s point in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“One year from now photorealistic AI dramas will be running through film school bodies like diuretics. Based on my brief AI experimentation a savvy student will be able to create a 90min narrative in 2-3 weeks. On zero budget. Without leaving home. Without anyone’s permission,” said Schrader.
“The originality of the story would determine the value of the product. Why go through the agonies of fund-raising and collaboratorating when all you need is a keyboard? Darren Aronovsky is already in the game with Roger Avary hard behind,” he continued.
Schrader said it will simply become a matter of the type of platform that carries AI along with the first feature film that breaks into the stratosphere.
While Schrader and Avary have shown their willingness to cast their pearls before the altar of AI filmmaking, controversies over copyright still remain. Last week, for instance, a clip went viral from the video generator Seedance 2.0 (subsidiary of the Chinese-owned ByteDance) that featured movie titans Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in a photorealistic fight sequence, which prompted a fiery statement from the Motion Picture Association, per Variety.
“By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity,” read the statement.
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