Who Gets to Make the Movie?

Reflection on Flowstone Group's Panel June Discussion: How Does AI Affect Your Industry?

Taking a deeper dive into the side of pictures, scrips, and storytelling, no industry has had its AI reckoning more publicly than Hollywood.

CEO / Founder of Adrenaline FIlms: Michael Murray

At our June panel, one 35-year film industry veteran, Founder of Adrenaline Films, put it plainly: "The big studios are no longer looking to develop relationships with directors, writers, and actors. I think we're going to see the big movies coming out from the studios being completely AI-generated content, with AI actors, actresses. Once you do that, your directors take a lesser role. They're not directing a human performance."

We've recognized this battle of ethics in the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes where the first major institutional confrontation over what it means for AI to replicate human creative work without consent or compensation.

A fellow panelist added, "If you were a voiceover artist, and you made a living as a voiceover artist, I would be looking for a new job." The thought might feel jarring, as a

statement like this threatens the careers of those who offer a one of a kind talent, now just became emulated by the push of a button, and probably for less.

The U.S. Copyright Office added another layer in 2024: purely AI-generated work doesn't get copyright protection. Digital replicas built from existing copyrighted material might still implicate real protections. For any business using generative AI in marketing or content, promotes a governance question, not just a footnote.

What's next, according to the panel, is a fight over disclosure itself. "I think we'll be having some culture wars about AI. This is certified organic, this is certified no AI was used in the creation of this content." A label for human-made work, the same instinct that put "organic" on food, now applied to creative labor.

Will speed outrun the quality of content? Tell us your thoughts.