‘I see the incredible promise’: on set of an AI film shoot as new studios embrace controversial tech

Amid fears for jobs, some film-makers say AI could enable them to bypass studio giants and take more creative risks Near the collonaded entrance to Sony Pictures’ historic Culver City film studio, a tech-powered rival has sprung up this summer. The artists at Promise, a new studio feeding off the potential of AI, can glimpse the lots where Singin’ in the Rain and Men in Black were shot, but no longer do they need to get beyond the studio’s high walls to make their visions come true. From far more modest premises, they are making movies with rapidly accelerating AI models that create backgrounds, special effects and even “synthetic performers” – using US models but also driven by market-leading Chinese AI. Backed by Google, Silicon Valley venture capitalists and Disney, Promise is one of a rising number of AI film studios now taking root in Hollywood, with the result that traditional studios’ vast sound stages and financing are becoming less necessary. It is a controversial trend. Leading directors including Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro have criticised generative technology, actors and writers are fearing for their jobs, and the Democratic congresswoman Lau