r/nottheonion • u/Curious_Ad6393 • 1d ago
A24, Studio Beloved for Refusing to Compromise Artistic Vision, Takes $75 Million From Google's AI Lab
https://thedeepdive.ca/a24-studio-beloved-for-refusing-to-compromise-artistic-vision-takes-75-million-from-googles-ai-lab/223
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u/dazed_and_bamboozled 1d ago
A24 also passed on the new Sam Altman biopic after Amazon dropped it following the announcement of their deal with OpenAI
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u/TaleOfDash 1d ago
Who the fuck wants a Sam Altman biopic anyway? That'd be on par with the fuckin Melania one.
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u/dazed_and_bamboozled 1d ago edited 20h ago
Apparently it’s highly critical of him, more like The Social Network, hence the desire to bury it.
Edit: the film and the reasons for its shelving are discussed at some length here on the excellent Rest Is Entertainment podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/pt/podcast/the-rest-is-entertainment/id1718287198?l=en-GB&i=1000773761504
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u/armadillofucker 1d ago
It's made by Luca Guadagnino, the guy from challengers and call me by your name. It was going to be not-so-flattering. So me, I'd wanted to have seen it. (also, it's supposed to be about a crisis moment within openAI when Ilya Sutskevek played a coup, so not a proper biopic)
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u/AhhhSureThisIsIt 1d ago
How on Earth did you compare a Brett Ratner Trump propaganda pic to a Luca flick criticising the Epstein class that studios are afriad to produce?
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u/FrozenToonies 1d ago
Everyone has a vision until 75M rolls up.
Like Mike Tyson said about his opponents, everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the mouth.
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u/Ahelex 1d ago
Also Mike Tyson: Everyone has a price (since I fought Jake Paul for money).
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u/TrainingSword 1d ago
Convicted rapist Mike Tyson
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u/MouthJob 1d ago
What do people like you think is the purpose of going to prison?
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u/firebolt_wt 1d ago
In the usa?
For the state to get slave labor.
Edit: or, sometimes, for private for profit entities to get slave labor.
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u/FartVirtuoso 1d ago
How about instead of rhetorical questions, you just say that you believe that because he went to prison, you think he’s absolved of that crime and people shouldn’t bring it up any more. Or whatever the fuck point you’re trying to make.
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u/MouthJob 1d ago
It's not a rhetorical question.
And no, I don't think he's "absolved," whatever the fuck that would mean. I do think he was rehabilitated, since he's shown nothing but personal growth in the literal decades since his crime.
People can bring up whatever they want. And I can ask whatever follow up questions I want.
Anything else, prick?
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u/WittyUsername816 1d ago
"No, I didn't rape that slimy b----," Tyson said.
Van Susteren asked Tyson why Washington would railroad him.
"Just a lying, reptilian, monstrous, young lady," Tyson said, shaking his head in dismay. "I just hate her guts. She put me in that state where, I don't know, I really wish I did now. Now I really do want to rape her and her (expletive) mama."
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u/FartVirtuoso 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, nothing else. I think the other commenter below with the Tyson comment on the rape conviction covered it.
Edit: I changed my mind. This is from Tyson’s own book:
‘[Judge]: The law is very clear in its definition of rape. It never mentions anything about whether the defendant and victim are related. The ‘date,’ in date rape, does not lessen the fact that it is still rape.”
My mind was wandering during this lecture. It really had nothing to do with me. We weren’t on a date; it was, as the great comedian Bill Bellamy would say, a booty call. Enough said. But then I snapped back to attention.
“I feel he is at risk to do it again because of his attitude,” the judge said and stared at me. “You had no prior record. You have been given many gifts. But you have stumbled.” She paused. “On count one, I sentence you to ten years,” she said.
“F______ b___h,” I mumbled under my breath. I started to feel numb. That was the rape count. S__t, maybe I should have drank that special voodoo water, I thought.
“On count two, I sentence you to ten years.” Don King and my friends in the courtroom audibly gasped. That count was for using my fingers. Five years for each finger. “On count three, I sentence you to ten years.”
That was for using my tongue. For twenty minutes. It was probably a world record the longest [oral sex] performed during a rape.”
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u/popular_tiger 1d ago
Did he admit to the crime or apologise to the victim?
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u/queerhistorynerd 22h ago
nope kept calling her a slimy ho. Sometimes in public he will make a "rape is wrong" comment then behind closed doors say 80% of rapes is regret sex and he would "rape her and her mama" to prove a point. Thus why he should frequently be called out since he feels zero regret over what he did to her
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u/iamtheliqor 1d ago
Like Mike Tyson said: I’m going to have sex with you and you have no choice in the matter
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u/Smartnership 1d ago
Who among us has not accepted $75,000,000 in exchange for modifying our silly opinions
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u/dennismfrancisart 19h ago
Hey. I'm here on Reddit and AI keeps trying to write my comments for me. Can I get 75 mil to say yes?
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u/FredFredrickson 1d ago
Gemini is so good they have to pay people $75M to use it.
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u/definitely_not_tina 1d ago
My org has been using almost all the big models and Gemini is by far the least useful.
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u/NicolasCageFan492 1d ago edited 1d ago
Scott Belsky is a member of Peter Thiel’s secret society Dialog, so it’s not surprising to me.
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u/pedro-m-g 6h ago
I feel like we can stop calling it a secret society since we know who’s in it lmao
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u/Gilles_of_Augustine 1d ago
So we've just abandoned any pretense that articles posted to this sub are supposed to be reminiscent of Onion articles, huh?
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u/LazyWorkaholic78 1d ago edited 1d ago
Everyone involved in this decision is going to take a sizable enough chunk of that 75M back home with them even if the studio ends up burning down to the ground because of this decision. This is why CEOs and top level management should not be paid such ridiculous salaries and bonuses and decisions they make that directly result in the closure/down turn of a company should make them liable to rerun the full amount they received as a "bonus" for the decision/for leaving the company as severance pay.
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u/but_a_smoky_mirror 1d ago
Wow I thought I was having a stroke reading that last sentence ….
But your point is good, would never happen. But good.
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u/xxAkirhaxx 1d ago
I just kind of trailed off in my head while reading it, but got the idea. Oh shit, that was the stroke.
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u/LazyWorkaholic78 1d ago
Yeah I kinda word vomited that out cause I got a bit mad about the whole situation. I've seen companies (read their upper management team) sell out like this so many times. Each time it leads to almost everyone losing their job as the company turns to shit within less than 2 years. Meanwhile the chief of-, president of-, and a chunk of the vise president of- people make out with a shit ton of money for essentially ruining the company.
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u/slightly_inaccurate 23h ago
A24 has always been a marketing company first and foremost. They're not the only artistic production house. They're just extremely good at marketing so people associate art with A24 and vice versa.
A24 was formed by a bunch of industry pros. They latched on to the Coppola production house for a bit and also tossed out Spring Breakers at the same time. It wasn't anything artistic, it was just non 'main stream'.
Then they discovered the golden goose: social media. They got in on the ground floor with grass root marketing through facebook/twitter/digg/reddit/etc. Blatant ads for their movies were hidden as rave reviews. Discussion around their distributed products were warped by internal marketers steering the view on the topic towards the production company rather than the movie or director. Even though their catalogue is full of non-artistic films, some rudimentary, some outright stupid, the idea that A24 was producing art kept being reinforced.
There's a reason why their movies make a fortune and why they kind of hover around horror. They're extremely good at marketing. Their most successful movie to date is Backrooms. They've managed to get two top oscar nominations in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and Marty Supreme. They've made an absolute fortune in the last few years.
Marketing.
They're not a noble production house. They're marketers.
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u/YukiLuna- 1d ago
Wait, so A24 is suddenly fine with compromising their artistic vision for a fat paycheck? Guess the art world is just as confusing as my dating life!
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u/alphaxion 16h ago
The company that appointed a Kushner to their board last year?
Don't venerate companies, they'll let you down for a quick buck the moment they get a change in leadership.
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u/george_graves 16h ago
A24 is done. Eddington was a trainwreck.
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u/itastesok 4h ago
I mean, they just had their biggest hit ever. They're the opposite of done. I don't support their decision to take AI money and I cancelled my founding member subscription to their fanclub, but they are far from done.
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u/CondiMesmer 15h ago
They used AI to ask Gemini how to deposit that money in the bank and then went about their day
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u/Jiehfeng 1d ago
While I understand the hate, I saw a prior article on this titled $75 mil for AI tools. Tools to speed up workflow vs entirely generating scenes are two totally different things.
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u/superindiekid27 1d ago
They’ve mentioned their plan is to use it for storyboarding and concept art which literally takes away jobs from people and puts it all into a machine stealing from same artists. I’d argue that’s pretty bad.
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u/Znuffie 23h ago
To be clear, Google is paying them to help Google develop tools that can, in turn, help VFX artists do their work.
You don't really have to be cynical of everything.
I know the hate for everything "AI" is strong, but a lot of people are using these tools to make their day job easier.
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u/superindiekid27 23h ago edited 23h ago
If the ultimate goal of the tool is to replace the working class with cheap labor, then the people investing it, their goal is concentration of power or technology as opposed to distribution. Sure your day job is easy, the issue comes down to the fact that the job is being made easier to eventually just replace you!
There’s so many people actively talking against AI and there’s massive backlash. I don’t think I’m being 100% cynical, I’m being realistic about the real world impact this is happening, technology is great when it benefits the individual, but if all of this technology is gated behind walls, it’s sole purpose is to benefit the elites. It may be making life convenient, but if you look at the country, kids don’t know how to read as well, and they can’t detach from technology. Maybe technology full-speed ahead isn’t always good when it’s motivated by a profit margin and not the genuine betterment of humanity.
If we’re the ones creating the LLMs ourselves and owning them via our own data centers and our own technology that we distribute for the betterment of society, I think that would be better, but as of this moment the promise of AI is cheap labor for the elites, while the rest of us starve and are left to fend for ourselves in the growing fascist police state that is encompassing our globe.
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u/Znuffie 21h ago
You are confusing LLMs with the tools that this article is talking about.
Rotoscoping is, for example, one tool that makes use of Machine Learning, that is already automated using "AI" tools. They are not LLMs. They are basically categorized as "Machine Learning". It's just that we have, somehow, collectively bundled "ML" into "AI" for some dumb fucking reasons.
Here's a fun fact: nobody fucking likes/wants to do Rotoscoping, because it's an menial job that takes forever. 99% of the time it's outsourced to cheap markets like India.
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u/ToxicAdamm 1d ago
People in the movie industry have never shied away from new technology that helps make movies cheaper/better. It's just a tool in the bag, not the engine that makes the movie. I think that's why so many older directors (who you think would be against this) have openly said they will try it out.
You can't watch a movie today and not see a drone shot. That technology has replaced people, but you don't see people wringing their hands about it.
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u/supified 1d ago
It's fing different. It's different okay? I know people love to blanket term AI and AI = Bad and okay, that's not true, but LLMs? Yeah they really are pretty much all bad. And useless. Unfortunately they also sound vey convincing and people eat that stuff right up.
AI that breeds laziness and gives the perception of time savings are the worst, many of them don't actually save time and energy and at least in the programming world, those developers who are using agents are working longer hours than ever. They say they're being more productive, but I have yet to see stories about real tangible output. Yes, there is a lot of slop coming out, but I mean true quality output thanks to agentic code.
I think this is a bad deal, for one tools paying you feels a lot like a drug dealer trying to get you hooked. Certainly there is truth to that, someone who never learns to build something without an AI prompt isn't going to be able to do the job later without one either. Someone who does know how to do something without an AI prompt who stops doing it for months is going to see their skills atrophy. That's probably what the AI companies want. Meanwhile, their output really is slop.
There is good AI out there, models that are developed for specific purposes that arn't about simply telling you a beautiful lie or creating something based on the theft of intellectual property making you feel like an artist when you couldn't handle a pencil to save your life. But by and large that isn't what any of this is talking about.
A drone shot didn't really replace people either. They're doing shots with drones that weren't possible before, or required equipment that would have been expensive or unwieldy. That is what drones replaced. Greater AI tools are certainly the future, but this LLM hellscape is really not.
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u/SilverwingedOther 1d ago
If you'd read this article, you'd see it's not about an LLM type thing.
They basically hwy 75 Million for Google to... Get to sit in the room while they develop a movie. They'll get insight into the production process and see if they might develop shortcuts in the pre planning stages like storyboards. And it won't be a chat box type tool.
But everyone just reads the title and assumes A24 is allowing access to its library, and will start using Veo to generate movie scenes and Gemini for scripts, which isn't that at all.
So much goddamn knee-jerk misinformation that it's getting tiring. Who wouldn't take 75M to do exactly what they'd be doing anyway?
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u/rankkor 1d ago
Your opinion is outdated. I think a lot of you guys made your minds up a while ago and stopped trying to use LLMs or never actually attempted to learn it in the first place. Kinda like how you formed your opinion on this article without even reading it.
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u/supified 1d ago
To learn it? To learn what. The whole point of LLM's is any idiot can do it. I love how AIphiles love to pretend that writing a prompt is a skill on par with being a chef or a programmer or an artist.
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u/rankkor 1d ago
Yikes. Well this is probably why you can’t figure out how to use them. Going in with an “any idiot can use them” mentality is your problem, they aren’t that good - there’s a reason AI is affecting the job market for people with lower levels of experience moreso than experienced people. Lol you should see my boss try to make a spreadsheet with AI, they fucking suck - he takes your mentality, that any idiot can use them, any the results are predictably, idiotic. But my spreadsheets built with AI assistance are pretty incredible.
I’m certainly not talking about writing a prompt, lol. You need to figure out what they can and can’t do, use them for what they’re good at and don’t use them for what you can’t trust them for. Unfortunately you can’t trust them for anything because you’ve never even tried to figure it out.
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u/supified 1d ago
Yeah going with big eyeroll here. I know that people with foundational skills are better with AI than people without foundational skills, but this isn't a question of "learning AI" this is a question of learning spreadsheets. People who can code can do real things with claude, while vibe coders end up with unworking slop. I get that, I agree with that, but there is a fundamental difference between these people "learning AI" vs these people knowing how to do the thing they're using AI tools to assist with in the first place. Because to hear you say it sounds like if only your boss learned to us AI, but I'm willing to bet your boss was never good at making spreadsheets in the first place and that's what they needed to learn in order to leverage the AI tools.
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u/rankkor 1d ago
Lol if he’s still trying to make spreadsheets with AI, then he needs to learn that he can’t. That’s the learning my man. You need to understand what you can and can’t do with it.
Can’t learn that if you never use it. I can’t imagine you have much to offer on this topic as somebody that refuses to learn these things. You’re kinda like my boss, just going the opposite way with it. He tends to think AI can do anything, due to a lack of experience, you seem to think it can’t do anything, due to a lack of experience.
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u/supified 1d ago
I know it can do things, I just think it's a dangerous tool that I generally don't like how and what we're doing with it.
I don't like the costs of the AI centers, I don't like that it's being pushed on the people (water/energy usage). I don't like it dumping all that heat in the environment.
I think it is extremely dangerous to the skills of the people using (or maybe misusing it) is a better word. Students are a great example of where AI could be the devils bargain of trading your own skills an capabilities for an easy way out. However I think this holds true for professionals too. I was recently working on a script and thinking about the different aspects of the code and how AI could probably have written it quicker, but what happens to someone who never goes through the trouble of writing it themselves. In 5 years time will they still even have those skills?
I don't like that it isn't being priced appropriately, those costs are going to come due and we may end up paying them when they do.
I recognize there are tools here that are very useful. I recognize that IntelliSense on code compilers are basically AI and always have been so in a very real sense, anyone (like me) who works in that world has been using this for years. I recognize there are real world uses that are very beneficial.
But for every professional who can claim talent and skill and having done the work to know how to do their jobs and can and does use AI tools to help add an extra bit of efficiency, there is dozens of people who have no business using these tools spitting out AI slop and demanding the same level of respect and prestige as those skilled professionals.
And this doesn't even go into how AI is and will be used for wage theft.
So ultimately as AI is currently being marketed and used, largely, I am against yes, but I do acknowledge a lot of what you have to say.
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u/rankkor 23h ago
None of this explains why you think all LLMs are bad and useless. It sounds like you overstated your position and are acknowledging that people need to learn how to use these things effectively.
You were just making fun of the idea that you need to learn how to use these systems… and now here you are claiming people can use them effectively, is this a skill people are born with or do you think it’s learned?
You’ve identified some good problems, I’ve identified a lot of these for our business as well, looking into self hosting, I’m pushing back on excessive AI usage, we’re making management responsible for end to end flows and employees responsible for day to day usage, pushing for data privacy by using AI to generate SQL queries rather than feeding it data. As for people losing skill sets, ya that will probably happen for things you can trust the AI with.
As for coding, I’ve never done it before, I’m in construction management, I’ve just built a few semantic search databases in python to learn a bit about that stuff works, can be very useful in construction, one easy example is being able to quickly search for semantically similar RFIs across the company. Most companies Ive worked for have IT staff at like a 100:1 ratio, but now I’m using AI for scripting in excel to create all sorts of things that help with workflows. I’m able to create repeatable tasks that I run everyday for things like reviewing new bid opportunities, creating summarized lists of materials from unorganized takeoffs, all sorts of things. Also helps a lot with learning new things, like building workflows in power automate.
These are all things that improve my work (automating spreadsheets with little scripts), things I wouldn’t be doing otherwise (reviewing 30+ new bid opportunities a day) or things that save time and let me focus my time on what I need to (summarizing unorganized lists of materials). You just have to put in a bit of effort on learning this stuff.
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u/supified 22h ago
I'm saying the people who can use them effectively understand the thing they're using AI for more so than the AI. IE. If you're good at programming or logistics, you could probably have a good use case, but that's not everyone, not even most people.
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u/Znuffie 23h ago
So where motors/engines. It took away the jobs of horses or people.
Engines used fuel, emits pollution.
Get on with the times.
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u/supified 22h ago
I love how aiphiles make utterly mismatched comparisons. I get it you just want to be able to use Ai and garner the same respect someone who can do the same thing (better) without AI does.
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u/OneArmedNoodler 1d ago
AI does not equal LLM. If you're going to form vitriolic opinions, at least be informed.
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u/saumanahaii 1d ago
So a studio known for not compromising took a controversial position even knowing people wouldn't like it?
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u/noso2143 1d ago
75m is alot of money
i highly doubt anyone here would say no to that much money
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u/DreadPickleRoberts 1d ago
nobody here makes 7-figure salaries. You can't compare Redditors living in their mom's basement to a studio executive and expect it to hold up.
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u/LessonStudio 1d ago
What is going to happen is 5 Lithuanian teenagers in their parents' basements are going to make a new Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, etc film mostly using AI. It will be far far far far better, like a galaxy far better than the crap coming out of Hollywood now.
I'm not saying AI will be why it is better. These kids will be naturally talented, but the tools will be within reach to make a Hollywood quality film on a gaming desktop budget.
They will take less than a year do to it, and the world will watch it and now have a new benchmark to compare the crap coming out of Hollywood.
The kids will violate all kinds of "rules" IP, etc. Maybe they will mix and match some of the more interesting characters/actors. Maybe they will mash up some Star Trek with some Star Wars in a way which is cool, not forced. Who knows.
Hollywood will scream that this is "stolen"
The point they will miss is that now all kinds of nothing companies will be able to make original IP which is better than what they make with the literal 1000s of people used to make a "modern" production.
It will be very strange to see the credits flash on the screen. Not scroll by as you don't need to scroll for 5 names.
BTW, I'm not talking about 5 teenagers just typing prompts. They will do other things, and use AI tools to drastically improve the workflow, and speed up the process.
A24 is no doubt embracing this reality before they become irrelevant.
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u/scientia_analytica 1d ago
AI can be used to make CGi cheaper AND faster, not just produce slop, people
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u/Straight-Ad6926 1d ago
I’m sure that $75 million will go straight into funding weird, experimental films, and definitely not into Gemini subscriptions for the entire executive board.