Amazon pioneers smarter filmmaking

Amazon plans to use artificial intelligence to reduce costs, streamline creative workflows and accelerate the production of movies and TV shows, even as Hollywood voices concerns that AI could cut jobs and reshape the industry permanently.

At the Amazon MGM Studio, veteran entertainment executive Albert Cheng is leading a team developing the AI tools. Amazon plans to launch a closed beta programme in March, inviting industry partners to test the tools, with results expected by May.

Cheng described AI Studio as a "startup" operating under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's "two pizza team" philosophy, keeping the group small enough to be fed by two pizzas. The team is primarily composed of product engineers and scientists, supported by a smaller creative and business contingent.

Amazon is publicly embracing AI in response to spiralling production budgets that limit the number of shows and films companies can finance. The technology is intended to fast-track certain processes, allowing more content to be created efficiently.

"The cost of creating is so high that it really is hard to make more, and it is hard to take great risks," Cheng said in an interview. "We fundamentally believe that AI can accelerate, but it won't replace, the innovation and unique aspects humans bring to the work."

The move comes as A-list actors, including Emily Blunt, have expressed concerns about AI potentially making actors like them obsolete. Amazon emphasised that writers, directors, actors, and character designers will be involved at every stage of production. using AI as a tool to enhance creativity.

Like many other tech companies, Amazon is pushing nearly every division to find applications for AI, citing its success as one of the reasons for cutting about 30,000 corporate jobs since October, the largest layoff in the company's history. This included some cuts at Prime Video.

Cheng said AI could help Prime Video overcome inherent challenges of large-scale film and television production, including improving character consistency across shots and integrating with industry-standard creative tools.

The AI Studio is collaborating with producers Robert Stromberg ('Maleficent') and his company Secret City, Kunal Nayyar ('The Big Bang Theory') and his company Good Karma Productions, and former Pixar and ILM animator Colin Brady to explore new tools and implementation methods.

Launched last August, the Studio cites the hit series 'House of David' as an example of AI's potential. For its second season, director Jon Erwin combined AI with live-action footage to create battle scenes, seamlessly expanding the scope of sequences at lower cost.