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Erik Barmack writes about the intersection of AI and Hollywood from the perspective of a working producer. This week he takes a special look at the tech now supporting or supplanting jobs in a special series for paid subscribers. In part one, he covered how AI tools are threatening exec and development jobs. Today, he covers how AI is encroaching on casting, pre-production budgeting and its rapid advancement in script coverage.
When I started this column six months ago, I did so with equal parts fear and excitement. I believed — and continue to believe — that AI would fundamentally shift the underlying dynamics of production in Hollywood. At the same time, I remained convinced that writers, producers and a handful of other creative types would be central to the process of making beautiful, luminous films and series.
Yes, this was a kind of cake-and-eat-it-too starting philosophy. When I wrote my first column about how AI was changing script coverage, social media feedback was, let’s say, mixed. I received responses from neutral (“maybe it’s not a terrible position”) to nasty (“I hope you eat raw chicken”).
Well, I haven’t died of botulism yet.
I think we, as an industry, have a calmer, saner grasp on the implications of AI for our beloved industry. Or do we? At the very least, the comments sections of this column have grown either tamer or more numb, and we may be entering a reluctant acceptance that is partially predicated on the idea that AI tools in Hollywood aren’t going away — and also won’t take over completely.
There’s no better way to assess this hypothesis than to return where we started: AI script coverage. Yes, I’m poking the bear. (Or the chicken, but no matter: I’m definitely tempting fate in the replies.)
Reading scripts is the fundamental building block of what we do, and just like a promising coverage writer who moves up the ranks, AI may be following a similar trajectory. But imagine that up-and-comer growing in the job in just six months rather than that person huddled in his cubicle waiting for “big IP” to cross his desk.
The future may not be here quite yet, but things are evolving faster than I could have possibly expected.
In this article, you’ll learn:
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How AI script coverage has rapidly advanced in the past six months
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A side-by-side comparison of AI script coverage six months ago and today
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A new AI feature that lets studios and producers check within minutes if writers have actually incorporated their notes
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Casting and production tools now embedded in script coverage — and what that signals for the future and how studios might use them