Hamilton alumni Paul Lieberstein ’89, Keith Stichweh ’92, Mark Mullett ’05, and John Hadity ’83 gathered over Zoom to discuss the future of media entertainment on Oct. 17. There were 74 attendees over Zoom and 19 viewers in the Sadove Conference Room.
John Hadity began the discussion by summarizing what prompted the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strike: a lack of residuals and AI. The Executive Vice President of the Incentives Group at Entertainment Partners explained that if an actor is a union worker on a union project, they are entitled to residuals based on the revenue that is generated on any home entertainment platform. Forms of home entertainment platforms include Netflix, cable, DVDs, and so forth. Simply put, whenever an actor’s content is played, the actor is supposed to get a check based on their agreed upon percentage with the production team. However, Hadity noted that streaming platforms are not required to report how many people are watching each particular show or movie, leading actors to not get their well-deserved residuals. Hadity also discussed how the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) today has prompted the discussion of whether or not writers’ rooms and full production teams are necessary. To emphasize the widespread usage of AI, the veteran entertainment executive cited a recent Harrison Ford interview where Ford explained that he worked very few days while filming the latest Indiana Jones movie since most of the scenes were created utilizing AI.
Lieberstein, famously known for his role as Toby Flenderson on “The Office”, discussed how, as a writer, it is normal for him to not work for long periods of time. Given the nature of his job, Lieberstein noted that the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes did not affect him as much as it did for other workers like camera crews who consistently work Mondays through Friday.
The writer and producer of “The Office” and “King of the Hill” made sure to acknowledge how much effort goes into producing TV shows and movies since the writing, editing, and filming processes all occur at the same time. During the peak of “The Office,” Lieberstein remembered that there would be twenty writers in a room at once. Now in the age of AI, Lieberstein believes that AI can easily be abused during the writing process. For example, AI can write a draft script and the production team can then bring a writer in to edit that draft. The production team can then pay the editing writer less than if they were to write the script from scratch.
Keith Stichweh, a Vice President of Production Technology at SkyDance Animation, explained how the projects he works on are completely made using computer generated imagery (CGI), such as movies like “Finding Nemo.” Stichweh mentioned that CGI encompasses a wide range of technological modifications from photo retouching to explosion scenes. Alongside CGI, animation companies are utilizing AI more frequently, which Stichweh believes we are not adapting quickly enough to.
Mark Mullet, a former agent at Willliam Morris and Creative Artists Agency (CAA), brought up how the usage of AI is getting backlash. In the recent Disney+ movie Prom Pact, Disney created unrealistic AI generated extras, presumably to save money on paying real extras.
Stichweh discussed how because of the recent writers/actors strike, all voice talent, which is necessary for CGI films, have stopped working. As a result, companies like SkyDance animation, have been forced to pause the production of their films, leading to significant layoffs as well.
