Paramount chief says AI will cost less than CGI did

David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount Skydance, stated on the company's latest earnings call that he finds it difficult to imagine artificial intelligence not having a greater impact on the film industry than computer-generated imagery did in the past.

Ellison compared the current technological shift to the early 1990s, a period he identified as the arrival of CGI and digital composites. He noted that this earlier innovation led to the creation of major productions such as Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.

To illustrate the changing costs of filmmaking, Ellison pointed to the original Terminator movie. He explained that the 1984 film cost $4 million to produce. By contrast, he estimated that recreating that same picture today, shot for shot, would require a budget between $60 million and $70 million.

The CEO suggested that AI tools could lower these production costs, making budgets more manageable. He argued that this reduction in expense would allow the company to take more risks on original storytelling.

Ellison described this potential as the biggest creative unlock in modern history. He said the company is currently developing its own internal AI tools to streamline operations. He predicted that these tools would make content easier to produce and speed up projects across the organization.

Despite the efficiency gains, Ellison emphasized that the value of premium intellectual property and live events would increase. He stated that the ease of production would make high-quality IP more valuable, not less, to audiences.

Ellison acknowledged the potential for a market flooded with low-quality AI-generated content. However, he maintained that there would always be a premium for hand-crafted storytelling. He concluded by asserting that artificial intelligence remains a tool for artists and will never replace them.