Hollywood says it wants to “protect creativity,” but the money now seems to be betting on machines. As strikes and protests fade, artificial intelligence is taking center stage. Forget hype. The shift is here, and it is already reshaping film production faster than many thought possible.
Take The Great Reset. It is an AI-generated feature about a tech-fueled apocalypse, directed by Daniel H. Torrado and distributed by Artist View Entertainment. The project is heading to the European Film Market in Berlin, where studios will decide if a movie built by software can stand beside films made by humans. The story follows a hacker who creates an AI that threatens to wipe out humanity to protect his daughter. Torrado insists the process included “human supervision,” but by his own admission, AI ran most of the operation. Fewer people. Lower costs. Faster deadlines. Is that really the “future” Hollywood wants?
For some, it already is. The creators of digital “actress” Tilly Norwood claim performers who ignore AI will be “left behind.” Financially, the numbers are hard to ignore. Movies that once required $50,000 can now be made for closer to $10,000. That’s not art—it’s automation. But when the actors are code and the storyboards come from prompts, who’s left to fight for the soul of the medium?
AI filmmaking is advancing through new projects, distribution deals, and experiments from both independent creators and major studios. The release of The Great Reset, an AI-generated feature about a tech-driven apocalypse, shows how fast that shift is happening. The film, directed by Daniel H. Torrado, has been picked up by Artist View Entertainment and will be presented for international sales at the European Film Market in Berlin. Its plot follows an AI created by a rebel hacker that threatens to end humanity to protect the hacker’s daughter. Torrado says the project was made under human supervision, though much of the production relied on AI systems.
Industry analysts point to this film as a sign of a larger change. Many filmmakers remain skeptical about AI’s role, but the low cost of production is convincing others. Projects that once cost over $50,000 can now be created for a fraction of that. Even as some dismiss “AI slop,” new creators and studios appear ready to explore what can be done with algorithmic filmmaking tools.
The same trend is playing out inside the biggest tech firms. At the Sundance Institute Story Forum, Google DeepMind showed Dear Upstairs Neighbor, a short film that blends traditional animation with AI. The film’s director, Connie He, worked with DeepMind’s research team to develop tools that let artists sketch scenes that the system later rendered in full 4K resolution. DeepMind says the goal was to “empower artists,” not replace them. Still, each update meant fewer steps for humans and more for software. How long before that balance tips?
“Dear Upstairs Neighbors” (Trailer)
Meanwhile, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, known for Requiem for a Dream and The Whale, has stepped into AI storytelling too. His new project, On This Day… 1776, recreates moments from the American Revolution using AI imagery mixed with human voice actors. It comes through his company Primordial Soup, built with Google DeepMind and Salesforce, and the first two episodes are available on the TIME YouTube channel. The show tries to merge old-school production with AI techniques, but early reviews call it awkward and “unnatural.” Is this a new frontier of innovation, or surrender?
On This Day… 1776 | Official Trailer
The three projects highlight the growing use of AI in creative media and the tensions that come with it. Hollywood’s unions and artists continue to raise concerns about jobs, authorship, and quality control. Yet, companies like Google say that generative tools can support human creativity rather than replace it. Analysts say the trend is far from over, though the question remains whether audiences will embrace films made by machines as readily as those made by people.
Even now, union leaders and filmmakers are warning about the cost of this transformation. “Artistic control,” “ethics,” and “jobs” remain polite ways to say something bigger is breaking. Silicon Valley says AI is only here to “help” creators. They said the same thing about social media algorithms too, and what happened there? This trend won’t slow down anytime soon, but the real question is when audiences realize their favorite films were made by machines, will they still show up?
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