The Verge: Skydance CEO calls AI biggest creative unlock ever
David Ellison likens AI's film impact to CGI but swears it won't replace artists.
TL;DR
- The Verge reports Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison compared AI to early CGI during an earnings call.
- He said AI could unlock cheaper original stories and speed up production while premium IP grows in value.
- Ellison stressed AI is a tool for artists and will never replace hand-crafted storytelling.
The Verge reports that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison made big claims about AI during the company’s latest earnings call.
He said it is hard to imagine AI not having a bigger effect on movies than CGI did in the early 90s. Ellison pointed to films like Jurassic Park and Terminator 2 as examples of what that earlier tech unlocked.
According to The Verge, he argued AI could become the biggest creative unlock in modern history by making original stories cheaper to produce and risks easier to take.
Ellison noted that a film like Terminator, which once cost around $4 million, would run $60 to 70 million today if shot the same way. He suggested AI tools might bring those budgets down.
“We also continue to believe that artificial intelligence is a tool for artists and will never be a replacement for them.”
The Verge says Ellison believes these tools will speed up projects, make content easier to create, and reshape how the company works overall. He added that premium IP and live events will only grow more valuable in an AI world.
Ellison stressed that AI is a tool for artists. The Verge quotes him saying it will never replace them and that hand-crafted storytelling will still command a premium amid AI-generated content.
The company is already building its own AI tools, The Verge reports, expecting them to transform operations without replacing human creativity.
The Tea
Ellison’s take is classic Hollywood optimism: new tech as a budget saver and creativity booster, not a job killer. The real test will be whether these tools actually deliver cheaper originals or just polish the same big franchises.