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I teach a course on AI and filmmaking at USCs School of Cinematic Arts, and lately, rather than planning each session well in advance, Ive been structuring the class the night before. Ill browse platforms like X, Substack, and YouTube, selecting the most provocative articles and video clips to present the following morning. Its a testament to how quickly artificial intelligences relationship to filmmaking is evolving: Each week brings newoften startlingdevelopments. The next morning in class, my students and I debate the ethics, the aesthetics, and the storytelling changes taking place in these collaborations with AI. And were not alone: Throughout Hollywood, everyoneaspiring actors and filmmakers, stars, screenwriters, and studio execsseems to have a take on whats coming next. But I think three trends in particular are going to be hot topics of conversation at this years Oscars parties. Nothing uncanny about this clip In February 2026, a 15-second AI-generated video clip of Tom Cruise battling Brad Pitt on a burned-out highway overpass went viral. Depending on the viewer, the video elicited either admiration, outrage, or existential hand-wringing. Created by Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson via a generative-AI tool called Seedance 2.0, the video marked yet another milestone in the propulsive growth of AI tools. Seedance 2.0which was developed by ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTokis now one of the many AI tools available to create short-form video clips. But unlike most AI-generated videos, Pitt and Cruise dont look creepy, uncanny, or animated in the clip, which almost perfectly mimics live-action footage. The appearance of two A-list stars in a fairly realistic scene created by a relatively unknown director using stolen likenesses jolted the industry. A brief clip featuring AI-generated avatars of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise stunned the film industry. The backlash was swift. Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter, claiming that the video was generated from a dataset that most likely includes Disneys copyrighted characters. The actors union, SAG-AFTRA, pointed to the videos blatant infringement of the actors likenesses, as well as their voices. SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by Bytedances new AI video model Seedance 2.0, the guild wrote in a statement. This practice, the guild added, undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood, while disregarding law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. In class, after watching the video, we explored the ethics of using someones likeness without permission, the challenges facing actors who build careers based on their unique ability to embody characters, and what the future holds for our understanding of acting. If filmmakers can prompt fake actors to deliver precise performances, where does that leave human actors? In with the old Since 2023, the skyline of the Las Vegas strip has been dominated by an illuminated orb called the Sphere: an entertainment complex featuring a 360-degree LED screen covering 160,000 square feet (14,864 square meters). The Sphere recently surpassed 2 million tickets sold for a reimagining of the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The film, which premiered in August 2024, was shortened, its color was enhanced, and it was stretched to expand across the interior of the dome. AI was used to transfer the imagery from the films original, modest aspect ratio to the giant dome. This required generating new imagery around the edges of the original shots in whats known as AI outpainting. The technology was also deployed to boost the original films resolution and to enhance certain scenes. Some critics fretted that this fairly radical augmentation of the original classic would offend viewers. Instead, it has drawn them in droves to the Sphere, where theyve been willing to shell out between US$100 and $200 per ticket. Not bad for a movie about a girl from Kansas made in 1939. Given the resounding success of The Wizard of Oz, experts expect producers to plumb the film archives for other potential hits and enhance them with AI before screening them in venues as varied as IMAX theaters and Cosm, another 360-degree dome with locations in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta. Or AI can simply be used to create material that was never completed for a historic film. In fact, The New Yorker recently profiled AI media entrepreneur Edward Saatchi, who is working to recreate and reincorporate lost footage from Orson Welles 1942 feature The Magnificent Ambersons. While Welles was in Brazil shooting a documentary, executives at RKO Radio Pictures reedited the film without his approval after a poor preview screening. They cut around 45 minutes, replaced the original ending with a happier one, and destroyed most of the footage that had been removed. Saatchis idea is to build a dataset that includes the existing film, as well as scripts, notes, images, and even new performances by actors. Then he plans to use his AI platform, Showrunner, to create new scenes from this data. While Saatchihopes to honor the directors creative vision by producing the film he originally intended, his efforts open up some thorny questions. Is it appropriate to take an existing artwork and revise it without the creators input? Isnt there something sacrosanct about a film, the intentions of the director, and the performances of the actors in a films original form? To what extent should these questions be overlooked if refashioning old movies will introduce them to new audiences? Fewer opportunities? Theres also an undercurrent of anxiety in my classes. What will happen, my students often wonder, once they graduate? Theyre worried that within a year or two, AI will have replaced entry-level film industry jobs, from concept artists to apprentice-level editors, before theyve even had a chance to enter the workforce. They have reason to fear. In 2024, the Animation Guild published a sobering report claiming that by 2026, creative workers will be facing an era of disruption, defined by the consolidation of some job roles, the replacement of existing job roles with new ones, and the elimination of many jobs entirely. Some of those predictions have borne out: 41,000 jobs in film and television have disappeared in Los Angeles County alone over the past three years. But Ive tried to counter the hard statistics with some stories of thoughtful practices. For example, filmmaker Paul Trillo at the AI studio Asteria has talked about how he seeks to keep artists at the center of the process. When he detailed the companys work on a music video for the singer-songwriter Cuco, he was keen to highlight the number of artists working on the project. Yes, AI tools were used. But they were integrated in a way that replaced the tedious work, not the creative practice. Rather than removing [artists] from the process, it actually allowed them to do a lot more so a small team can dream a lot bigger, Trillo explains at the end of the video. In January 2026, the management consulting firm McKinsey published a report that largely echoes Trillos positive outlook. It forecasts more adoption of AI throughout the industry. But it also points to ways that the technology could lead to different kinds of work and open up new possibilities. For example, as AI-generated scenes become commonplace, studios will need technicians who know how to blend real footage with digitally created worlds. And as AI lowers the cost of producing polished films and shows, it could allow more micro-studios and independent filmmakers to create professional-quality content. At the same time, the report also quotes a studio executive who concedes that AI could represent a more significant platform shift than we have ever seen before in our industry. So its no wonder my students, along with varied critics, commentators, and industry professionals, are nervous. However, from where I stand, Im convinced that the industry will weather this radical disruption. Its adapted to big changes in the past: the addition of sound in the 1920s, the threat posed by videotape in the 1980s, and streaming in the 2000s. In the end, people will always crave new, artfully told stories. While the filmmaking tools and job market may be in transition, that core need for storytelling is not going away. Holly Willis is a professor of cinematic arts at the University of Southern California. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Overworked and underpaid has become the modern workplace anthem. The internet is full of advice on how to negotiate harder, quiet quit, or jump ship. Its an easy narrative to embrace: If you feel undervalued, the system must have failed you. That story is comforting. Its also costly. While genuine exploitation exists, most people stop short of asking the harder, and far more lucrative question: What is my contribution actually worth in the market? Effort Is Not Currency We have a tendency to measure our value by our level of exhaustion. We tally up the stress, the late nights, and the emotional labor. But markets do not pay for perspiration. They pay for results. If you feel underpaid, the first step isnt indignation; its an honest audit. You must be able to answer four questions in cold, commercial terms: What measurable problems do I solve? What revenue do I influence or what cost do I reduce? What risk do I remove from the business? What capability exists in the business because I am here? If you cannot answer these, your problem isn’t exploitation, its under-positioning.High performers dont just do the work; they translate that work into the language decision-makers value. That isn’t “self-promotion.” It is commercial maturity. The Hidden Ego in the Hustle Early in my career, I was once frustrated that my title didn’t match my workload. I felt overlooked. In hindsight, I wasnt being ignored, I was being developed. The gap between who we believe we are and how we are officially labelled is where growth actually happens. It is an invitation to become the role before you are given the title.Sometimes the discomfort isnt about the workload. It is about the delay in validation. When we fixate on status over trajectory, we risk stalling the very progress we claim to want. There is also a seductive benefit to the overworked and underpaid story: it absolves us. If the organisation is “broken,” you don’t have to sharpen your skills.If leadership is “blind,” you don’t have to influence better.If the system is unfair, you dont have to examine your own performance. That mindset protects the ego but freezes your growth.If you need the title to act like the next level, youre not ready for it. A more empowering stance assumes agency first. Ask: If I am underpaid, what capability gap must I close? If I am overlooked, how do I become unignorable? If I am overwhelmed, what low-value work am I tolerating or enabling? Agency isnt the denial of injustice. It is a refusal to surrender control. Your Three-Point Audit Before you demand a raise or polish your CV, run these filters: 1. The Value AuditList your core responsibilities. Next to each, write the tangible impactthe metric, the dollar value, or the efficiency gained. If you cant quantify it, estimate it. If it adds little value, question why its on your plate at all. Many professionals exhaust themselves on low-impact work that makes them feel busy but not valuable. Ruthless prioritisation is a career accelerant. 2. The Skill AuditIdentify the capabilities demonstrated by those above you. It’s rarely about technical skill; it’s more often about things like strategic thinking, commercial judgment, stakeholder influence, and composure under pressure. Promotions follow trust as much as competence. Trust is built through visible ownership and sound judgment exercised consistently over time. 3. The Leverage AuditWhen you negotiate from financial pressure, you negotiate from fear. Build personal resilience and market options first. You want to ask for your worth from a place of clarity, not desperation. Employers may empathise with your situation, but your financial stability will always be your responsibility. When the System Actually Is the Problem Lets be clear: Some organizations simply lack the capital, the courage, or the vision to reward talent.If you have delivered sustained, measurable results, operated at a higher level for months, and clearly articulated your impactyet nothing shiftsthat is a signal. At that point, leaving isn’t an act of disloyalty. It is an act of alignment. For the leaders reading this: stretching your people without providing clarity or a path to reward breeds cynicism. Growth must be reciprocal, or your best people will eventually find a market that knows how to price them. The Reframe Stop asking, Why am I not being paid more? Start asking, Who must I become to be worth more, in any market?. That question shifts you from reaction to construction. Compensation is almost always a lagging indicator of personal expansion. You rarely get paid first and grow later; the sequence frustrates the impatient, but it rewards the disciplined. If you feel overworked and underpaid, don’t suppress the frustration. Study it. It may be pointing to genuine unfairness, or it may be pointing to your next evolution. The difference lies in whether you look inward before you look outward. That isn’t the popular message, but its the only one that puts your future back in your hands.
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Think of your favorite movie. Maybe you love it for the plot, or the nostalgia you get from watching it again and again. Now think of that same movie, but all the actors have been shuffled: An American who cant quite master a British accent, a 35-year-old playing a high schooler, a dramatic actor whose jokes fall flat. The people who make sure that doesnt happen often go unrecognized, but now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has something to say about it. The inaugural Best Casting Oscar will be awarded at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15. Its the first new Oscars category in more than two decades. (In 2002, Shrek was the first to win the then-recently debuted Best Animated Feature award.) And its a long time coming; there has been a casting branch of the Academy since 2013. But even with the introduction of an Oscar to recognize achievement at (arguably) the highest level of the film industry, those outside the industry might not understand what casting directors do or what good casting looks like. Fast Company talked to a few industry professionals to break down what happens behind closed doors in the casting processand why this new award is a win for unsung heroes across industries in the workforce. Casting the part Think of a film like its own little company that exists for the length of production: The director is at the head, but the casting director is one of the first people brought on to a project after thatmaking them vital to the film, even if they rarely make it to set. Casting is really an integral part of the filmmaking process, Meredith Shea, the Academys chief membership, impact, and industry officer, says. Casting directors collaborate with the directors and producers right after they receive the script from a writer, so they really set the tone for the start of a film. A great casting decision can make a movie a classicthink Heath Ledgers Joker or Sigourney Weaver in Alienbut a bad one can tank it. A films success can be won or lost before the director ever shouts Action! When Naya Hemphill was in college, she wanted to be a director. She got into casting for student films as a way to be close to the preproduction process, but realized she enjoyed casting. It’s always exciting to discover how talent and script can fuse together, says Hemphill, who is now a casting intern with Blumhouse Productions. That fusionor lack thereofmight be what people are referring to when they talk about good versus bad casting. If a film or television show is really well cast, you kind of don’t notice it, says casting director Paul Schnee. Hes worked on 2015s Spotlight with Mark Ruffalo, and with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts for 2013s August: Osage County. Still, some Oscar votersand many moviegoersmight not understand exactly what goes into casting for a film, despite it being such a crucial piece of the projects success. Thats why casting directors may be viewed as one of the many underappreciated, invisible members of a film crewa sentiment possibly underscored by the fact its taken this long to roll out a casting Oscar. Casting is something that we do in private, Schnee says, and so it’s structurally a different kind of creative input. It took three failed attempts to create the casting director-specific branch of the Academy. Once the branch was officially formed, the idea was that eventually we get our category to have, Schnee says. The branch governors and former casting director David Rubin, who served as Academy president from 2019 to 2022, were instrumental in finally securing the award. Behind closed doors The casting process works like this: Actors audition in person or, more often now, send in self-tape auditions. There are callbacks if necessary, and the process repeats until the casting director finds the person for the role. Casting takes place before the rest of production, behind closed doors, making it a more nebulous role to a layperson. Its easy to understand what other crew members do because their impact is visible through elements like makeup or costumes. If you were interviewing a costume designer, for example, he or she could show you some sketches about the evolution of their design, Schnee says. Because we’re dealing with human beings, I can’t show you auditions of people who didn’t get the job. The process also takes a lot of collaboration, often in different locations: Oslo-based casting director Yngvill Kolset Haga worked with New York-based casting director Avy Kaufman on Sentimental Value, which is up for nine Oscars this year. You work towards the same direction even if you’re not in the same room, Haga says. And they often arent in the same room. Because casting directors work in preproduction, they sometimes dont see what happens on setany changes during filming or editing might be complete surprises at the premiere. I was so delighted to see the magic that everyone did, Kaufman says about seeing Sentimental Value after production wrapped. Given that, the new casting Oscar is a great example of how unsung heroes on teams need to be recognized for their contributions, too. Adam Goodman, clinical professor at Northwestern Universitys McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science, also directs the Universitys Center for Leadership. He works with executive teams in industry on leadership and teamwork. He says that in teams, there are roles that are perceived to be back in the background, but in fact without [them], the team fails. Appreciating unrecognized team members is crucial to the success of an organization, with surveys suggesting theyd work even harder if they knew they would be recognized. Expressing gratitude for their contributions is an effective management tactic. And in the case of the new casting Oscar, its been a long time coming. It’s long overdue. Ninety-eight years of Oscars, and here we are . . . but better late than never,” Erica A. Hart, a member of the Casting Society’s board of directors, told CBC News. Some of the people up above don’t see us as a craft, let alone a craft that is [deserving] of the Oscar. The cherry on top Long-term improvement to industry culture involves thinking critically about the importance of leadership and teamwork, Goodman says. Part of this involves not underestimating certain team members. When you go back and look at what helps that team perform really well, it turns out that even though the project manager may not have made material contributions to the final work product, without their participation and engagementand, frankly, orchestrationthe team never would have hit the milestones that it needed to hit, he says. Haga is hopeful the conversations about casting that started this year with the awards introduction continue to bring attention to the work. Kaufman has workd with people she says are receptive to her input and others who take credit for it. She calls the recognition the cherry on top. I’m a mother, so I need to make sure my kids know you don’t do something just to [be recognized]; you do it because it’s the best thing to do, Kaufman says. But with the Oscar now accepting casting directors in a different way, I’ll be curious to know how our lives change now that we’re being recognized, she adds. So, we can call you in a year and tell you how it’s looking. The Oscars arent done adding new categories for recognition, either: in 2028, at the 100th annual ceremony, a Best Stunt Design award will debut. Inside the industry, perception on casting directors has shifted over the years, but having an award might just help nonindustry people understand the level of work it takes to cast a film. My grandma, for example, is paying more attention to it now. That could be a combination of because I’m working in it and also because there’s an Oscar for it now, casting intern Hemphill says. But I do think that it will bring more attention to casting in general.
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