Hollywood has been crumbling for years, but people are noticing that this collapse seems to be speeding up. What is causing this collapse, and why is it accelerating? Could it be wokeness, the proliferation of AI, a combination of the two, or something else?
On “Zero Hour,” Matthew Marsden — actor, singer, and producer — sat down with James Poulos to discuss the state of Hollywood, its imminent collapse, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in the industry.
Early in the episode, Marsden described the increasing presence of AI in movie production, especially for actors. In some places, like India, AI can render an actor’s image for the screen, making the actor’s work largely obsolete. This may not be a viable option for American actors: “These actors are OK with it as long as they get paid. I’m sure Hollywood wouldn’t want to pay. They would want to use the images and keep using them.”
They moved on to the crumbling state of Hollywood and the public perception of it: “It’s really difficult for the general public to really give a damn about what’s going on in Hollywood. … They’ve treated their fans with contempt.” Marsden mainly refers to Disney and the multiple franchises it owns, such as Lucasfilm and Marvel.
They also discussed AI’s generative script-writing capabilities. The emergence of AI threatens actors’ jobs and the creative process as a whole: “You’d hope that you can’t take the human element out of Hollywood, but eventually, it will happen.”
To hear more about what Matthew Marsden had to say about Hollywood, AI, wokeness, and more, watch the full episode of “Zero Hour” with James Poulos.
America was convinced tech would complete our mastery of the world. Instead, we got catastrophe — constant crises from politics and the economy down to the spiritual fiber of our being. Time’s up for the era we grew up in. How do we pick ourselves up and begin again? To find out, visionary author and media theorist James Poulos cracks open the minds — and hearts — of today’s top figures in politics, tech, ideas, and culture on “Zero Hour” on BlazeTV.