Jared Cotton

Project Hail Mary is proving that yes, Hollywood could absolutely be revived. But it would take a commitment to making films to entertain and not signal political allegiance. And I doubt they have it in them. More likely they’ll let their industry die rather than go back to making films that people they hate can enjoy too.

LINES JUST KEEP GETTING LONGER. The American People are paying the price for the Democrats’ DHS shutdown. REOPEN DHS NOW.

So. Yesterday I received a DM on Instagram from a very prominent director. Mostly known for animated movies, and someone who rose to fame in the 90s with one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Here was the message: “The short film is terrific. I would love to learn more about your process. Which tools, etc. Let me know if you’d be willing to share.” Someone who genuinely loves animation. Someone who helped establish the medium many of you care deeply about. Someone who has spent decades pushing storytelling forward. Curious about AI. Respectful of the work. Interested in understanding how it’s done. If people at that level can approach this with curiosity instead of fear, I’m pretty sure the rest of us can manage to do the same.

The part nobody talks about in the AI film debate: The traditional pipeline was already brutal before any of this. You graduate from film school - almost always in debt unless you are born very lucky. You spend years as a PA or an assistant for someone awesome (if you’re very lucky.) But most just grind on sets for nothing. You try to get into the guild. You wait for someone to give you permission to make something. It only comes if you’re very very very lucky… sometimes talented.., but always lucky. And most, even the most talented of the top film schools in the world wash out and do something else by the time they’re 30. Not because they lacked craft. Because the system has a thousand gatekeepers and almost no doors. AI isn’t breaking the system. The system was already broken. We just have a scapegoat now…. And an opportunity.

one of the lowest-lift things you can do to change the world for the better is to TELL SOMEONE when you think they have the potential to do something great, esp. if you are higher status than them. People who have the best potential are often squelched and cowed by the insecure

I disagree… Fans want us to make and produce the music. Then shoot and expensive Video.. Then they get it for Free if they have an Apple subscription. Or Spotify pay us .007 cents a stream. The days of the expensive Videos are over. There isn’t even MTV. Ai is the only sensible way to add visuals to a song. You can hate it all you want. It’s the Future.