Multi-hyphenate and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon is positing that filmmaking will “change radically” in the near future and that the onus is on Hollywood to adapt to shifting viewing habits.
In an extensive interview with The New York Times tied to the fourth season release of Apple TV+‘s The Morning Show, Witherspoon addressed social media’s role in “shifting” attention spans, noticing how her two Gen Z children’s engagement with movies differs from her experience in adolescence. (Over the summer, Witherspoon launched a Gen Z label within Hello Sunshine.)
“I noticed my kids weren’t going to the movies. I had teenage kids. I went to the movies every Friday and Saturday night. Kids don’t go to the movies. Usually people are seeing one movie a year in the theaters with their kids,” she explained. “You’ve got to go where the audience is, not lament the fact that they didn’t show up or have what I call ‘old-school-itis,’ which is like, Well, in my day. Well, it just doesn’t work that way! Attention spans are shifting. The way we make movies is going to change radically in the next two to three years.”
When the reporter clarified if that’s also due in part to the proliferation of artificial intelligence, the Legally Blonde actress responded affirmatively: “Mmm-hmm. Everybody knows it. You just have to understand how it’s going to happen. Because we still have to layer our consciousness on top of it, and use it as tools. Otherwise it’s just a runaway train.”
These comments follow similar sentiments the media company founder expressed earlier this month. In a Glamour cover story alongside her Morning Show costars, Witherspoon said, “I’m a very hard worker, and I like to change and adapt to new structures and new environments. I’m always looking forward to how media is evolving and how I can help be part of bringing women along in those emerging industries. And now we’re doing it with AI. It’s so, so important that women are involved in AI … because it will be the future of filmmaking. And you can be sad and lament it all you want, but the change is here. It will never be a lack of creativity and ingenuity and actual physical manual building of things. It might diminish, but it’s always going to be the highest importance in art and in expression of self.”
Witherspoon’s words drew ire among some on social media at the time, as Hollywood has long found itself divided on the topic of AI, specifically on the use of generative AI in the creation of media and the potential ethical and economic ramifications on the industry. Peers like Natasha Lyonne and James Cameron have embraced the technology, while others like Nicolas Cage and Scarlett Johansson have decried its use.
The post Reese Witherspoon Predicts Moviemaking Will “Change Radically” Due To “Shifting” Attention Spans: “You’ve Got To Go Where The Audience Is” appeared first on Deadline.
