AI is a hot-button topic in Hollywood, but the modern king of horror was still surprised by the backlash he received when he teamed up with Meta.
“We made three little AI shorts for Meta. We got destroyed on Twitter for doing that,” Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, told Peter Kafka at Business Insider’s The Long Play event in San Francisco on Tuesday. “But I learned a lot.”
In October 2024, Meta announced it was partnering with Blumhouse to test its suite of AI models that can help with moviemaking, but Blum said the experience actually made him less concerned about AI replacing filmmakers.
After doing those shorts, he said he was “very confident” that AI would not make better content for “a long, long time.”
There’s been rapid improvements in generative AI, with uncanny AI clips of stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting, prompting sweeping declarations about the death of Hollywood.
Blum said he thinks AI-generated content is more likely to compete with scrolling on social media, rather than watching a movie.
“I think for once, creators have more to worry about than directors and writers,” he said.
Founded by Blum in 2000, Blumhouse has produced some of the most successful horror franchises of the 21st century, like “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious,” and “The Purge” films, as well as Oscar-winning critical darlings like “Whiplash” and “Get Out.” Its latest release, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” hits theaters this Friday.
Blum has been open about the inevitable impact of AI on Hollywood. He said Tuesday that while he would prefer AI in moviemaking to go away, he knows it’s here to stay, comparing AI opposition to resisting technology.
“It really bothers me when a lot of people in Hollywood just are like, ‘We’re not doing AI,'” he said, adding, “It ain’t going away.”
Blum said he personally tries to experiment with AI and make it available as an option for filmmakers who are interested in using it, calling it a “personal choice.”
“If a director wants to use AI or a filmmaker or a producer or a writer wants to use AI, I want to make sure that my company can provide information about how to do that,” he said.
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