By Jarred Schenke | BisNow
Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry says that after seeing a demonstration of a new text-to-video artificial intelligence model, he isn’t going forward with a massive planned expansion of his studio campus in Atlanta.
Perry told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Thursday that the expansion, which would have added 12 soundstages to Tyler Perry Studios at the former U.S. Army base Fort McPherson, “is currently and indefinitely on hold” after witnessing OpenAI’s text-to-video Sora program in action.
OpenAI earlier this month released the software, which produces realistic, minute-long video clips based on text instructions from a user. Perry was impressed enough with the quality of Sora’s videos that it made him question the need for additional studio space at his Atlanta campus.
“I was in the middle of, and have been planning for the last four years, about an $800M expansion at the studio, which would’ve increased the backlot a tremendous size — we were adding 12 more soundstages. All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing,” Perry told THR. “I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me.”
“Generative AI tools are amazing and have tremendous promise to transform every industry, including film. As with all paradigm-shifting technologies, forward-thinking companies should consider how incorporating generative AI will affect their business strategies. While artificial intelligence is not anywhere close to autonomously producing movies that can compete with current entertainment, Perry’s comments show that AI tools are already transforming how those movies are made. Workers must also reevaluate how their skills can be applied in a gen-AI world as set design, makeup, and other “physical” trades become increasingly digital.”
-Paul Coble, chair of Rose Law Group technology, Web3, AI and IP departments
