Hollywood: The New Rust Belt
It Will Be Porn First, Then Everything Else
TODAY’S RAMBLINGS
2 Minute Read
Let me begin by thanking Byron Browne IV for being bored at work late last week and sharing with me the crazy-town new abilities Google is offering, via their AI video generator Veo. I am aware ChatGPT is doing something similar or better with Sora, but Veo is what I tried.
And sure, this is a way for me to bring up my book yet again - shocker - but this post is honestly not about that, at least not much.
No, it is about how a whole lot of people in Hollywood (and beyond) are going to be out of work, and sooner rather than later.
Huh? Well, I visited Veo, and uploaded this photo.
I then gave it this prompt:
With mid 1960’s in the background, show a handsome man in a well-tailored suit getting into the back seat of this car.
Got it? Good, and Veo took about one minute to make each of these.
For kicks, I used the same prompt, but a different photo; note the Special FX.
There is so much to say about these and what they mean, I barely know where to begin.
Actually, I do - and it involves the word “bare” - as in the bare skin in most/all porn. I’ve never seen any, but Byron was telling me about it, and apparently there’s an entire industry where humans have sex with others in front of cameras . . . who knew?
10 Seconds of Seriousness: Folks, it doesn’t take a genius to see where this is going. I have access to nothing at Google’s Veo, relative to what every significant TV and movie production company (porn or not) in the world can have right now.
Example: Let’s say your garden-variety movie (for theaters or streaming) costs $50 million. That sure seems like a lot of tokens with Veo! But of course it won’t work that way - the HBOs of the world will just buy their own private Veo or a competitor and have at it. That is not going to end well for a lot of people - it is only a matter of time before just a few creatives will be able to collaborate using Veo or something like it and make complete shows and movies.
No sets. No lights. No cameras. No pre- and post-production processing.
And no people needed. Or at least far fewer.
Because I don’t know anything about anything, yet by myself with zero access to their real, heavy-duty AI models, I created two videos, the second of which even includes a special effect of a man magically passing through a car door.
I get it: 8 seconds of silly video does not make me Ron Howard. But with real computers and using purpose-built and serious AI graphics models, how long do you think it will be before entire TV shows and movies are made this way?
After all, the AI engines are already doing a fine job producing better book covers.
Yes - it’s back. Late in the game, some professionals have taken an interest, which motivated me to fix a lot of things that needed fixing, some major, some minor. In the book, of course, but it also motivated me to upgrade the cover.
Maybe this overview will pique your interest; if so, I’ll be happy to send you the latest version of my book.
Which, unlike this AI-created recording, is real, I assure you.
FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES
No, I did not attend a No Kings event on Saturday, which probably means I should keep quiet about it.
Yeah, right.
But I don’t have to say much, because this says it all.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
KLUF
There’s a new, expanded edition of my book, so naturally, there’s a new, expanded soundtrack, with 18 tracks and running 80 minutes. Like my book, it is hopefully much improved; here is the complete track listing.
