AI
Hollywood's Open Secret: Everyone Is Using AI, but Few Will Admit It
Entertainment insiders embrace generative AI behind closed doors while publicly denouncing it, according to entertainment reporter Matthew Belloni, who says the industry's stance masks a more complex reality.
WIRED — AI
The entertainment industry's relationship with artificial intelligence is far murkier than public statements suggest. While screenwriters, actors, and directors openly pledge to reject the technology, many are quietly incorporating it into their workflows—from brainstorming dialogue to designing set layouts.
In a conversation with WIRED, Matthew Belloni, founding partner at news outlet Puck and longtime Hollywood correspondent, described a widespread but largely unspoken embrace of AI tools across studios and production teams. "Everyone is doing it," Belloni said, explaining that the industry operates on two tiers: corporate AI (which streamlines operations and search functions) and generative AI (which creates content). The former has near-universal adoption; the latter remains cloaked in stigma.
The Quiet Adoption Problem#
Despite public resistance from industry figures, behind-the-scenes adoption tells a different story. Belloni recounted how a prominent showrunner walked into a writers' room and criticized her team for not using ChatGPT to help generate scenarios and creative ideas. The Writers Guild has quietly signed off on such usage, provided credited writers remain on every script and no jobs are eliminated.
Generative AI faces steeper resistance, particularly in live-action filmmaking where the results remain visually detectable. However, in animation—where AI can complete scenes and storyboards without human artists—the technology is advancing more rapidly. Netflix disclosed on a recent earnings call that generative AI touches 300 of its shows, a figure the streamer shared with unusual transparency.
The Ben Affleck Effect#
The sale of Ben Affleck's AI startup to Netflix for $587 million served as a turning point in Hollywood's perception. Rather than sparking backlash, the deal legitimized AI investment within the industry. Affleck's product converts filmed footage into material suitable for generative processing, allowing filmmakers to avoid costly reshoots by generating missing camera angles or extending scene peripheries. By positioning AI as a tool rather than a replacement for human creativity, Affleck and other filmmakers like Darren Aronofsky have softened resistance.
That strategic framing matters. When Amazon announced its generative AI studio under executive Albert Chang and attached real creators to AI-supported projects, the backlash was swift enough to force one creator to step down—evidence of what Belloni calls "AI shaming." Netflix, by contrast, absorbed less friction, partly because Affleck's involvement lent credibility and partly because the company had already built trust.
