Tinseltown titan Tyler Perry ordered the abrupt halt to the expansion plans he had orchestrated at Tyler Perry Studios, America’s largest moviemaking complex, due to the wide-sweeping impact that artificial intelligence is having on the industry.
The Madea mastermind, 54, said he was dumbfounded and awe-struck by how sophisticated the OpenAI’s new Sora software was. Witnessing it persuaded him to indefinitely stop adding to the already vast TPS movie campus near downtown Atlanta. In fact, not only has the move cost construction jobs that were about to be employed at TPS, Perry said Sora will cost countless jobs in the future because the technology can produce breathtaking movie sets without the need for human beings.
“Being told that it can do all of these things is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities, it was mind-blowing,” he said.
“I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me…I no longer would have to travel to locations. If I wanted to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s text. If I wanted to write a scene on the moon, it’s text, and this AI can generate it like nothing…which is shocking to me,” Perry said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Introducing Sora, our text-to-video model.
Sora can create videos of up to 60 seconds featuring highly detailed scenes, complex camera motion, and multiple characters with vibrant emotions. https://t.co/7j2JN27M3W
Prompt: “Beautiful, snowy… pic.twitter.com/ruTEWn87vf
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) February 15, 2024
The dilemma for Perry and other studio heads is the multiplicity of jobs that will be lost due to this technology that is sweeping the industry and other industries throughout the world.
“I was in the middle of, and have been planning for the last four years, about an $800 million 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 said he is very concerned about how AI is going to impact the future of filmmaking in America and around the world.
“It makes me worry so much about all of the people in the business…including actors and grip and electric and transportation and sound and editors, and looking at this, I’m thinking this will touch every corner of our industry,” Perry said.
The Madea character creator warns that metaphorical guardrails and guidelines need to be implemented quickly as AI continues to expand at a furious pace.
“I’ve got two sides here to this thing. For me, I’m looking at my business and the bottom line, but I’m also very concerned about all the people that I have trained and bought up in this industry. I’m concerned about what will happen to them,” Perry continued.
“So I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost. I really, really feel that very strongly…. I think the only way to move forward in this is to galvanize it as one voice, not only in Hollywood and in this industry, but also in Congress.”
