The Ben & Marc Show: AI and the Future of Hollywood

This week on “The Ben & Marc Show”, a16z’s co-founders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen take on the most hot-button issue in Hollywood: artificial intelligence. Over the past few months, the topic of AI technology has pushed the entire industry into unknown territory. Screenwriters fear they’ll no longer be needed, while actors believe they’ll be replaced altogether. But is it possible AI can actually level the playing field and create new opportunities for all artists? In this two-part conversation based on YOUR questions from X (formerly Twitter), Marc and Ben examine the evolving business models of the film and television industries, as well as explore how writers, directors and actors can soon use AI technology to unleash their creative potential in ways they never thought possible. In fact, AI’s future in Hollywood may not be as dystopian as some of our favorite films have led us to believe. We hope you enjoy this episode! * Episode Note: This conversation was recorded in two parts. Part one took place before the WGA and AMPTP reached an agreement. Topics Covered: 00:00:01 - Part 1/ Show intro 00:02:31 - Streaming and the disruption of the entertainment business 00:08:12 - How internet based distribution changed music 00:10:31 - The concept of fungibility 00:16:05 - How creative is AI? 00:27:53 - The VCR causes panic 00:30:20 - How filmmakers will use AI in the future 00:35:58 - Human-created entertainment will be at a premium 00:40:19 - Marc's dystopian scenario for Hollywood 00:45:10 - Save the Cat! 00:54:24 - Part 2 / Show intro 00:55:03 - Marc's utopian scenario for Hollywood 00:59:11 - Fun fact about Star Wars 01:03:21 - Mad Men and using ChatGBT to circumvent writer's block 01:06:15 - How filmmakers and musicians will use AI 01:13:03 - The biggest argument for saving Hollywood 01:18:53 - Subversion of cultural norms through entertainment 01:22:01 - The economic principle of elasticity 01:28:10 - Royalties in the music industry 01:32:30 - Grimes and AI 01:41:40 - South Park and small budgets 01:47:31 - Deepfakes and misquotation 01:54:30 - Stuck Culture and Barbie 02:02:22 - AI and the Global Village 02:15:23 - Sign off Resources: Marc on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/ Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz “Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need” by Blake Snyde: https://amzn.to/3EYsBj3 Films mentioned on this episode: “Monsters of Man” (Amazon Prime): https://amzn.to/3tf7CWV “Tenet” (Amazon Prime): https://amzn.to/46aI8bE “Reservoir Dogs” (Netflix): https://bit.ly/48zbQbM “Buy Bust” (Netflix): https://bit.ly/3LHcmuw [**Marc’s recommendation**] TV Series mentioned on this episode: “Fauda” (Netflix): https://bit.ly/3roB9wN “Squid Game” (Netflix): https://bit.ly/3LGOreK “Mad Men” (Amazon Prime): http://bit.ly/3LM2srB Stay Updated: Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/ 2023-10-09T11:10:54Z1280 https://www.youtube.com/embed/KFboZkwHjsU