Hollywood Assistants and the Worry About AI
Layer Ø
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on X
-
Google Preferred
-
Share to Flipboard
-
Show additional share options
-
Share on LinkedIn
-
Share on Pinterest
-
Share on Reddit
-
Share on Tumblr
-
Share on Whats App
-
Send an Email
-
Print the Article
-
Post a Comment
Industry watchers fearing the encroachment of generative AI may be expecting Tilly Norwood to show up in the next Fast and Furious movie or an AI-generated screenplay to end up on the Black List. But the realities of that kind of AI takeover of Hollywood are hindered by multiple barriers to entry, including labor contracts, ongoing copyright questions and actual consumer interest.
The reality of how AI is currently being integrated into the largest swaths of the entertainment industry is much more mundane. And, as with previous introductions of new technology into Hollywood, from digital film to email, AI is percolating from the bottom up, starting with the assistant class — on track to become industry standard as today’s underlings (those that survive the continual layoffs that is) rise to positions of power.
Related Stories
Business
Sam Altman Says OpenAI Is Still in Talks With Disney After Sora Shutdown
Business
CNN Veteran Laurie Segall Wants to Take a "Mostly Human" Approach to Covering AI and Big Tech
Confronted with larger workloads and a shrinking headcount, AI — both the kind officially approved by companies and more surreptitious uses — has made its way via support staff into essential Hollywood workflows, including the creative development process.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to a dozen assistants and support staff working across studios, networks and agencies — all of whom requested anonymity citing job security and a difficult Hollywood labor market — who outlined how AI is in daily and consistent use, for matters small (getting that fawning thank you note to fit into the Beverly Hills florists’ 250 character limit) and larger (using an AI notetaker during a studio meeting with the creatives behind a streaming series).
One partner at a major Hollywood management company says they do not allow AI to be used by support staff or representatives, telling me, “I prefer independent thought.” Still other entertainment outfits are more bullish about incorporating AI into day-to-day operations, some even asking staff to track their AI use, a practice more common at tech companies like Meta and Google. In January, Disney held an internal AI summit with representatives from all departments to promote the integration of AI use across the entire company’s business, from Imagineering to business affairs and beyond. (This all happened months before the studio’s $1 billion AI investment with OpenAI ended following the termination of the company’s Sora video app.)
Hollywood support staff, like office workers around the world, are using AI for pedestrian, unglamorous tasks like composing emails, setting meetings and figuring out how to dole out the constant stream of requisite congratulations and holiday gifts. “I do not need to be spending two hours of my day figuring out how to get a bottle of wine to somebody in the middle of nowhere,” says one assistant.
And then there are the applications to more Hollywood-specific support staff tasks, including the handling of sensitive information and creative workflow.
“These are not tools built on the nuances of our industry,” says Warner Bailey, the onetime Hollywood assistant who is behind the popular social media meme page turned media company Assistants vs. Agents. Bailey has long been surveying the thousands-strong support staff ranks on how they do their jobs, including how they use (or misuse) AI. “Right now, a lot of assistants are just going and pasting sensitive information in the public AI tools, including things like client schedules and deal terms, internal notes, and data,” he says
The concern, Bailey says, is with “shadow AI” use — i.e. the use of free or otherwise publicly available AI tools, as opposed to enterprise or business accounts, without company approval or security oversight. Bailey, who is currently building an admin automation platform meant to be used by the current and next generation of entertainment professionals, points out that there is little to no training offered to assistants on AI use. And Hollywood’s young assistant workforce, the majority of which is currently Gen Z, has been using GenAI and LLMs in school and their personal lives for several years, and is importing some of those habits into the workplace.
Bailey says, “The education piece should fall on the company, but has to, unfortunately, fall outside of it because of various factors like shrinking budgets and also knowledge base. The [administrative] systems internally are so obsolete that senior-level, or even those who were assistants t