“New frontiers of technology: The practical impact of artificial intelligence on AV productions: contracts, creativity and business” was the title of one of the panels at the Audio-Visual Producers Summit (10-12 June) organised in Scilla, in Calabria, by the APA-Associazione Produttori Audiovisivi with support from the MiC, MAECI/ICA and the Calabria Film Commission, with the collaboration of Cinecittà, the MPA – Motion Picture Association, the PGA – Producers Guild of America, the CNC, Unifrance and the BFI.

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Discussing the theme were John August, American director, producer and screenwriter WGI, Damien Viel, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer at Banijay Group, and producer Stefano Salvati (Daimon Film) with director Francesco Siro Brigiano (his short Treta, made using AI, won the award for best direction at the AI Choice Award at the Dubai Artificial Intelligence Film Festival). Salvati underlined the importance of AI for the future of the audio-visual industry, an opportunity, if regulated by norms. “Artificial intelligence,” reaffirmed Brigiano, “has the capacity to write the images, an alchemical magic that allows one to create from one’s own mind a vision that becomes first images, and then video.”

John August instead expressed some anxiety: “It’s not easy to stay protected, writing is the first to be hit by AI, and for that reason we’ve been the first to strike and carry on our battle.” Damien Viel concluded: “We work on it every day because the rules change quickly, but we have to build everything from zero to protect ourselves and protect all the professionals involved, so that the environment in which we work with AI is safe. We need to create partnerships with all the best companies in the sector and to be extremely honest about how we will use AI.”

The next panel explored the revolution in virtual production and in digital content and the audiovisual possibilities they offer. Morgann Brun, Production manager at La Planète Rouge, Manuela Cacciamani, Founder of One More Pictures, and Christina Lee Storm, Founder and CEO of Asher XR, all intervened. The latter highlighted the use of game engine, which allows on to see the rendering of a scene in real time with time and cost optimisation, and emphasised the need to monitor the various modes of use of the public, especially young people, which are constantly changing. The virtual is only an instrument that allows for competitive speed in a market where demand is growing greatly, also in animation. Morgann Brun insisted on time and cost optimisation, highlighting also the sustainability of virtual production, not only the prerogative of the majors but also of small independent productions.

Cacciamani reiterated the need for constant study in a sector that changes every day – every company should include an innovation manager – and emphasised the value and opportunities offered by virtual technology. Cacciamani invited fellow producers to use a resource such as content creators or digital editors, capable of reaching a wider and younger audience, an opportunity that could create new jobs: the challenge to overcome even today is the lack of knowledge regarding this sector, in which training is necessary, but also ethical control, regulation, and the protection of minors.