Warning that there’s “major trouble on the horizon, ” industry vet Michael Cioni, who is CEO of AI tool startup Stada and founder of post house Light Iron, has outlined the impact of advancing tech and the creator economy while presenting a bold approach to how he believes a threatened Hollywood could survive and thrive.
During a talk at last week’s HPA Tech Retreat, Cioni urged “Hollywood” – a term he used to encompass all of professional media and entertainment – to reconsider traditions and to be a sort of bridge to the creator economy. “If we really believe the saving of our industry is going to be based on trying to get it back to where it was in 2019, we’re going to lose it all,” he warned. “The Hollywood that we can make successful, it’s not about ‘survive through 25.’ We can thrive. We just have to admit that it’s going to look a lot different.”
To the studio tech leaders in attendance, Cioni maintained that the studios have the power to steer change “because you are the most powerful. … You control so much of this.”
“Your power is in exhibition and distribution and marketing. That’s where the power of the studio really should be focusing itself, he opined. “What we need from you is not to give us script notes and not to actually give us notes on the cuts and decide if this is a good project or not. That is not your power anymore.”
He also urged the community to break down “barriers” such as technical standards and practices that, in his view, are no longer serving their purpose; and he urged manufacturers that develop bespoke production tools to consider the wider group of content creators have been steadily adopting lower cost tech including cameras, even those on an iPhone.
While the talk wasn’t specifically about AI, he cited examples such as CapCut, an AI-supported video editing app he claimed has 300 million monthly active users. “Whether they are on a phone or a Media Composer, 300 million editors are going to make a dent,” he said, adding, “I’m not suggesting that they can make better quality content. I’m asking, does it even matter?”
On distribution, he pointed to the phenomenal rise of YouTube as “new television.”
“We can get beat by the creator economy because they’re willing to try everything,” Cioni warned. “They have no reason to hold back and they’re never going to use a standard or some rule of what camera is approved and unapproved to make a decision on what to use.”
He added that without Hollywood’s traditional standards and practices, the creator economy can simply move faster. “It’s time to relax on these standards and practices. It’s out of control,” he asserted.
During his talk, Cioni also urged manufacturers of niche tools to migrate toward the creator economy; and vendors, to lean into “creatitivy” rather than technology. “You can’t outpace technology of the creator economy,” he said in his talk, which is now published on YouTube.
