“There is no easy answer on the use of artificial intelligence. It takes time to find out how people can use these tools in a way that is useful, but also creates opportunities. without being destructive for the creative industry”, says Farrell in an interview. “I just hope, like everyone else, that [el problema] be resolved soon. [El uso de la IA] It is the key issue of the strike because everyone sees the opportunity, but it is also complicated because people have different opinions, and for this, unfortunately, the strike has lasted 100 days.”
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in image and video processing, voice processing and recognition, as well as for content cataloging. According to a McKenzie study, this technology can reduce by up to 30% operating costs of a business, while PwC places it among the industries that could benefit the most from it over other sectors, such as the scrap and the energetic.
The company has set its sights on cost savings for its productions in terms of locations, for example, without crossing a limit that affects employment in the community.
“I hope that for the big stories and productions of 200 million dollars it is no longer necessary to have to go to certain scenarios, and, on the other hand, you can count on new technologies here. That is why we do this exploration that can help us recreate environments”.
amazon studios has already incorporated AI into its productions. The company created a virtual studio in Churubusco, the largest in Latin America, with which they seek to streamline productions in terms of special effects and achieve economic efficiencies for this type of development, without specifying a figure. The company uses the virtual set for the filming of the series ‘Every minute counts’, that will show the dramatic hours that were experienced in the 1985 earthquake in the country, which will be available on the Prime Video platform in more than 240 countries and territories.
“In the beginning, the Mexican creators of the project were brought from Mexico ‘Every minute counts’ to Amazon’s Los Angeles studio to see the 360-degree stage, which we thought was the perfect place to shoot, but realized it was too expensive to bring people there all the time. So we built the virtual scenario in Mexico”, says the manager.
Alonso Aguilar, head of local originals of Amazon for Mexico, expressed that technology is only a resource that will help improve the quality of productions and the virtual stage is an example of this, so the development of new tools should not be feared. The arrival of new applications for the creation of audiovisual products has led the company to look for more talent.
“With the advent of virtual production You would think that there are visual effects departments and that they will no longer have jobs, but that team is learning this new technology and, in fact, we are creating sources of work to create new experts in a technology that did not exist in Mexico so that later put themselves at the service of bigger stories”, says Aguilar.
A “new spring” for Mexican production
The delay in several productions caused by the Hollywood actors’ strike represents an opportunity for the film industries of other countries. Alonso Aguilar considers that Mexico It would be one of them, since it has currently become one of the destinations of the large film studios.
Just this year Amazon Studios has filmed 13 series and seeks to finish about four more, as part of the investment of 300 million dollars announced in 2021 and which will be maintained until 2024.
Mexico has experience in flourishing in the midst of chaos. The call Golden era of Mexican cinema occurred in the middle of World War II, where Europe and the United States became involved in a war situation that also brought with it a shortage of suitable materials to produce films, added to war arguments as a way of explaining and understanding those years. Instead, Mexico developed much more versatile themes that later became classics and dominant feature films in the Mexican and Latin American markets and even in other latitudes.
“So far there are not many productions in the United States that are crossing the border, but the strike came at a good time for Mexico because this year and in the coming years there will be very strong and important content that can also be watched around the world, because what people want is to see good content,” says Aguilar, who has even revealed that he sees the possibility of bringing talent from the United States. United to Mexico to record series and movies in the country.
James Farrel said that the strategy he will take for Prime Video to avoid being affected by the actors’ strike is to add and continue productions in India, Japan and especially in Mexicobecause “where we have been successful lately is in the content that leaves Mexico and goes to other countries.”
The Amazon Studios executive said that another opportunity they see in Mexico is to achieve alliances with content companies, although he did not reveal the names of production companies. “Just the issue of alliances is something that I was touching [en su visita a México] on how to find more content partners in Mexico or in the United States, because it is about giving more exposure to the content,” he says.
The company has had good experiences around the acquisition of film studios such as MGMthe legendary Hollywood film studio, for which it would have paid 7.637 million euros and which has also given it the opportunity to market its products to other companies such as airlines.
Mexico is at a point where it can once again become a giant in the audiovisual industry.
“We feel very proud that the best Mexican creators, writers, directors, showrunnersThey come to make series and movies with us, and they even come back because we give them all the technological tools and resources we have at hand to translate their vision into better products for the audience. This will continue to evolve in technological terms, but at their service; they will never stop being at the center of all our decisions,” said Aguilar.