Jeffrey Katzenberg has a vision for the next phase of Hollywood, and he’s jumping in to make it happen.
Just after issuing a manifesto on Elon Musk’s X earlier this week urging Hollywood to embrace rather than fear AI, he spoke to WaxWord about his plans to launch a new animation studio focused on making quality film and television programming using the new technology.
“For me, it is time for artists, creatives, storytellers, to actually seize the day,” he said. “These new AI tools are about innovation and opportunity. If barriers and cost come down, more films will get made, there will be more jobs, new forms of storytelling will emerge.”
Katzenberg, one of the most accomplished Hollywood executives of our time, has spent much of the last 10 years building relationships in Silicon Valley, and the last eight months closely following the evolution of generative AI. And what he has seen of AI output in the last few months convinced him that something revolutionary has arrived.
“Up until recently it was slop,” he said. “It didn’t hold any interest for me. That has changed only in the last couple of months for me in ways I don’t think we can ignore anymore. Where they [the technologies] are today, where we are likely to be in coming months, in a year or two or three is a real transformative moment.”
It is true that Katzenberg had already seen the future a couple of times, whether in evangelizing for 3D filmmaking in Hollywood, which never really materialized, or in launching the short-form video company Quibi in 2020 backed by $1.75 billion in capital, which fizzled in just six months. Seeing the future is no doubt hard. Last year Katzenberg partnered with Kimbal Musk to invest in drone technology that would create a new form of entertainment with the sky as the canvas.
None of his past false starts have dampened Katzenberg’s enthusiasm for AI and what it can do for animation, his area of expertise and heartfelt passion since helping to revive Walt Disney Animation Studios and leading it to greatness in the 1980s and ’90s with “The Little Mermaid,” “The Lion King” and many other enduring titles.
Katzenberg shared that he has decided to jump into the deep end, creating either a digital platform or an actual studio to create animated entertainment content using AI.
“I am fired up, and going to go out and do something that actually shows what’s possible here,” he said. “Partner with talented filmmakers and AI to deliver the resources of the AI world and to marry that with best talent.”
I pointed out to Katzenberg that a lot of companies have already jumped in to create high quality AI-driven content, though no one of his experience has done so in the animation category. Disney, however, is making technology its concerted focus under new CEO Josh D’Amaro.
Katzenberg was effusive there too. “I love what Josh is doing. He is making all the right ambitious moves.” But, he added: “Here’s a fact: Pixar could never have been created inside Disney animation. Just the opposite. They fought it. Roy Disney specifically asked me not to make [“Toy Story”]. To Michael Eisner’s credit, he overrode it and said: make ‘Toy Story.’”
Katzenberg intends to make animated features films and television “with the best talent and the most aspirational content,” he said. “I want to be able to show at the top of the waterfall what is aspirationally possible with the best tools in the hands of the best talent. That waterfall will go to pro-sumer, to consumer.”
What is his barrier to success, after being too early on short form video with Quibi? Easy, he said: talent. “That’s the hard part,” he said.
“I believe we are on the cusp of what can be a true renaissance for Hollywood storytelling, and a complete transformation for all video forms as of today,” he said.
Stay tuned for details.
