Hollywood’s Silent Co-Director: How AI Is Quietly Rewriting the Script

In a dimly lit studio somewhere in Tokyo, an artist watches as a neural network assembles a vivid background for an animated scene—one that once took weeks to paint by hand. Thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, visual effects engineers run AI models to de-age actors by decades. Quietly but decisively, artificial intelligence is becoming Hollywood’s invisible hand, shaping scenes, short films, and entire cinematic concepts. But while the technology accelerates, movie lovers and creatives alike are asking: what are we losing in the process?

AI’s Entry Point: The Background Player

The earliest and most accepted use of AI in film has been in the background, quite literally. One notable example is the anime short The Dog & the Boy, a project by WIT Studio and Netflix Japan. The three-minute film used AI-generated imagery to craft all its backgrounds, based on thousands of prior visual assets. Human artists were involved in training and editing the results, but the bulk of visual construction came from the machine. This decision, although framed as a way to ease labor shortages, was met with heavy backlash from both animators and audiences, who saw it as a thinly veiled attempt to replace skilled labor.

Meanwhile, American studios are experimenting more cautiously. In the feature film Here by TriStar Pictures, artificial intelligence was used to de-age actors like Tom Hanks across a 60-year timespan. The AI, built by VFX company Metaphysic, allowed for aging transitions that would have been nearly impossible without extensive makeup or digital animation. These AI-powered transformations were deeply embedded in the narrative, spanning dozens of minutes in the film, suggesting that major studios are willing to integrate the technology—provided it doesn’t compromise story or star power.

Short Films Take the Lead in Full AI Integration

While mainstream studios tread lightly, indie filmmakers and experimental studios are diving headfirst into AI. One of the boldest efforts is Echo Hunter, a sci-fi short released in 2025 by Arcana Labs. This 22-minute film used generative AI to produce all its visuals, while human actors provided voice work under a SAG-AFTRA agreement. Characters, environments, lighting, and motion were generated without traditional animation or cinematography. The result is a stylized, surreal narrative that blurs the line between film and simulation.

Not all experiments have been successful. Lionsgate, one of Hollywood’s larger players, partnered with the generative video platform Runway in an attempt to create entire scenes using AI. Early reports suggest that the results were disappointing. The footage lacked coherence, emotional nuance, and visual quality—proof that while AI can generate, it still struggles to direct.

How Long Can a Machine Generate a Scene?

The length and depth of AI-generated scenes depend largely on what the AI is tasked to do. In The Dog & the Boy, all three minutes feature AI-rendered backgrounds. In Echo Hunter, nearly every frame is machine-created, suggesting AI can sustain an entire short film when guided. In larger productions like Here, AI scenes may last only a few minutes at a time, serving specific narrative purposes such as age transitions. The complexity of full-length feature generation remains out of reach for now. AI tools can simulate but not yet direct, and without human storytelling, the output often feels hollow or uncanny.

Studios Behind the Curtain

Netflix Japan was one of the earliest studios to publicly test AI in animation. TriStar Pictures, a division of Sony, used AI in collaboration with Metaphysic to produce high-end aging effects. Lionsgate’s failed experiment with Runway indicates growing interest in generative video tools, though execution lags behind ambition. Smaller, AI-native studios like Arcana Labs have led the charge in fully generative productions. Another example is Staircase Studios, which is attempting to use AI as the backbone of ultra-low-budget film production, aiming to create entire features with a fraction of traditional costs.

Audience Sentiment: Awe Meets Anxiety

Film lovers are torn. Some view AI as an exciting innovation, capable of expanding the limits of visual storytelling and making movie production more accessible to new creators. Others worry it dilutes the artistry that defines cinema. On social platforms and film forums, reactions to AI-generated content often lean skeptical. Critics argue that AI lacks human intention, and that its outputs, while visually competent, feel emotionally sterile. The idea that an algorithm trained on past art can create “new” art has also come under ethical scrutiny.

The creative community has voiced stronger resistance. Animators, VFX artists, and screenwriters have raised concerns about job displacement and the erosion of creative labor. Unionized workers argue that AI is being introduced under the pretense of innovation, while quietly threatening livelihoods and industry standards. Studios, for their part, have framed these moves as “experiments,” but few believe the adoption will stop there.

A Forecast for the Film Industry

In the next few years, AI is likely to become a staple in pre-production and post-production pipelines. Backgrounds, crowd scenes, and de-aging sequences will increasingly be handled by generative systems. Script writing assistants and storyboarding tools are already entering daily use, though they still rely on human curation. As AI tools improve, hybrid filmmaking models will emerge, where machines draft and humans refine.

Longer-term, it’s plausible that entire feature-length films could be generated with minimal human input. Advances in language models, voice synthesis, and animation engines point to a future where indie creators use AI to simulate casts, design sets, and animate performances. Studios may adopt these tools not only for cost-cutting, but to experiment with interactive or personalized storytelling—where each viewer sees a slightly different version of the same film.

Still, technical innovation doesn’t guarantee audience acceptance. If viewers perceive AI-driven films as generic or emotionally thin, adoption may slow. Intellectual property lawsuits, union pushback, and ethical debates could further delay widespread use. Ultimately, whether AI transforms film into a new art form or simply becomes a more advanced tool depends on how creators wield it—and how audiences respond.

Closing Reflection

AI isn’t directing movies just yet, but it’s already sitting in the editor’s chair. From background visuals to entire short films, the role of generative technology in cinema is expanding faster than many anticipated. As with any new tool, its success will depend not just on what it can produce, but on whether it can do so without erasing the very thing that makes films matter: the human touch.