The news: Lionsgate, owner of film franchises including “John Wick” and “The Hunger Games,” struck a deal with AI firm Runway to use the studio’s portfolio to train artificial intelligence which will be used to assist in the filmmaking process, the two companies announced.
Hollywood’s conflict: AI has become a hot-button topic in Hollywood, fueling some of its largest conflicts in decades while also attracting significant interest from major studios.
- The 2023 Writers Guild of America strike sought better compensation for Hollywood workers but also established significant AI protections. Among those are restrictions on recreating an actor’s image or likeness without their express permission, along with heavily restricting the use of AI in scriptwriting. Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law further strengthening image and likeness restrictions.