Tyler Perry stops $800 million studio expansion after seeing Sora

American actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has put the $800 million expansion of his Atlanta film studio on hold after seeing what OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video model is able to.

Earlier this week, OpenAI introduced Sora, which may generate realistic, coherent, and character-consistent videos of as much as 60 seconds based on a text prompt.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Perry explained that after seeing Sora in motion, he realized he needed to rethink the best way his company would produce movies.

“Hearing that it may possibly do all of these items is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities was mind-blowing,” Perry said.

Explaining the scope of his shelved project, Perry said: “I even have been watching AI very closely and watching the progress very closely. I used to be in the course of a roughly $800 million expansion of the studio and had been planning it for 4 years, which might have increased the backlot tremendously; we added 12 more sound stages. “All of that’s on hold right away and indefinitely due to Sora and what I’m seeing.”

Jobs in danger

Perry will not be against the concept of ​​using AI in filmmaking and said he has used it in two of his movies which have not yet been released. He used AI to age himself in post-production as an alternative of getting to spend hours applying makeup.

The rethinking of the expansion of his studio and the chances of AI have left him very concerned about jobs within the industry.

Thanks to AI tools like Sora, there isn’t any have to travel to a location to get just the appropriate picture. There isn’t any need for a cameraman, set designer, electrician and even an actor.

“I’m very anxious about everyone in the corporate. Because after I watched it, I immediately considered everyone within the industry that will be affected by it, including actors and grip, electrical, transportation, sound and editors, and after I take a look at it I feel it’s going to touch everyone corner of our industry,” Perry said.

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents artists and broadcasters, is trying to search out ways to guard the rights of its members and recently announced an agreement on how AI replicas of voice actors could be utilized in video games.

Perry called for broader measures to mitigate inevitable job losses within the film industry, but acknowledged that production firms are under pressure to chop costs and prioritize profitability.

The $800 million Perry desired to spend would have gone into the pockets of real individuals who have families to look after. Most of us were excited and in awe after we saw what Sora was able to.

But there are numerous people in Hollywood who would have experienced a very different range of emotions.