Starting this week, I will be presenting on generative cinematography—the use of generative AI in film production—at three upcoming conferences in Dublin, Portland, and online. While each presentation varies, I will be sharing findings from my research into the historic 2023 Hollywood film worker strikes against AI.
Amid the rise of generative models (e.g., DALL-E, Midjourney, Runway, Sora, Loudly, etc.), AI is increasingly playing a role in the production of screenplays, imagery, and sounds—but not without resistance. While the image and its technical reproduction have ongoingly been in crisis, AI is among the latest developments that has generated controversy in the Hollywood studio system. For the first time in over 60 years, two of the largest Hollywood film unions (the WGA and SAG-AFTRA) went on strike together for a variety of reasons, including to fight for labor protections against AI.
Following participant observation on the picket line and interviews with 15 film workers across unions and roles (e.g., acting, screenwriting, etc.), I will present workers’ motivations for striking against AI, as well as their emerging perceptions of generative cinematography more broadly. I will also discuss how film productions might integrate and refuse to integrate with AI as I look to alternative algorithmic possibilities and worker-centered programs. Toward this end, I will share a preview of my latest work in progress on how critical approaches to AI filmmaking might help subvert the dominant representations and narratives of technological progress, as well as reset the political and cultural possibilities of generative cinematography.
June 5: Screen Studies in the Age of Extended Reality & Synthetic Media Conference (Dublin, IE / Virtual).
June 21: Labor Research & Action Network Conference (Portland, OR, USA).
July 18: Electronic Literature Organization Conference & Media Festival (Virtual).
To make this work possible, I am grateful to have received the generous support of the Labor Research & Action Network (LRAN) New Scholars Grant, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and the film workers who participated.
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