Entertainment <\/p>\n
\n\tLori McCreary<\/a>, CEO and co-founder of Morgan Freeman\u2019s production company Revelations Entertainment, shed light on her evolving role as a producer in the age of AI at an event in Italy<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAI is going to re-shape our industry\u2026 the way sound reshaped silent films, only faster,\u201d McCreary told a an AI focused panel at the Audiovisual Producers Summit in the northern Italian spa town of Merano on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTwo years ago, at this very conference, in Trieste, we were still calling AI this new technology, but it was really 15 years in the making. Then, the most common question was, \u2018What is this AI thing and how is it going to affect us?\u2019.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLast year, the tone shifted a little bit, and it was, \u2018You\u2019re not using AI yet, are you?\u2019 and then this year, the questions are, \u2018Which models are you using, has it worked, have you had any problems, and how do we protect each other. The pace of change is dizzying, even for those who are partially in it and partially out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMcCreary addressed the question of protecting audiovisual IP in an age of generative ai software, suggesting one of her biggest challenges was protecting Freeman himself.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen Morgan and I launched Revelations 28 years ago, our biggest question was, do we do digital dailies or film dailies. Now the question is, can someone else own your voice, your image, your likeness, and can a studio license Morgan\u2019s performance from Shawshank<\/em> without him having any say in it?\u201d she said referring to the actor\u2019s 1995 Oscar nominated role in The Shawshank Redemption<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf you\u2019ve ever worked with Morgan, you know that his voice is more than just intellectual property, it\u2019s his identity and protecting it and protecting all our stories and our projects behind the scenes and in front of the camera. It\u2019s not just an imperative now, it\u2019s literally the new frontline of producing.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMcCreary noted she was also embracing the AI technology to support act of filmmaking from development to post-production, but it came with caveats.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOn the creative side, it can be incredible. AI is helping us visualize storyboards, localize scripts dubbed in multiple languages with actors who might not speak our language, and even simulate visual effects before we spend this time on post. For independent producers and I literally be a game changer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBut on the legal and the human side, it\u2019s also introducing enormous risk for us as producers, especially when likenesses our cloned without people\u2019s permission or we don\u2019t what data was used to train something we\u2019re using to help our scripts\u2026 we\u2019re no longer just the keeper of the story of our teams and of our budgets. We\u2019re now really digital rights protectors and we\u2019re the last line between talent and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMcCreary suggested that the legal due diligence that needs to be done when a production used AI to support development and production, meant that the technology was not always a cost-cutter.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWith all of the legal advice we need and the vetting of the projects of the vendor, vetting the data set, licensing, the E&O insurance, we have to be really careful as producers because what looks fast and inexpensive to do can end up being risky and expensive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cProducers are really at risk, and we still hold the liability if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n \n\tIf that AI generated voice triggers a lawsuit in another jurisdiction, it\u2019s not the tool or the buyer that\u2019s going to get in trouble, it\u2019s the producer. The job really hasn\u2019t changed. It\u2019s still about protecting the story and the talent and the truth. It\u2019s just that now you really have to read that fine print or you say, I agree, you got to read all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMcCreary also touched on the issue of copyrighting content that has been created using AI technology, focusing on a recent California Copyright Office ruling that content needs \u201csignificant creative human input\u201d to copyrightable.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn the US, if you didn\u2019t creatively guide it or edit it, it\u2019s not yours. This is different from all the places in the world,\u201d she said, explaining that this meant producers had to be meticulous in documenting the human involvement in their projects.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cProducers today are constantly walking the tightrope between legal protection and creative ownership\u2026 For producers, documentation is going to be key. We need to log our prompts\u2026 We need to show human oversight, annotate all of our choices because because one day we might have to prove that our project was crafted by humans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t\tWatch on Deadline\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n