AI “FILMMAKING” IS FINALLY HERE AND IT’S THE NEAR FUTURE
Waaay…. back in the mid-90s, when I was a lot thinner and had a lot more hair, I found myself in California, struggling to make it as a professional screenwriter. Around that time, Hollywood still had a stranglehold on the movie industry, and big-name actors such as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Jim Carrey, and Tom Hanks dominated the box office, and any idea they attached themselves to was automatically greenlit. The major studios back then were known as the Big Six: Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Fox, Disney, and Columbia/Sony. Then there were New Line Cinema, Miramax, and DreamWorks, the three upcoming studios that showed a lot of promise. Independent productions, meaning any movie outside of the Big Six, weren’t taken that seriously back then, but they were gaining a lot of steam.
Fast-Forward to the early 2000s, the big six studios evolved into big rental houses, and most movie productions became independent. Actors didn’t care about picture deals from studios anymore – they produced their own work, and this was all led by Tom Cruise. Big talent agencies suddenly started producing movies, unions made movies very expensive, and studios, well, they cared more about IPs (intellectual properties) than stories.
Now it’s 2026, and the movie industry has once again evolved, and this time, it’s fueled by artificial intelligence.
But let’s go back to the mid-90s for a quick minute. I had written a sci-fi comedy script for an actor who expressed a true interest, but eventually came back with a no because his picture deal from the studio wasn’t large enough. My screenplay was a $100-200 million movie; his picture deals were for $20-30 million per movie.
Cut to the present – I start a barbecue company that has its own media department, which just happens to be very good at AI, and this small BBQ joint produces a film short that the big movie studios couldn’t.
That’s amazing.
All AI. Still from our film short.
If you’re wondering, my BBQ company’s media department, CF Media, plans to produce a lot AI narratives, possibly a full-length movie – that means, “I’m back, baby!”
All of the constraints that kept me out of the entertainment industry are now – GONE. I don’t have to attach big-name movie stars to our project just to greenlight it. I don’t have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars. I don’t have to worry about permitting, lawyers, executives, scheduling, unions, locations, casting the right actor, stunts, crews, etc., etc., or the countless egos that surround the movie industry. All I have to worry about is being able to tell a great story, visually, that’s extremely entertaining.
AI filmmaking is here, and it’s only going to get better. It’s far from perfect right now, but it’s to the point where we can manage it enough where we can get the shots we need.
What’s going to happen in the future?
Studios are going to become a relic of the past. Small production houses will be able to produce very good movies, and those small production houses will become very wealthy. Think about it this way. They will spend less than 100k on a film that will look like a $500 million film. If they get a movie that people will buy for $1 to $3 stream, they will make millions. It’s going to happen.
The question is – will you ride the wave or fight it?
I go by either "Steven" or "Steve" it really doesn't matter. I'm not a professional screenwriter anymore, so there's no need to suck up to me and send me your latest script. I have zero ambition to work in the entertainment industry. I'm now just a regular guy who knows a bit about storytelling, wants to share that knowledge to inspire new writers, and to share my work with everyone!
MY ADVENTURE INTO AI “FILMS”
Posted by Steve Young on May 26, 2026 at 10:45 pmThis short film we produced was done with AI.
AI “FILMMAKING” IS FINALLY HERE
AND IT’S THE NEAR FUTURE
Waaay…. back in the mid-90s, when I was a lot thinner and had a lot more hair, I found myself in California, struggling to make it as a professional screenwriter. Around that time, Hollywood still had a stranglehold on the movie industry, and big-name actors such as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Jim Carrey, and Tom Hanks dominated the box office, and any idea they attached themselves to was automatically greenlit. The major studios back then were known as the Big Six: Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Fox, Disney, and Columbia/Sony. Then there were New Line Cinema, Miramax, and DreamWorks, the three upcoming studios that showed a lot of promise. Independent productions, meaning any movie outside of the Big Six, weren’t taken that seriously back then, but they were gaining a lot of steam.
Fast-Forward to the early 2000s, the big six studios evolved into big rental houses, and most movie productions became independent. Actors didn’t care about picture deals from studios anymore – they produced their own work, and this was all led by Tom Cruise. Big talent agencies suddenly started producing movies, unions made movies very expensive, and studios, well, they cared more about IPs (intellectual properties) than stories.
Now it’s 2026, and the movie industry has once again evolved, and this time, it’s fueled by artificial intelligence.
But let’s go back to the mid-90s for a quick minute. I had written a sci-fi comedy script for an actor who expressed a true interest, but eventually came back with a no because his picture deal from the studio wasn’t large enough. My screenplay was a $100-200 million movie; his picture deals were for $20-30 million per movie.
Cut to the present – I start a barbecue company that has its own media department, which just happens to be very good at AI, and this small BBQ joint produces a film short that the big movie studios couldn’t.
That’s amazing.
All AI. Still from our film short.
If you’re wondering, my BBQ company’s media department, CF Media, plans to produce a lot AI narratives, possibly a full-length movie – that means, “I’m back, baby!”
All of the constraints that kept me out of the entertainment industry are now – GONE. I don’t have to attach big-name movie stars to our project just to greenlight it. I don’t have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars. I don’t have to worry about permitting, lawyers, executives, scheduling, unions, locations, casting the right actor, stunts, crews, etc., etc., or the countless egos that surround the movie industry. All I have to worry about is being able to tell a great story, visually, that’s extremely entertaining.
AI filmmaking is here, and it’s only going to get better. It’s far from perfect right now, but it’s to the point where we can manage it enough where we can get the shots we need.
What’s going to happen in the future?
Studios are going to become a relic of the past. Small production houses will be able to produce very good movies, and those small production houses will become very wealthy. Think about it this way. They will spend less than 100k on a film that will look like a $500 million film. If they get a movie that people will buy for $1 to $3 stream, they will make millions. It’s going to happen.
The question is – will you ride the wave or fight it?
Steve Young