RedBird IMI boss Jeff Zucker Looks to AI as an ‘Opportunity’: ’It’ll Bring Down the Production Costs Tremendously ‘
RedBird IMI boss Jeff Zucker appears to be embracing the AI revolution.
“We actually think AI is an opportunity,” he told the audience at TV confab Content London on Wednesday. “We don’t think that it will be able to capture the same drama that ‘Celebrity Traitors’ did, or the human emotion that’s in ‘Hamnet,’ for example, but we think it’ll bring down the production costs tremendously. So we think it’s an opportunity.”
“It’s not going to meet sources in an underground garage and break stories for Front Office Sports or any journalistic outlet like that,” Zucker continued, “but it’s a great tool for news organizations as well. So I think AI wasn’t here two years ago, but it’s a great opportunity to utilize as well.”
Hollywood is still split on AI, with some companies and individuals willing to give it a chance while others, most notably creatives, horrified about its infiltration into the screen ecosystem. Earlier this week “Frankenstein” director Guillermo del Toro lambasted the new technology while accepting the Vanguard Tribute at the Gotham Awards. “I’d like to tell the rest of our extraordinary cast and our crew that the artistry of all of them shines on every single frame of this film that was willfully made by humans, for humans,” he told the audience. “The designers, builders, make-up, wardrobe team, cinematographers, composers, editors, this tribute belongs to all of them. I would like to extend our gratitude and say: Fuck AI.”
During the Content London panel, Zucker, who was in conversation with media consultant Mary Ann Halford, was asked to predict what the future of the entertainment industry might look like in 5 years time, which he declined to do. “I’m not trying to duck your question, but I mean, I think that anybody that pretends to tell you today what the world is going to look like in 2030 is a fool,” he told Halford bluntly.
“Because I think the world is going to change twice between now and then. At least, the reality is, I think we’re going to see as much change in the next five years as we’ve seen in the last 20,” he continued. “Obviously, look, AI is going to play a huge part in that. The creator economy is going to play a huge part in that. And don’t count out the traditional places that are still producing great content, right?”
“I think the one thing that will be forever true is whether people watch it on their phone or their TV screen or their iPad or whatever people watch content on they’re going to want professionally produced content, and they’re going to want creator produced content. And I think all of that will be helped by AI and I think all of that will be helped by human beings. And I think to know exactly what is going to get us from here to 2030 I have no idea, but I do think people will still be consuming content.”
The media titan also touched on RedBird IMI’s move into live events and sports, citing its sports trade Front Office Sports and doc/events company EverWonder, which pivoted from purely making factual content to events.
“I really think that live and sports are really important components of the next couple years, and this happens to combine both of those,” he said of EverWonder.
“Everybody’s always focused on owning teams and things like that, right? Because it’s sexy and it’s exciting. Everybody wants to be a team owner and stuff like that. … But I actually think the real opportunity lies in adjacencies to teams,” Zucker added. “I think new leagues is certainly an area. But I think production for all of these things is an opportunity. I think sports-adjacent programming is an opportunity. And that’s what we’ve tried to move into. But I really do believe that over these next couple years, sports and live production — and if you combine the two, great — are real opportunities, things that can’t be disintermediated that easily. Live events that have to take place, sports games that have to be played, and I think that that’s what we’re trying to play in.”
