Tag: I Love Hollywood

Human Hollywood Is Going To Need Legal Carveouts To Survive In The Age of Generative AI Like Sora

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I think we’re one (severe) recession — or less — away from Hollywood being reduced to two types of people plutocrats and programmers. And, given how fast LLMs are approaching the ability to wrote code — Hollywood may just be plutocrats who license their content to LLM companies.

It could all happen a lot sooner than any of us want to think about. It could be by the end of the decade that we just don’t really have a “human” Hollywood anymore, to the point that the far Left and the far Right will come together in some new anti-tech MAGA movement that demands legal carveouts for human workers in entertainment.

Or not. What do I know. But I, in general, the trends do seem to indicate that Something Big is going to happen with “human Hollywood” in the near, near future.

I Have A Villain Problem

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Watching “House of Cards” about a decade after everyone else has really opened my eyes to how piss-poor the villains of my novel are. I know what’s happening — my writing and storytelling ability is really getting a lot better so some things I didn’t really think about at first are coming to the forefront of my mind.

House of Cards

The villains of Stieg Larsson’s novels are horrific, while mine are just…there. There’s nothing really scary or notable about them. This is all happening so late in the process, of course, that I have only a limited amount of time to improve their characterization.

But I’ve at least realized it now, rather than when I try to pitch the novel.

I really need to dig deep — fast — and think up ways to make my various villains memorable and hateful. This is going to be really difficult because my usual way — which is to drift towards my goal and daydream until I come up with a solution — just isn’t going to cut it.

If I use that method, it could be next year before I nail down everything and I just don’t have time. Around July 22 – 23 is my deadline and that’s what I have to work with. If I don’t get where I need to be by that point, I’m really afraid that the window of opportunity I have to sell this novel will close and we’ll all be consuming AI generated entertainment, or the fucking Fourth Turning will happen — you name it.

Anyway. Onward.

The Name Game

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I try to do what is right, I really do. And when it comes to developing and writing a novel, there are all the unexpected landmines floating around that you have to avoid.

Lisbeth Salander is the type of name that is so great I wish I could think of something as strong.

One is the subject of names.

In general, I feel pretty safe with all of my character names. And YET it is inevitable that somehow, someway along the process there might be a hitch. There is one character — a huge character in the project six book series, in fact — who has a surname that MIGHT be a problem.

S1-D13-_-Pang-_-mysterious-postcard-RCL-work-day-1Download

But I’m really, really being paranoid, all things considered.

And I’m not attached to that specific name. If I have to, I have a few backup names I’m willing to switch to. I’m very pragmatic about such things, I just want to be a published author and if it requires a significant rethinking of some element of the six novel project to become one, so be it.

In general, things are going pretty well with this first novel. I’m rather pleased. I just have to press forward. I can’t keep just driving towards my goal. I have to give my life focus and structure if I’m going to wrap this thing up by no later than around July 22th.

Is Tyler Perry The Canary In The Hollywood AI Coalmine?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As someone who fancies himself something of a “creator” — more specifically, an aspiring novelist — I have to blanch at the news that Tyler Perry has decided to shelve an $800 million investment because of the advent of technology like Sora.

It definitely seems as though This Is It.

It seems possible that we’re about to swerve into a totally unexpected future where our Her-like Personal Digital Assistant, on the fly, shoots out a personalized move in an ad hoc manner because it knows you so well that you don’t even have to tell it what you want to watch at any particular moment.

Things like “writing a novel” will be replaced by someone feeding a few lines of prompt into some future AI and that, as they say, will be that. But I do think I have a little bit of a window of opportunity.

A lot can still go wrong, but a lot can still go right. I just have to press forward. I have to believe in myself. And, if the absolute worst happens, then I can least use the writing and storytelling skills I’ve built since I starting working on this novel to work on something even better.

That’s the current delusional that allows me to get to sleep.

LA or Bust: I’m A Good Schmoozer

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

If, for some reason, my otherwise ho-hum, boring — and broke ass — life ever gets upended in some, fun, cool way, I will have one advantage despite being old as fuck: I’m a good schmoozer.

Me at a Hollywood party in 2028.

And now that I’ve vowed to be sober (to the best of my ability) I might even be able to use that element of my personality without coming across as just a drunk crank. The one place I could see me using my schmoozing ability to the best purpose would be in LA.

But a LOT would have to change in my life for me to get anywhere near LA. I would need a lot more money than I have at the moment. So, it’s at least possible that if I manage to sell the mystery-thriller I’m working on then I might be a position to travel to LA and schmooze my way into a three picture deal.

That at the moment is, obviously, very delusional.

And, yet, lulz, most of us wouldn’t be alive without a bit of delusional now and again, now would we?

But there is a major obstacle to me finding any success schmooze — I’m just too old. So, in a sense, what might happen is, I go to a cocktail party in LA, become the center of attention….and then nothing. I’m just not young and cute anymore.

I really need to accept this reality. I can’t keep pretending that I’m still in my 20s or 30s. People will judge me a far more differently than that now that I’m in my 50s.

Ugh.

Ah ha! I’ve Finally Figured Out What Hollywood Star My Heroine Looks Like — Nathalie Emmanuel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve finally found who I’m thinking of in my mind as I write my heroine and her adventures in my first novel — Nathalie Emmanuel.

Nathalie Emmanuel

My hope is, of course, that I will write a heroine who is as interesting as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. It will be interesting to see how things ultimately work out. A lot of writing a successful novel is just dumb luck. So, lulz, I could write The Bible and because I’m a smelly CIS white male writing from a female POV at times….the woke cancel culture mob will pillory me.

The dream is to write a character as interesting as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander.

I Suspect Hollywood Will Love The ‘Part-Time Sex Worker’ Element of This Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Whenever I get a little nervous about having my heroine be a part-time sex worker — stripper — I remind myself how freaky most Hollywood actresses are. And, what’s more, I don’t even really have anything all that bad happen to my heroine compared to, say, what Stieg Larsson puts Lisbeth Salander through….Jesus Christ.

So, I think that while a certain portion of the reading public will be turned off by this particular element of my heroine’s character, the people who might actually one day adapt it into a movie — if it ever became that popular, natch — will really dig it.

Having her occasionally strip to relax adds a lot of complexity to her character and evokes an emotional reaction of some sort, which is what all good storytelling does. I am well aware of how some people will want to throw the book across the room the moment they realize that it’s a smelly CIS white male writing from a female POV instead of an undocumented trans woman, but, lulz, slings and arrows and all that.

It will be interesting to see what happens, regardless.

I Just Don’t See How Human Hollywood Survives AI Without Legal Carveouts

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

From what I can tell of OpenAI’s Sora software, we’re rushing towards a future where human Hollywood becomes moot. What’s more, it seems as though the far Left and the far Right might fuse into some sort of anti-AI coalition that would demand legal carveouts for human Hollywood and human transportation workers.

I do think that, no matter what, human generated art will thrive, just the context will be different. It will be that 99.9% of all media is AI generated, and the little bit of pop art that is human generated will be really, really good. The one genre of human are that will probably see the most success because of AI is live entertainment ranging from sports, to music to theatre.

Actually experiencing something in the real world, rather than via AI generated VR wearing your Apple Vision Pro will start to be valued a great deal by the average person. I could see Broadway and live theatre in general replacing most of the current movie going experience because it will be real and true and human.

I love movies, yes, but in the future it could be that people will be so used to “playing” their gamified VR movies that if they are going to take their headset off, they’re going to want it to be a live experience. I will note again that scifi novel The Unincorporated Man talks about the downsides of VR in a really interesting way.

Anyway. It will really be interesting to see how things play out. I would like to think that I still have a window of opportunity to finish my novel and see if I can successfully querying it.

A Brief Remaining Window Of Opportunity: Developing, Writing & Finishing This Novel Is Existential To Me

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. I have a window of opportunity before either The Fourth Turning destroys the country and / or AI makes all human generated entertainment moot. So, I have to hurry. At this point, finishing this novel is now existential and, to some extent, irrational.

I should just give up and stare at my ceiling all day until I die of boredom. I suppose that’s what a “normal” person would do — just give up.

But fuck that. I’m not normal. Never have been. So, once more into the breach. Now that I’m sober, I feel in a better position to sprint. All I want to do is to express my humanity by telling a great story that one — one! — person who isn’t related to me or who doesn’t know me personally finishes and really likes and wants to read more.

That, in my mind, will prove that I don’t suck as a writer.

Hollywood Just Hit The Iceberg: OpenAI’s Sora Is A ‘Burn, Hollywood, Burn’ Advance In AI Movie Technology

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It may take a little while — 18 months? — but there is going to come a moment in the not-so-distant future when we have a Her movie future where our digital personal assistant will, on the fly, churn on VR narrative immersive media for our Apple Vision Pros.

The beautiful Zendaya.

I don’t see how “human” Hollywood has much of a long term future unless Congress passes some sort of carveout whereby a certain amount of entertainment HAS to be created by the hand of man, rather than an AI. And if we’ve gotten to that point, I could see maybe neo-Luddism being the natural evolution of MAGA.

I mean, if 3 million high paying blue collar transportation jobs go poof overnight, that is going to have a severe economic impact. At this point, my only question is if “The Fourth Turning” is going to somehow pause development of all this cool shit while we bomb ourselves into oblivion because of “vibes.”

I continue to feel very uneasy about America’s political future. Shit is going to get really complicated really soon and it could be that all this cool stuff we keep expecting to happen in the next few years simply will be punted down the road until we decide if we’re going to be an autocracy or not.

Good luck.