“AI” is a Hollywood epithet, a word only tweeted after a certain number of daiquiris at CinemaCon in 2024. The pitch was held at booth #2618A on the trade show floor.
After researching hundreds of vendors attending CinemaCon 2024, Indie Cinema Group, born in the UK and optimized out of Yosemite, was the only company bold enough to plant its AI flag in Las Vegas this week.
The Indy app, developed by aerospace engineer turned theater manager (yes, that's an old story) Keith Walker, was introduced to replace the five or six computer systems theaters were already using. Sure, indies will sell you tickets and perks, but their real power lies in the data. Upselling to your loyal customers has never been easier, and staffing has never been more efficient.
Indy learns what customers want to watch, what they want to eat, what they want to drink, where and what time they like to sit, and even how long they wait in the Twizzler line. From there, theaters may decide it's worth adding an extra two or three hours of shifts to reduce wait times. Or you may decide that it costs more labor than making candy. Indy's AI starts with theater demographics and instantly spits out everything optimized, including a projected P&L that automatically adjusts as each decision is made. This is a shop where you can run a movie theater with just one click.
Indy's monthly fees are in the tens of thousands of dollars, but the company claims its efficiency will cover those costs and some. That could mean more popcorn sales (if the profits are huge) or fewer workers just standing around, which is a cardinal sin at trade shows. Movie theater margins are getting tighter, and every shift, screen, and showtime counts.
Not everyone at CinemaCon 2024 was enthusiastic about AI. During a screening of his new film Good Fortune, Aziz Ansari joked that he had to make this his directorial debut after seeing what OpenAI's Sora could do. “There will be AI theater owners and AI executives,” he said.
This was also a hot topic for MPA CEO Charles Rivkin. It's clear that the studio he heads has a huge interest in how AI develops and the role it plays in entertainment. But while studios negotiated AI rules with the WGA, SAG, and DGA last year, the MPA will focus on lobbying Congress to prevent AI from infringing copyright.
Currently, AI-generated material is not subject to copyright. The MPA supports that position, but warns Congress to tread carefully when drafting federal legislation that would prohibit unauthorized reproduction of an individual's likeness or voice. While that would protect actors and musicians, it also risks encroaching on the First Amendment.
Rivkin said that while the MPA shares the actors' concerns about how digital replicas could be used without consent, most issues surrounding AI are covered by existing copyright law. He said he did not think there was a need to change the law.
“I cannot support any law that takes away our ability to tell our stories,” Rivkin said at an April 9 press conference. As an example, Rivkin cited the idea that using a digital replica of John F. Kennedy to make “Forrest Gump” could be illegal. His concern is that the current language of the law doesn't clearly define ideas like animated replicas, unintentionally hindering productions like SNL's digital shorts and “South Park.”
“That's not the intent of this bill,” he said. “We just want to make sure that people who make a living using digital replicas are protected, and we're not trying to prevent them from making documentaries or parodies. We have to be careful that we don't inadvertently box out. not.”