AI to restructure film and TV industry, says Göteborg's Nostradamus report

AI-powered production technologies will soon restructure the film and television industries, according to this year's Nostradamus report.

This year's report (published at Cannes) explores how new production technologies powered by AI are leading to a restructuring phase for the traditional film and television industries, bringing both dramatic efficiency gains and creative possibilities, as well as major potential challenges. Market contraction, inflation, and recession are affecting the industry, but at the same time new business and financing models for production and distribution are being explored at a rapid pace.

The report also delves into the evolving nature of TV as a streaming platform, and examines the industry’s challenges in remaining attractive to young audiences. It concludes that the film & TV industry must focus on audience relevance; that it will develop and distribute its content in a way that is IP-centric and platform harmonic; and that it urgently needs to address its issues with social and environmental sustainability

The report continues to monitor, analyse and predict the near future of the faster-than-ever evolving audiovisual industries. 

Key findings include:

• Within the next 3-5 years, AI support will be integrated into all fully or partially digital workflows, supercharging Virtual Production in particular. For individuals and productions, the technologies unlock resources and creative capacity. For the industry as a whole it means jobs will start disappearing and most of them will change.
• Streamers are correcting away from debt-funded growth to more normal expectations of profitability, forcing changes on drama content, formats, and budgets. The number of productions will decrease. Financial pressures have created an atmosphere of caution that drives series content towards the middle of the road.
•  Streaming TV business models are moving away from subscription towards a landscape dominated by targeted advertising.
• It will take 3-5 years before we know how theatrical distribution slots into the wider feature film landscape, but for now the advice is to keep calm and get better data.
• Cutting content investment targeted at Gen Z is a very short-sighted strategy for financial as well as ethical reasons. A disinterest among young people for their local scripted drama is a threat to the talent pipeline. A lack of diversity and an abysmal work environment makes the industry unattractive, and the traditional allure of working adjacent to glamour is fading.
• Content that would once have existed only on television is expanding organically onto a range of video platforms. Existing in these environments is a necessity, both for business opportunities inherent in the audience, and because we must learn from their professional creators.

The Nostradamus report is published by Göteborg Film Festival. It aims to sketch out the future of the screen industries 3–5 years ahead, through interviews with industry experts and research.