By Mallory Mattingly
Director James Cameron believes that the film industry will grow only if moviemakers use artificial intelligence to cut the cost of visual effects in half without “laying off the staff.”
These comments come after Cameron joined the board of directors for Stability AI in 2024, a company known for its text-to-image model Stable Diffusion.
“In the old days, I would have founded a company to figure it out. I’ve learned maybe that’s not the best way to do it. So I thought, all right, I’ll join the board of a good, competitive company that’s got a good track record,” he explained on the “Boz to the Future” podcast of his decision to join Stability AI.
“The goal was to understand the space, to understand what’s on the minds of the developers,” the director continued. “What are they targeting? What’s their development cycle? How much resources you have to throw at it to create a new model that does a purpose-built thing? And my goal was to try to integrate it into a VFX workflow.”
“And it’s not just hypothetical,” he added. “If we want to continue to see the kinds of movies that I’ve always loved and that I like to make and that I will go to see — DUNE, DUNE: PART TWO, or one of my films or big effects-heavy, CG-heavy films — we’ve got to figure out how to cut the cost of that in half.”
“Now that’s not about laying off half the staff and at the effects company,” Cameron emphasized. “That’s about doubling their speed to completion on a given shot, so your cadence is faster and your throughput cycle is faster, and artists get to move on and do other cool things and then other cool things, right? That’s my sort of vision for that.”
Related: Why Artificial Intelligence Won’t Replace Filmmakers
When Cameron jumped on the board of directors for Stability AI, he said, “I’ve spent my career seeking out emerging technologies that push the very boundaries of what’s possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories. I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago, and I’ve stayed on the cutting edge since. Now, the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave.”
“The convergence of these two totally different engines of creation will unlock new ways for artists to tell stories in ways we could have never imagined,” he continued. “Stability AI is poised to lead this transformation. I’m delighted to collaborate with Sean, Prem, and the Stability AI team as they shape the future of all visual media.”
Cameron is currently working on the third sequel to AVATAR. FIRE & ASH is set to release this December and will contain VFX and CGI. Cameron used Stability AI and his team to help cut the cost of production for his latest film.
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