> You know that people can see you as you sit there sharpening your teeth.
I'm an engineer and a filmmaker. I've lived with 5 AM call times and shoots that ended at sunrise. I've rented ridiculous $300,000 glassware, lifted heavy items from the top shelf of the prop house, dealt with talent issues, struggled to memorize lines, had post production drop projects on the floor, and dealt with so much bullshit - that world sucks.
The film portion of this market is bending a little bit differently than illustration, and these changes are presenting a huge opportunity for filmmakers and animators.
Film needed studios historically because (1) distribution was hard (YouTube and Netflix have addressed this) and (2) films are logistically complicated, capital intensive, and require lots of people. Gen AI is changing this last bit in a big way.
Film is basically getting its "Steam" moment. Just like indie devs can make games, indie authors can write novels, or indie musicians can work on a DAW and publish to Bandcamp, filmmakers will soon have the ability to build their own universes and audiences - something that wasn't possible before. (While there are writers, comedians, and animators like Vivienne Medrano, Joel Haver, and Zach Hadel, GenAI makes this happen in a big, repeatable, and sustainable way.)
20,000+ film students attend film and animation school every year. There aren't enough projects currently to have all of them be autonomous or pursue their own vision. That's changing.
And why would you want to build in Disney's ball pit and play by their rules when our own minds are so much more expansive? So many ideas wither on the vine and never see the light of day due to the intense capital requirements and the bland general audience algorithm of the existing regime.
Ask yourself why there are 20,000+ fantasy books but only 50 fairly generic fantasy films and TV shows.
This is all a good thing. Art is going to explode and fill into every niche and interest you can imagine.
The market will grow, not contract, and the artists will have their own brands and audiences.
