Hollywood has always had a crew problem. The people who actually make movies — the below-the-line workers who build sets, rig lights, operate cameras, render VFX, edit footage, and mix sound — have been overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated for decades.
Now AI threatens to make it worse. Much worse.
The Current State
Before we talk about AI, let's talk about where things stand for crew:
- VFX artists routinely work 60-80 hour weeks during crunch periods. Multiple VFX studios have gone bankrupt despite working on the biggest movies in the world. There is no VFX union with the same protections as other crafts.
- Below-the-line workers often face 12-16 hour days on set. The IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) nearly struck in 2021 over working conditions.
- Pay disparity between above-the-line (actors, directors, producers) and below-the-line (everyone else) has widened dramatically. A star can make $20M per film while the gaffer who lights every scene makes a fraction of that.
This is the workforce that AI is coming for. Not the stars. Not the directors. Not the producers. The workers who already have it worst.
What AI Threatens
VFX and animation: AI image generation and video tools are advancing rapidly. Studios are already experimenting with AI-generated concept art, background elements, and even character animation. Each advancement reduces the number of human artists needed. The same VFX artists who crunch for months on $200M movies could be replaced by algorithms that work 24/7 for the cost of electricity.
Writing: The 2023 WGA strike was fundamentally about AI. Writers fought for protections against studios using AI to generate scripts or replace writing rooms. They won some protections — for now. But the pressure to use AI as a cost-cutting measure in writing will only increase.
Background performers: AI can now generate realistic human faces and bodies. Studios have already experimented with scanning background performers and using their likenesses digitally. SAG-AFTRA struck partly over this issue in 2023.
Post-production: Editing, color grading, sound mixing, and music scoring are all areas where AI tools are becoming more capable. Each tool that automates a step in post-production is a potential job eliminated.
The Cruel Irony
Here's what makes this particularly enraging: the studios that want to use AI to replace workers are the same studios that have been underpaying those workers for years.
They didn't treat VFX artists well when they needed them. They won't mourn them when they don't. The studios have always viewed below-the-line workers as interchangeable and expendable. AI just makes the replacement faster and cheaper.
The cruel irony is that the people most at risk from AI are the same people who have been carrying Hollywood on their backs. The VFX artist who pulled 80-hour weeks to make your favorite MCU moment possible? They might be replaced by a tool trained on their own work.
What It Means for Movies
If AI replaces the human craft in filmmaking, movies will get worse. Not because AI can't generate impressive images — it can. But because the soul of a movie comes from the thousands of human decisions made during production. The gaffer who adjusts a light to create a shadow that wasn't in the script. The editor who holds on a shot half a second longer than planned. The VFX artist who adds a detail nobody asked for because they're an artist and that's what artists do.
AI doesn't make those decisions. AI optimizes for what's been done before. The result will be content that's efficient, competent, and completely soulless. Which, if we're being honest, describes a lot of streaming content already.
Signal exists to champion the movies where human craft matters. Where the crew's work is visible in every frame. Where money goes to people, not algorithms. That's the signal in the noise — and it matters more now than ever.