Film & TV: When Artificial Intelligence (AI) Meets Localisation

The impact of AI is being debated and worried over in most industries. The Film and TV Sector is no exception.

The impact of AI is being debated and worried over in most industries. The Film and TV Sector is no exception. When ChatGPT entered our worlds, you could hear an intake of breath – it cemented the belief that we were in the fourth industrial revolution, known as 4IR or Industry 4.0 with rapid technological advancements at its core.

One of the battlegrounds fought over during last year’s writers and actors strike was over AI, particularly the exploitation of actors’ images and intellectual property created by writers and other creatives.  Thankfully, the strike eventually ended, but with a deal that only lasts three years – which is a long time in the technological world.

Currently AI companies are facing a huge number of lawsuits from publishers, actors and artists over their personal data being used without permission to underpin AI technology.

However, AI is not all bad news. One big potential positive involves film editing.  The US company, Flawless AI run by Scott Mann and Nick Lynes is using generative AI to enable filmmakers to adjust and edit their work. This will allow actors lip movements to match scripts in multiple languages, or for original dialogue to be changed without having to reshoot scenes. The aim is to produce perfectly lip-synced visuals without the distraction of poor dubbing which at times can be comical but ultimately ruins a film.

Films today are a global business and if a producer wants to maximise the commercial potential of their film, deals need to be struck on a global scale. The days of US or UK films relying solely on their domestic markets are long gone. In 2019, $31 billion revenue was generated outside the US. A cornerstone of film finance is pre-sale rights sold to global markets but it has become harder to sell to markets where English is not the first language. Those markets are producing their own films.

The increasing adaption of content to fit the needs of another culture, language or region in the world is the process of localisation. How well localisation is executed determines how content is perceived and accepted by multicultural and multilingual audiences – which then leads to greater potential revenue.

I have spoken to several producers who are excited by this new software.  In addition, there are also further technological developments which enable producers to monitor revenue from all around the world and ensure revenues are maximised.

To misuse the Spock quote that was never actually a quote, ‘it’s filmmaking Jim, but not as we know it.’

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