Tyler Perry Puts $800M Studio Expansion on Hold After Seeing OpenAI’s Sora: “Jobs Are Going to Be Lost”

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Over the past four years, Tyler Perry had been planning an $800 million expansion of his studio in Atlanta, which would have added 12 soundstages to the 330-acre property. Now, however, those ambitions are on hold — thanks to the rapid developments he’s seeing in the realm of artificial intelligence, including OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora, which debuted Feb. 15 and stunned observers with its cinematic video outputs.

“Being told that it can do all of these things is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities, it was mind-blowing,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, noting that his productions might not have to travel to locations or build sets with the assistance of the technology.

As a business owner, Perry sees the opportunity in these developments, but as an employer, fellow actor and filmmaker, he also wants to raise in the alarm. In an interview between shoots on Thursday, Perry explained his concerns about the technology’s impact on labor and why he wants the industry to come together to tackle AI: “There’s got to be some sort of regulations in order to protect us. If not, I just don’t see how we survive.”

After seeing Sora, what are your current feelings about how fast AI technology is moving and how it might affect entertainment in the near term?

I have been watching AI very closely and watching the advancements very closely. I was in the middle of, and have been planning for the last four years, about an $800 million expansion at the studio, which would’ve increased the backlot a tremendous size, we were adding 12 more soundstages. All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing. I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me.

What in particular was shocking to you about its capabilities?


I no longer would have to travel to locations. If I wanted to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s text. If I wanted to write a scene on the moon, it’s text, and this AI can generate it like nothing. If I wanted to have two people in the living room in the mountains, I don’t have to build a set in the mountains, I don’t have to put a set on my lot. I can sit in an office and do this with a computer, which is shocking to me.

It makes me worry so much about all of the people in the business. Because as I was looking at it, I immediately started thinking of everyone in the industry who would be affected by this, including actors and grip and electric and transportation and sound and editors, and looking at this, I’m thinking this will touch every corner of our industry.

Are you currently implementing AI in any of your productions and/or do you plan to do so in the near future?


I just used AI in two films that are going to be announced soon. That kept me out of makeup for hours. In post and on set, I was able to use this AI technology to avoid ever having to sit through hours of aging makeup.

How are you thinking about approaching the threat that AI poses to certain job categories at your studio and on your productions?

Everything right now is so up in the air. It’s so malleable. The technology’s moving so quickly. I feel like everybody in the industry is running a hundred miles an hour to try and catch up, to try and put in guardrails and to try and put in safety belts to keep livelihoods afloat. But me, just like every other studio in town, we’re all trying to figure it all out. I think we’re all trying to find the answers as we go, and it’s changing every day — and it’s not just our industry, but it’s every industry that AI will be affecting, from accountants to architects. If you look at it across the world, how it’s changing so quickly, I’m hoping that there’s a whole government approach to help everyone be able to sustain, is my hope.

How would you like the entertainment industry as a whole to confront this rapidly developing technology?

I absolutely think that it has to be an all hands on [deck], whole industry approach. It can’t be one union fighting every contract every two or three years. I think that it has to be everybody, all involved in how do we protect the future of our industry because it is changing rapidly, right before our eyes. I think of all of the construction workers and contractors who are not going to be employed because I’m not doing this next phase of the studio because there is no need to do it.

What’s your message for the industry at this point, as we’re watching this unfold?

I know each union is individual, and I know that unions have stood with each other in times of negotiation, but I think that this is a time for galvanizing one voice in motion to help save, protect the individuals of our industry.

As a studio owner, are you feeling any pressure to use AI at this point?

No. I’m absolutely not feeling any pressure to use it, but I’m definitely looking at the advantages and what it brings to the table. However, I can focus on the bottom line of my studio continuing to do extremely well and avoid the conversation, or we can jump in and have the conversation head-on to make sure that we’re protecting all the people that are coming up. So I’ve got two sides here to this thing. For me, I’m looking at my business and the bottom line, but I’m also very concerned about all the people that I have trained and bought up in this industry. I’m concerned about what will happen to them.

How do you think this convergence of the rapid development of AI and the current contraction in the industry is going to play out?

I think it’s going to be a major game-changer, because if you could spend a fraction of the cost to do a pilot that would’ve cost $15 [million], $20 million or even $35 million if you’re looking at HBO, of course the bottom line of those companies would be to go the route of lesser costs. So I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost. I really, really feel that very strongly.

Who needs to act? You’re speaking up about this, but who else should be speaking up and working on this?

I just hope that as people are embracing this technology and as companies are moving to reduce costs and save the bottom line, that there’ll be some sort of thought and some sort of compassion for humanity and the people that have worked in this industry and built careers and lives, that there’s some sort of thought for them. And I think the only way to move forward in this is to galvanize it as one voice, not only in Hollywood and in this industry, but also in Congress.




I said this 8 years ago...

People keep saying its like horse and buggy to cars or the industrial revolution or the electronic revolution...this is different from that.

Past revolutions made major shifts in things but they actually CREATED jobs in and of themselves...The industrial revolution brought with it mass manufacturing which meant building factories and machines and hiring people to operate that shit...in fact you had to hire people to make the material that was needed to make the factories and machines. People didn't need to acquire new skills as much as redirect the skills they had for a new function.

A guy that used to till the land with a team of mules and hoe is now sitting in a machine to do it but HE's still on the farm tilling the land. In the robot/AI age he's not even in the machine on the farm anymore..And the computers (programmed by someone else) knows how to farm as efficiently or better than he does because they don't need breaks and don't have to worry about injuries and work place hazards. So where does that leave him?

Well he'll just figure it out or someone will come up with new way...and if they don't then what??

Not everybody can code and not everybody WANTS to code.
Technology is moving faster than its even been....much faster than it was during the industrial revolution. The biggest difference is before machines were created to do more work but PEOPLE had to operate the machines...today machines are created to more work and the machines can operate THEMSELVES.

So where does that leave people who can't make that pivot? And theres going to be MILLIONS of people who can't make that pivot.

This next leap in tech and cultural revolution MAY open up a way for national basic income....I mean people/cargo moving is some of the most basic labor jobs most people have or can get. Hell Uber showed that ANYONE can be a cab driver... and that also tends to be the job many immigrants get and if those jobs get replaced with AVs (automated vehicles) whats going to happen to those millions of people? What thing is on the horizon that can compensate for the lost labor??

There may be no choice but to either expand welfare or create a basic income entitlement.
 
shit is scary and interesting at the same time

Sci fi movies coming to life

We're watching the Matrix develop before our eyes.
With the rapid advances in AR, VR, and AI development, the possibilities of what we once thought to be 50 years away are suddenly within the palm of our hands...

Scary and intriguing jump.
its more scary than interesting because its GOING to affect YOU (or your kids) in a real way if it hasnt already..

I;m seeing everyone working uber eats type jobs...gig work is not a sustainable hustle...and when they perfect AV and drone delivery its really gonna be some shit!
 
I don’t like this, but as a businessman, you have to look at this on a money level. People two things are happening right now one we are getting older and two technology is really beginning to takeoff in certain fields. The shit they spoke about when we was kids especially for people who’s around 50 is starting to happen right now. Also climate change but that’s a whole other subject.
 
This dude gonna have 100 crappy ass shows on at one time.
Young Madea
Old Madea
Teenage Madea
Madea in Africa
Meet the Browns the early years
House of Payne Fire academy
The Social Madea Effect.
F.A.G.G
Glisney - The Jussie Smullett Story
D.A - Fani Willis making all-cash purchases
Glisney 2 - D. Wade joins Juicy Smoolae.
Freak Off - The Diddy Years
 
I don’t like this, but as a businessman, you have to look at this on a money level. People two things are happening right now one we are getting older and two technology is really beginning to takeoff in certain fields. The shit they spoke about when we was kids especially for people who’s around 50 is starting to happen right now. Also climate change but that’s a whole other subject.
Without tax subsidies, most of your rich idols wouldn’t be shit. Tyler is not an exception. Did he really think Georgia was going to pay for his entire studio?
 
He's right jobs will be lost, but he's in a position not to use this technology and keep people employed.
 
Tyler is such a lying punk. He “stopped” the expansion when the state rolled back their tax credits.

Without tax subsidies, most of your rich idols wouldn’t be shit. Tyler is not an exception. Did he really think Georgia was going to pay for his entire studio?


Georgia wants more than just a peach at the end of movie credits to keep dishing out lucrative tax breaks​

Top Georgia lawmakers say moviemakers should be required to do more than just show a peach at the end of the credits to get the top benefit from Georgia’s lucrative film tax credit.


Thanks in large part to tax breaks, productions including “The Hunger Games,” the Marvel movies, the Fast & Furious installment “Furious 7” and many others shot in Georgia have made the Peach State a hub for movies and television shows that might otherwise have been shot in Hollywood in an earlier era. The program has supported thousands of Georgia jobs and the creation of several thriving studios.


There had been talk of capping the number of film tax credits Georgia would issue in a year — the state is projected to give out $1.35 billion in credits this year alone, and is one of six states without a cap. But industry groups lined up at hearings over the summer to defend the breaks as spurring economic activity, and House lawmakers have been more likely to defend the tax breaks.

The film tax credit has spurred a big increase in movies and TV shows made in Georgia, but state-sponsored evaluations show the credit’s cost outweighs its economic benefit. A study last year by Georgia State University suggested the state saw a return of less than 20 cents on the dollar.

Any production company can claim credits once they spend $500,000 on films, television shows, commercials or music videos distributed outside the state. Credits start at 20% of production spending, but rise to 30% if a movie or television show displays Georgia’s peach logo. The bill would raise this threshold to $1 million.

The credits can only be used to reduce outstanding state income taxes owed, and can’t be redeemed for cash. However, the credits are transferrable — production companies can sell them to any individual or business with state income tax liability.


In 2022, the state auditor estimated $1.4 billion in such taxes were outstanding. Some lawmakers fear there could be an unexpected spike in redemptions, hurting state revenue. So Blackmon said lawmakers want to limit redemption of transferred credits to 2.5% of the previous year’s state revenue, or about $900 million currently.

House Speaker Jon Burns said the primary reason for suspending Georgia’s sales tax exemption on equipment used in data centers is because of concerns about electricity use. Georgia Power testified in regulatory hearings last month that 80% of a forecast jump in electricity demand would come from data centers. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found at least 18 data centers are being developed or expanded in Georgia.

“These centers currently are using a disproportionate amount of our state’s energy,” said Burns, a Newington Republican. “We have to make sure that we balance that and we have resources available.”

The data centers tax credit is projected to cost the state $44 million in foregone sales tax revenue this year, according to a 2022 University of Georgia study. However, that same study showed that data centers were an overall economic boon to Georgia.

Blackmon said that if lawmakers allow the state to resume giving sales tax exemptions, lawmakers want to require the relatively few employees of such data centers to make double the state’s average wage, up from 110% now.

 

Major Changes Looming for Georgia’s Film Tax Credit​


ATLANTA — Georgia legislative leaders’ pledge to rein in some of the state’s generous tax breaks to industry is starting with the most expensive on the books: the film tax credit.
A bill introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives earlier this month would require film production companies to meet at least four of nine criteria to qualify for an additional 10% tax credit on top of the 20% base credit the General Assembly enacted in 2008. House Bill 1180 also would raise the minimum companies would have to spend to earn the credit, and put new limits on the selling of credits.

“Our film tax credit has been very, very successful for Georgia,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said Feb. 7 during a news conference unveiling the bill. “We want to make sure that we streamline our tax credit so we continue to get the absolute best return on that investment.”

The film tax credit is widely credited with making Georgia one of the top movie and television production states in the nation. The existence of the credit generated $8.55 billion in economic impact in fiscal 2022, according to a study released late last year.
“What we have created here in Georgia is more extraordinary than you may realize,” independent filmmaker Tiffany FitzHenry of Peachtree City told members of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee on Feb. 13.
“We have the largest, most skilled crew base in the world, infrastructure and technology that is second to none, more stages, camera-ready communities and a bigger footprint for production than anywhere on the planet.”
At the same time, the film tax credit is costing Georgia taxpayers about $1 billion a year in lost tax revenue, making it by far the most expensive in the state’s arsenal of tax incentives.
The General Assembly first sought to limit that fiscal impact on the state’s coffers in 2020, passing legislation requiring all film productions located in Georgia to undergo mandatory audits by the state Department of Revenue or third-party auditors selected by the state agency.
But House Bill 1180 promises to be more far-reaching in its potential impact.
Under the bill, film production companies must meet at least four of the following criteria to qualify for the most lucrative tax credit:

♦ At least 50% of the crew on a given film production working in the state must be Georgia residents.
♦ At least 50% of the vendors providing goods or services to film production crews must be Georgia vendors.
♦ The film production company must spend at least $30 million in Georgia.

♦ At least 50% of a production’s photography days must occur in one or more rural counties in Georgia.
♦ At least 50% of the photography days in studio facilities must take place in Georgia studios, or the company must make capital improvements to a studio.
♦ At least 50% of the photography days in studio facilities must take place in Georgia studios, or the company must enter into a long-term lease for a studio in Georgia.
♦ At least 20% of a company’s post-production spending must be with Georgia vendors.
♦ The company must participate in at least one Georgia workforce development program.
♦ The company must include the Georgia promotional logo in its final production or engage in alternative marketing opportunities approved by the state Department of Economic Development.
The bill also doubles the amount a production company must spend on a single production to qualify for the tax credit from $500,000 to $1 million.
A third provision would cap the total amount of sales or transfers of credits within a calendar year at 2.5% of the governor’s revenue estimate for that year.
The bill has been endorsed by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, which has long called for tighter controls on the state’s tax incentives.
“These common-sense safeguards would keep hundreds of millions of Georgians’ tax dollars in-state, rather than flowing to enrich out-of-state corporations, while placing important guardrails to better manage the state’s largest tax credit program,” said Danny Kanso, the organization’s senior fiscal analyst.

Representatives of the state’s film industry have pledged to work with lawmakers on the bill as it moves through the General Assembly while ensuring it doesn’t endanger what has been a hugely successful program.
“Georgia legislators and state leaders have a long history of bipartisan, pro-job creation policy decisions that have allowed our state’s film and television production industry to compete on the world stage, creating billions of dollars in economic impact to the benefit of Georgians across the state,” said Kelsey Moore, executive director of the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition.
“GSEC is committed to continuing to work with state legislators to maintain our state’s successful film tax credit and the economic opportunity it fuels for tens of thousands of Georgians and businesses.”


 
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