My son’s film school friends are chasing the same entry-level gigs I started with - script coverage, assistant spots, PA work. Half those won’t exist when they graduate.
I’ve survived every industry apocalypse for twenty-five years. Film going digital. Cable collapsing. DVD money vanishing. But this AI wave hits different. It’s not changing the format. It’s changing who gets to work.
The Math That Kills
Over 100,000 white-collar jobs vanished this year at tech companies. Amazon, Microsoft, Google all ran the same calculation: if AI can do it good enough for cheaper, the c-suite will define the human as optional.
Hollywood runs on identical math. The studios aren’t different. They’re just slower.
Script coverage? Gone to ChatGPT. VFX roto work? Automated. Production accounting, legal docs, basic scouting - if it’s mostly data processing, AI is movin’ in.
The machine doesn’t need to be brilliant. It just needs to be good enough for the next person to make a decision. And if it’s cheaper, “good enough” wins every time.
The Crisis Nobody’s Discussing
Entry-level jobs are more than paychecks.
They’re how you learn.
I learned by doing grunt work. PA. Coverage. Admin. Watching showrunners break story. Reading every script that crossed my desk. That’s how you develop taste.
If AI handles all that, how will the next gen get their reps in?
We’re creating this weird gap: Veterans who learned the old system. Machines executing the new one. And a whole generation stuck between who never got their apprenticeship.
When we made Heroes, we had a full web team cranking supplemental content. Now one person with AI tools could generate all of it faster. The business doesn’t care who made it, only that it didn’t cost much.
What Actually Survives
Not every job disappears. The roles that last are built on taste, judgment, and emotional truth.
Editors who understand performance, not just pacing. Directors who read actors and know when to let scenes breathe. Showrunners making impossible choices under pressure. Scribblers creating characters that feel alive.
AI eats the mechanical side. But intuition, reading a room - that’s still human territory. For now.
Build While They Reorganize
The apprenticeship model is broken, so build your own. Shoot a short monthly. Write specs quarterly. Put it out there. Learn by doing, not waiting.
You’ve got cameras that shoot cinema quality for a few grand. Free editing software. Distribution platforms reaching millions. AI handling tedious parts so you focus on what matters.
Stop waiting for studio permission. They’re busy reorganizing the org chart.
AI wins on cost. Humans win on meaning. Build the part machines can’t replicate. Make choices from taste. Create intent, not just output.
Hollywood’s being rebuilt right now. You can hope the old system returns, or start building what comes next. Every revolution rewards builders over waiters.