An analysis says the artificial intelligence (AI) video generation technology of China's ByteDance Ltd. made its presence felt at this year's Cannes Film Festival and is shaking up how the film industry produces movies. AI could sharply reduce the production expense for feature films, which used to require tens of billions to hundreds of billions of won.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 25th (local time) that films made with ByteDance Ltd.'s video generation model "Seedance 2.0" drew attention at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Seedance is one of the core models in ByteDance Ltd.'s strategy to expand its enterprise AI tools business.
China's platform Chushou AI produced the short films "The Golden Tomb Seeker" and "Series Tower'" with Seedance 2.0, and they were among 21 titles selected out of about 1,000 from 120 countries at the Marché du Film, the Cannes Film Festival's industry event.
Industry interest especially centered on the 95-minute action fantasy film "Hell Grind." Billed as the world's first "fully AI-generated feature film," it was unveiled at an AI film summit held in Cannes, France, during the festival, although it was not an official Cannes selection.
Hell Grind was produced by the U.S. AI video platform Hixfield AI using Seedance 2.0. About 15 people took part in the production, and it reportedly took only two weeks to complete.
Industry attention focused particularly on the production budget. According to Hixfield AI, the total production expense was under $500,000 (756 million won), of which about $400,000 (604.8 million won) was computing expense. Alex Mashurabov, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hixfield AI, said producing a film of the same caliber the conventional way typically requires $50 million (75.6 billion won).
SCMP analyzed that such cases align with Chinese big tech corporations' competition to commercialize AI. ByteDance Ltd. has recently moved to expand investment in AI infrastructure and in April opened Seedance 2.0, unveiled early this year, to developers in the form of an application programming interface (API).
ByteDance Ltd. argued that AI reduces simple repetitive tasks, allowing creators to focus on storytelling and directing. SCMP reported that Tan Dai, president of Volcano Engine, ByteDance Ltd.'s cloud division, said AI could "bring the film industry back to the essence of creation."
Renowned Chinese director Jia Zhangke also said AI should be seen not as a replacement for filmmakers but as a new production tool. In February, Jia released a short film made with Seedance 2.0 titled "Jia Zhangke's Dance."
Concerns are also emerging about the profitability of the Generative AI industry. An AI startup investor told SCMP, "As the number of users grows, inference and computing expense keeps rising," adding, "All AI products must ultimately prove a sustainable revenue model."