By AJ Catoline
Sound editor Matt Klimek is surprisingly incredible conversations with the latest audio processing software and keeps it clean.
“Like witchcraft,” he exclaimed.
But in post-production rooms across the country, the magic has inspired anxiety and awe among 700 local members. Dangers and commitments are both seen as artificial intelligence (AI), the way technologies that allow “training” machines to not only simulate human-oriented skills, but also produce creative content can be charged for post-production industries.
From picture and sound editing to story analysts, members of the local 700 are struggling with profound ways in which AI can work at most or the worst. Union leaders are stepping up to help them make changes.
“AI is inevitable,” said Spencer Koobatian, assistant editor and member of the Guild Emerging Technology Committee (ETC). “We don’t have to be afraid of it, nor just adapt to it, but know how to use these elements of these technologies to tell a story further.”
Scott George, national executive director of the Editors Association, noted that industry professionals have gone through the change before – just like the leap from film to digital, and will be again.
“Twenty-five years ago, we made a transition from film to digital,” George said. “The Guild is committed to helping our members use the latest technologies, including AI, to achieve outstanding results in this very competitive and rapidly changing industry.”
Committee established
ETC was founded in 2022 to study how AI affects work, and the committee delivered its first in-depth report to the General Membership Conference in 2023. The task of presenting the findings fell to Asher Pink, Visual Effects Editor and ETC co-chair.
“I see a huge technological shift coming,” Pink said. “I think a lot of people are about what will happen to our work.”
The report is titled “Entertainment to emerging technologies by occupation” and clearly lists the threats and opportunities for each category represented by the Editorial Society. In some cases, the prognosis is terrible, detailing the job responsibilities of recorders and transcriptors that AI can replicate, albeit not entirely accurate.
The workflow of the conversation editor is marked as high risk, as there are already software that can greatly improve audio quality, eliminate background noise, and even change the tone and style of the actor’s voice.
For music editors, AI can also be used to classify, analyze and change music, and that’s the same. For example, the latest version of Davinci Resolve and Adobe’s Premiere Pro Software has a music “mix tool”, which uses drag and drop capabilities to easily expand or shorten songs. It works well for music with predictable rhythms and melodies, but can it successfully edit “Bohemian Rhapsody?”
Instead, the committee recommends that at present, some job responsibilities in the post-production classification may be safer and can be used from AI technology. Those who need a high level of interpersonal interaction with producers, directors, and studio executives may remain intact. Interpretation and execution notes of cuts may remain “largely human-driven areas.”
“A computer won’t know what the actor performances my producer or director likes or hates are,” said Harry Miller, co-chair of the committee, who has worked in the business for more than 30 years and said the workflow in his career has changed dramatically. Editing may be safe now. “You won’t be able to train a computer to know what we know,” Miller said.
Assistant editors may see their role evolve with the evolution of routine tasks that are automated by AI, such as script synchronization, creating string exits, and preparing for sound errors. While these innovative shifts may have the potential to enable assistants to work with editors to do more creative work, they can also bring additional responsibilities, such as managing large amounts of metadata.
If the past was a preface, the increase in workload of technological innovation would change the relationship between assistant and editor. A similar trend began in the 1990s when production increased the amount of shots taken per day.
As post-production advances AI technology, it may put pressure on members to get the job done faster without that many. Some members reported significant losses to the job, although the committee warned that slowing down may not be AI’s fault, but rather due to industry integration in the post-war period.
“We’ve seen a drastic time cut in ADR (automatic dialogue replacement) blender time,” said Klimek, sound editor.
Story Analyst – Long is considered the gatekeeper of Hollywood and the first audience to weigh on the scripts – is one of the smallest categories of local 700 representatives. For decades, studio development pipelines have relied on storytelling insights that only experienced people can provide. Today, AI can read a book or script in seconds and write summary, analyze characters, and even log lines that describe stories in a sentence.
The trouble with robots
However, AI can also lead to errors or “illusions” in which authoritatively spit out completely incorrect information. Human Oversight – From story analysts, it is still necessary, although AI can certainly be a tool in its suite.
“My story analysts and I are watching the upcoming tsunami of AI,” said committee member Alegre Rodriquez. “We have been sounding alerts to automation are cheap and fast in our work.”
ETC recently sponsored a study that compared human story analysts to AI programs. result? The machine fails to judge the key aspects, and it is recommended that the studio green light for each script. In some AI models, it may be part of what the commentator points out to “positive bias”.
“AI never passes anything,” Rodericks said. “It likes everything it reads. It wants you to win. But storytelling requires nuances—covering, emotion, what’s left. It’s something that AI simply can’t copy.”
Emerging Technical Committees gathered to prepare for the 2024 contract talks. The board wants to take on what is coming and how to handle the talks.
“Our first year on the committee was figuring out what the huge change would be. I think we did a good job in analytics,” Pink said. “We continue to look outward a few years ahead of time, not just the technology that is currently on the market. We are based on a lot of technology research that doesn’t actually become commercialized over many years.”
The ETC was consulted during negotiations to reach the final basic agreement to help create a language around AI. A key victory is to help get the compensation clause in the contract that the shield members move forward.
“It can protect us as the fall guys who are reckless using emerging technologies,” Pink explains. “As long as we comply with the policies set by the studio, we will not be responsible for things that we cannot control.”
Have vub
With the advent of new technologies, this may create new places. For example, a new post-production process has been building momentum over the past few years – “vabbing”, changing the video to match the effect is matching the audio. In the past, the image editor needed to speak from the characters in sync on the camera to cover newly added conversation lines.
The new software that is flawless by the company is called Deep Editor, uses AI to change the movements of the character’s lips to match the new conversation. Executives and software engineers have met with ETC to explore how the technology will incorporate it into the post-workflow and be aware of legal and ethical barriers that arise. A new job description (such as the Vubbing editor) can be added to existing voice editing responsibilities in a union contract.
Guild members working on this issue prepare to dive and help companies understand the nature of post-workflow, and also help members understand the potential of tools.
“One of the most important aspects of our committee is to educate our members and tell them what is coming down the pipeline,” Koobatian said.
Tools like respirators and Elevenlab are also used, as well as emerging technologies for synthetic dialogue recording and editing. “These tools are the gold standard for synthetic dialogue,” Clemke said. “Respirators, in particular, have positioned themselves as the forefront of the field, have been used in multiple Lucas film projects and can even license James Earl Jones’s voice rights so that Darth Vader can live forever.
The way forward
The guild will focus on membership education and training. Classes have been set up to understand the basics of automated workflows and coding using Python software. And, a course with flawless editing is in progress.
Members need to be proactive about AI. Discussions in ETC continue to reveal deep anxiety and thoughtful strategies to face the film business that will soon be completely changed.
Miller admits, “Maybe your job will not look the same in the future, but mine is not 30 years ago.”
Ultimately, ETC’s message is clear: the heart of the industry beating through its people. AI may become a powerful tool, but the irreplaceable spark (the human connection that incorporates life into every story) must be strictly protected.
“How long can we keep doing what we really like?” Rodericks asked. “It’s the human feeling that makes everything we do so magical.”
