Top AGBO execs Chris Brearton and Dominic Hughes delivered a keynote discussion at TIFFCOM, the content market of the Tokyo International Film Festival, on Thursday, about how AI is impacting filmmaking, how it can be used to assist rather than replace human creators and how it will shape the future of visual content creation. Brearton is a partner and business leader at AGBO, while Hughes is the company’s chief scientific officer and technology leader. Headquartered in Los Angeles, AGBO focuses on producing cross-platform entertainment properties, including such films as “Extraction” (2020), “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), “The Gray Man” (2022), “Extraction 2” (2023) and “The Electric State” (2025).
Brearton noted that early in their careers, AGBO founders Anthony and Joe Russo were working on the Emmy-winning comedy hit “Arrested Development” when they received a script for the show that would ordinarily be too long and expensive to produce. Instead of giving it a pass, they used digital cameras and editing to make it a reality. And that way of thinking is now in the corporate DNA of AGBO.
Another inspiration for AGBO’s business philosophy, Brearton added, was Walt Disney, who brought Disney characters to life in another medium – the theme park – for the enjoyment of fans. AGBO also recognizes that “creative artists are special,” Brearton added: “Humans are uniquely positioned to tell stories. The way we embrace technology is all about artists and putting artists first.” Hughes used the example of Pixar, which evolved technology around 3D rendering.
Technology played a supporting role. That’s how we think about these things at AGBO.” Hughes, who has a strong academic background in algorithms and machine learning, described being an ardent fan of Disney cartoons as a child and spending his teenage years “going down the rabbit hole” of 3D rendering and video game creation. He also had a musical talent, playing cello for orchestras.
This creative side, Hughes said, has found an outlet in his career at what he calls “the intersection of media and technology.” His background informs his belief that, in creative fields, “you have to have a human that’s sitting on top and curating to make sure the algorithms are not running on their own.” At AGBO, he said, his role “is really about supporting artists to be more and more creative.” Brearton added that AGBO wants to make sure the artists and creatives feel comfortable. But excitement about what AI can do in supporting content creation is accompanied by anxiety about an AI-dominated future. Brearton responded that “there is a lot of misinformation” about AI’s role.
But what makes a favorite performance by a favorite actor special, he added, “is the human element” that AI cannot equal. That is, using AI to fix problems and do work that slows and impedes the creative process. Instead of replacing artists, Hughes added, AI is “making them better storytellers.” With AI, he explained, “you can handle all the annoying things that keep you from enjoying yourself [as a creator].” Also, the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI) does not mean the doom of creative artists, Hughes said.
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