The French veteran spoke about the effects of artificial intelligence on film production while speaking at San Sebastián’s 5th Creative Investors’ Conference Vincent Maraval, the veteran CEO of major French sales-production company Goodfellas, spoke about the effects of AI in the industry while taking part in San Sebastián’s fifth edition of ots Creative Investors’ Conference, co-organized with CAA Media Finance. Asked by CAA’s Roeg Sutherland how the new technology is changing his processes, Maraval cited how AI cut eight days of production on a major scene of “The Third Hand,” the latest film by Oscar-winning “The Artist” director Michel Hazanavicius. Goodfellas recently launched sales at TIFF on the latest by Hazanavicius, which just wrapped production.
The film follows a young French soldier wounded in battle in WWI, who then wakes up in the laboratory of a mad scientist who grafted a German hand onto his abdomen. The cast features Bérénice Bejo, Rebecca Marder and François Civil. With it, it’s two days.” When confronted by Sutherland about the loss of jobs this shrinkage might have caused, the exec affirmed “it’s the director’s choice,” and said new technology is making it possible for filmmakers to tell stories they wouldn’t otherwise have access to telling.
The Frenchman brought up Oscar-winning animated film “Flow” as an example, saying director Gints Zilbalodis animated the film on his computer, and “without the software, that would have been impossible for him to tell that story.” “If we use AI to open our creativity and imagination, it will help,” added Maraval, saying the technology might also make films “more profitable.” On the subject of profitability, the French exec said the industry is currently more reliant on private equity than the older model of securing pre-sales. Maraval spoke about the fact that local market share has increased exponentially in the last year, with audiences eager to consume films made by local filmmakers, in their local language, and that reflect burning issues in their countries. The exec emphasized how Goodfellas is currently doubling down on international talent, recently having worked with several Spanish filmmakers, including “La Bola Negra” mavericks Los Javis.
Maraval decided to invest in the film after hearing from long-time collaborators at both San Sebastián and Movistar Plus about the Spanish duo. This, he said, speaks to a personal shift for him: delegating more, listening to his team more, and letting the younger generation at Goodfellas inform him about up-and-coming talent and trends. Being auteur-driven was easy.
When you do Kore-eda, Mungiu, Dardennes, it’s very easy to do estimates,” he noted, before adding that Goodfellas became involved in Genki Kawamura’s “Exit 8” after a member of his team alerted him of the potential of the video game adaptation. We already have city halls cutting all the cultural subsidies. If we look at that, we can freak out, but we go somewhere else.” “The beauty of cinema is that it takes place in the whole world,” he added.
We’ve done many Spanish films. We go somewhere else, and that will push us to discover new talent. The rest of the world is depressing, and it’s scary to see.
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