(Yicai) April 17 — Following explosive technology growth over the past year, Chinese production teams could release the first high-quality feature-length drama produced using artificial intelligence next quarter, according to the CEO of leading Chinese video platform Tencent Video.
At the 13th China Internet Audio and Video Convention, which concluded yesterday, Sun Zhonghuai said the team is using AI to create a truly premium feature-length drama, which optimistically could be released in the third quarter of this year.
Son noted that he made a “radical prediction” late last year that the next 12 months would be a critical period for the emergence of AI-generated feature-length dramas. However, he added that progress has actually been much faster than expected, with several small but creative teams producing some spectacular content.
Gong Yu, CEO of popular Chinese streaming site iQiyi, said at the event that there are no technical barriers to producing AI-generated feature-length dramas. He emphasized that the lighting and shadow effects, as well as the narrative of the story, have reached a very realistic level in AI drama.
According to Sun, the rate of penetration of AI in the film and television industry is faster than most expected, and fundamental changes in the way we work make this trend irreversible. “Not only has the creative process changed, but so has the creative subject matter.”
Sun said AI is reshaping the content supply structure across the industry, noting that small teams of just 5 to 20 people can now use AI tools to create specific content that previously required hundreds of people.
He added that the production logic of film and television has changed, allowing epic scenes that used to require multiple experts in areas such as art, special effects and lighting to be compressed into a single person’s workflow.
Sun said the explosive increase in content supply brought about by AI production will lead to increased competition in the industry. He noted that small teams will quickly emerge as a new force, but the threshold for producing great work will become even higher.
Sun emphasized that cooperation with content creators will be of paramount importance in the future. He said Tencent Video aims to “discover and expand” to find teams with true creative ability and clear direction among a huge number of creators, and aim to make the most of various resources to deliver great content as quickly as possible.
The next Chinese video content to go global is unlikely to be a large-scale project with huge investments, but something created organically by a small team, Son said. Tencent Video aims to increase the chances of success for these teams and speed up the process, he added.
Editor: Shihua Tang, Martin Kadyev
