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Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison calls AI the biggest creative unlock in modern history

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Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison calls AI the biggest creative unlock in modern history

During Paramount Skydance's latest earnings call, CEO David Ellison was asked about the company's outlook for AI. He said it is 'hard to imagine' that AI won't have a bigger impact on the film industry than CGI. In his words: 'AI really has the potential to be the biggest creative unlock in modern history.' He named the last comparable shift as the advent of CGI and digital composites in the early 90s, a technology that, he said, gave birth to stories like Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.

Ellison used Terminator as a budget example. He said it cost $4 million to make, but 'if you wanted to make that picture today, shot for shot, it's $60 to 70 million.' The Verge reports that he went on to suggest AI might help with that. Ellison's own words: 'We think these tools will help unlock more original storytelling by being able to make the budgets more digestible to be able to take that amount of risk.'

He said AI will 'significantly' reshape Paramount Skydance's business and that the company has been developing its own AI tools. As a result, Ellison claims, 'content will be easier to produce, projects across the organization will speed up, and how we work will transform.' He added that 'all of this makes the value of premium IP and live events more valuable, not less.'

Ellison also set limits on the pitch. 'In a world of AI slop, we think there will always be a premium for truly hand-crafted storytelling,' he said, and he added that the company continues to believe AI 'is a tool for artists and will never be a replacement for them.'

The piece reports remarks from an earnings call. It describes a stance and an intention, not a product launch or a result.

Key facts

  • Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said on the company's latest earnings call that AI 'really has the potential to be the biggest creative unlock in modern history.'
  • He compared AI to the advent of CGI and digital composites in the early 90s, and said it is hard to imagine AI not having a more significant impact.
  • His budget example: Terminator cost $4 million to make, and shot for shot today it would be $60 to 70 million; he suggested AI tools could make budgets 'more digestible.'
  • He said AI will 'significantly' reshape the business, that the company has been developing its own AI tools, and that content will be easier to produce and projects will speed up.
  • He said AI is a tool for artists and 'will never be a replacement for them,' and that hand-crafted storytelling will keep a premium amid 'AI slop.'

Why it matters

A studio chief is putting a large claim on the record: that AI may matter more to filmmaking than CGI did in the early 90s. Ellison ties it to a concrete pressure, the cost of making a big picture, and says cheaper budgets could let the company take more risks on original stories. He also says the company has been developing its own AI tools, which signals that AI is part of how Paramount Skydance plans to run its business, not only a topic for the call.

Who it affects

Most directly Paramount Skydance's own production and business teams, since Ellison says projects across the organization will speed up and that how the company works will transform. Artists are addressed by name: he says AI is a tool for artists and will never replace them. The source gives no reaction from artists, unions or analysts, and no figures on job effects or headcount.

How to use it

There is nothing to adopt here. This is a CEO's statement of direction, not a release. The AI tools Paramount Skydance is developing are not named or described. The practical takeaway is as a marker of how a major studio's leadership frames AI: as a way to lower production costs, speed up work, and support original storytelling, while holding that premium IP, live events and hand-crafted work keep their value.

How solid is it

The words are Ellison's own, said in answer to a question about the company's AI outlook and reported by The Verge with direct quotes. The claims are forward-looking and unproven. Ellison 'claims' the tools will make content easier to produce, and the source offers no results, savings figures or timescale. The date of the call is not given, and the source does not say what the earnings results themselves were.

Risks and caveats

The Terminator comparison is Ellison's: $4 million then against $60 to 70 million for a shot-for-shot remake today. The source does not say which Terminator film he means or explain the gap, and it does not show that AI would close it. The suggestion that AI could help with the cost is The Verge's description of what he said. His promise that AI will never replace artists is a statement of belief, not a commitment with any detail attached, and no outside reaction to it is reported.

“We also continue to believe that artificial intelligence is a tool for artists and will never be a replacement for them.”

— David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, on the company's latest earnings call