Hollywood’s Next Powerhouse Creators May Come From Fan Storytellers, Not Traditional Pipelines

Studios are going to act a little bit more like a sports team. Instead of waiting for people to try to scale the wall and throw their scripts over, studios are going to need to reach out into the creator community and go, 'I like what you did. Would you like to come through our development program?' What we might see is a more defined pathway from creating in your bedroom to creating with some of the best media companies in the world.Orlando Wood - CEO and Founder | KoobrikLabs

The real AI revolution in Hollywood may not be in how stories are made, but in how storytellers are found. Projects like Fable's Showrunner—where anyone can generate, direct, and share their own animated episodes—hint at a future where new voices surface outside traditional studio gates. One industry veteran envisions a system closer to professional sports, where raw talent is scouted from communities, nurtured in development programs, and given a clear path to the majors. In this model, AI’s power lies not in replacing creators but in uncovering them where no one was looking.

We spoke with Orlando Wood, a DuPont Award-winning filmmaker and the CEO and Founder of the AI consultancy KoobrikLabs. With a 25-year career creating work for giants like Nike, Netflix, and the BBC, and past leadership roles at legendary agencies like Wieden+Kennedy and Saatchi & Saatchi, Wood is deeply rooted in the legacy creative world. He argued that the industry is on the cusp of a monumental shift in how it identifies and cultivates its most valuable asset: human talent.

• From bedroom to studio: "Studios are going to act a little bit more like a sports team. Instead of waiting for people to try to scale the wall and throw their scripts over, studios are going to need to reach out into the creator community and go, 'I like what you did. Would you like to come through our development program?' What we might see is a more defined pathway from creating in your bedroom to creating with some of the best media companies in the world."

This vision begins by understanding the predictable life cycle of disruptive technology. Wood, who has witnessed the rise of the internet, smartphones, and crypto, saw a familiar pattern in the current AI discourse. He likened the early, often clumsy AI tools to the first iPhone, whose real significance was hidden behind seemingly frivolous apps.

• The beer-drinking app: "The iPhone was terrible at making calls and really didn't do email very well. But the reason that beer drinking app took off was because it understood something new about the form," Wood recalled. "Most apps, when they first came out, were just Internet websites in an app. Once you were in it, you were basically looking at the front page of a website."

The key turning point, Wood argued, will come when the tools of creation are shaped less by engineers and more by artists. The quality and user experience of AI will transform when the people who are experts at telling stories take the reins from the people who are experts at building tech.

• A shift in creators: "At the moment, a lot of the people making the AI are still the tech people," he noted. "The more Hollywood and the people who are experts at making stories become the people creating the AI, you're going to see a real shift in the quality of the stories, the user experience, and in consumers actually enjoying those AI outputs." He pointed to the recent launch of Moon Valley's Marey—the first fully licensed AI video model—as a sign this transition is already beginning, solving the legal hurdles that have kept major studios on the sidelines.

  

  At the moment, a lot of the people making the AI are still the tech people. The more Hollywood and the people who are experts at making stories become the people creating the AI, you're going to see a real shift in the quality of the stories, the user experience, and in consumers actually enjoying those AI outputs.Orlando Wood - CEO and Founder | KoobrikLabs

  This democratization of tools doesn't mean the end of the studio system. Wood identified two powerful moats that will ensure their continued dominance. The first is their vast library of intellectual property. The second is their control over mainstream distribution.

• The studio moats: "Warner Brothers is still going to own Batman. And anyone who's been inspired by Batman, if they want a chance to work on that property, they're going to have to go to Warner Brothers," Wood stated. This power extends to distribution. "Even now, when Mr. Beast wants to do a TV show, he goes to the majors. They still have the stranglehold on the traditional distribution pipelines."

The exciting part of this evolution is how it will reshape the creative landscape; the scary part is also how it will evolve. For all the optimism about discovering new voices, Wood’s excitement is tempered by a deep-seated fear, rooted in a pattern of technological displacement he has seen before.

• Death of the Death Star: "My biggest concern is that the ability for people to make a living doing this job diminishes to a point where it's not a viable life choice. That really concerns me," he said, recalling the shuttering of the legendary Industrial Light & Magic model shop. "They shuttered the workshop where the Star Wars Death Star was built. With the advent of computer-generated VFX and technology, that whole skill set has died. That concerns me a lot."

This threat is most acute in advertising, where the economic incentive to replace human labor is undeniable. "Brands don't have a responsibility to shoot anything with an actor or pay them their SAG rates. They have responsibilities to their shareholders, and if they find out that they can do an ad with an entire cast of people without having to pay anybody, they will," Wood warned. It's a pragmatic and chilling calculus that underscores the dual nature of the change ahead—a future of unprecedented creative opportunity shadowed by profound economic uncertainty.