✨ The Stories We Tell in an Aware World
My ‘futurist filmmaker’ thoughts for this week’s #FutureFilmFridays:
The world around us is becoming Aware. Intelligent. Due to advances in #AI, the world will see what we see, react to what we type, anticipate our movements, emotions and engage with us in real time. Our stories will no longer sit passively on screens — they will respond, evolve, and immerse us in ways we have yet to fully grasp.
And we will need them more than ever.
As climate and technological disruption accelerate, stories will serve as both escape and anchor — a place to turn off and disconnect (and immerse fully into), yet also a force that brings us together, ignites curiosity, and inspires action. This is why #impactstorytelling will be vital, not just for shaping culture, but for navigating the increasingly complex world we are building. And, for the first time, we will have ways to measure its effect in real time.
There are Two Stories unfolding in #Hollywood right now:
One dominates the conversation; the other is existential.
The first is about legality and logistics. It’s a focus on AI’s infringement on artists’ work — how their past creations have been used to train models that could ultimately replace them. The fight for creative labor protections. The scramble for sustainable business models in a streaming economy built on shifting sand. Every decision is framed by fiscal years, quarterly profits, and Wall Street expectations.
But the second story is bigger. And few are talking about it.
Hollywood’s traditional gatekeepers no longer have the power to decide which stories will define the future. The infrastructure that once dictated the cinematic ecosystem — heavy cameras, soundstages, backlots, union crews, and theaters — has been disrupted. The industry spent years resisting change, clinging to a model built on scarcity. But the threshold has been crossed, and inertia has taken hold.
The walls that protected legacy Hollywood are crumbling. And while some continue to play business as usual, grasping at pieces of a sinking ship, the industry as we know it is dissolving. Even if production migrates to tax-friendly locations and cheaper labor markets, that won’t change the fundamental shift already underway. As jobs disappear in LA, as filmmakers and crew members are forced to leave behind the industry they love, a new system will emerge — one with new faces, new formats, and new ways to tell the stories that stir hearts, shape culture, and move the Overton Window.
The question is: will we use this shift to tell stories that push humanity forward? Or will we allow the same structures to replicate, disguised in new technology?
The future of storytelling is no longer up for debate. The evolution is happening fast. And it is Aware.
If you’re thinking about this as much as I am, let’s connect.
