AI-enhanced films score for acting, editing

Two controversial films about the use of artificial intelligence led the nominations for the Academy Awards announced on Thursday.

“The Brutalist,” a drama about a Hungarian-Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust and fled to the United States, earned 10 nominations, while “Emilia Pérez,” a musical based on a transgender cartel leader Mexico, above all films with 13 nominations.

Both films have been the subject of criticism this month for using AI to enhance the actors' voices. “The Brutalist” also received backlash for using AI to enhance the footage in the film's closing sequence.

Among the nominations for “The Brutalist” are Adrien Brody for best actor and Felicity Jones for best supporting actress, while “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón is up for best actress . Both films earned nods for best picture and best film editing. “Emilia Pérez” was nominated for best sound.

Artificial intelligence has been the subject of controversy in Hollywood in recent years. The technology is often used in the filmmaking process for tasks such as dubbing or color correction and is not a reason to disqualify a film from an Academy Award nomination. However, it was a major issue at the 2023 actors' and writers' strikes, when creators expressed fears of AI replacing their jobs and affecting their pay.

Both the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the entertainers' and artists' union, reached agreements with the Motion Picture and Television Producers Guild that included terms and compensation for productions that ' the use of AI generation and digital replicas of actors. But the agreements also left unresolved questions such as how studios can train AI with pre-existing content.

SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment Thursday.

Tensions around AI flared earlier this month after an interview with “The Brutalist” director and co-writer Brady Corbet and film editor David Jancso, both of whom received Oscar nominations on Thursday, discussed the role of AI in the movie. Jancso told RedShark media that he used Respeecher's AI tool to tune and improve Brody and Jones' Hungarian language dialogue. Respeecher was needed to draw the pronunciation of certain letters and sounds, he said, and was faster than using other software platforms to edit the conversation.

Jancso also said he used generative AI to help create the architectural drawings and buildings seen at the end of the film.

“Talking about AI is controversial in the industry, but it shouldn't be,” he said in that interview. “We should be talking very openly about the tools that AI can give us. Nothing in the film uses AI that hasn't been done before. It just makes the process much faster. We use AI to create those tiny details that we didn't have the money or time to shoot. “

The story caused a firestorm on social media, where some users criticized the use of AI and said they would not watch the film.

Corbet defended the performances, telling Variety, “Adrien and Felicity's performances are their own.”

“They worked for months with dialect coach Tanera Marshall to perfect their accents. Respeecher's innovative technology was used in the editing of Hungarian language dialogue only, especially to update some vowels and letters for accuracy. English has not been changed. This was a manual process, done by our sound team and Respeecher in post-production,” Corbet said, according to Variety. “The goal was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity's performances in another language, not to replace or change them and to do so with the utmost respect for the craft.”

The controversy took “Emilia Pérez”, who has now come under fire for using Respeecher. In recent months an interview resurfaced in which the re-recording mix of the film Cyril Holtz said that Gascón, a transgender woman, could not reach certain singing records, so he used Respeecher to tune and blend Gascón's voice with that of Camille, a French singer who co-wrote the film's music.

“In the case of Karla Sofia, it was more complicated because there were real parts of the field that were very difficult, especially because she had already made her move and there were records that were no longer accessible to her,” Holtz said. in French, according to a translation reviewed by CNBC.

Agents for the distributor “Emilia Pérez”. Netflix and “The Brutalist” distributor A24 did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Representatives for the Academy Awards declined to comment.

Defenders of the films have cited previous films that used similar techniques, such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which mixed Rami Malek's voice with that of singer Marc Martel, and “The Irishman,” which used AI to remove stars Robert De Niro. , Joe Pesci and Al Pacino.

Malek won the award for best actor at the Oscars in 2019, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” won best film editing and best sound mixing the same year. “The Irishman” received 10 Academy Award nominations, including best film editing and best supporting actor for Pesci and Pacino, in 2020.

Peter Csathy, chairman of media and tech consultancy Creative Media, said that while Hollywood has long used technology to cut costs and increase production efficiency, AI is a unique generation in its ability to continuously create as well as its foundation in the existing content. That creates creative and legal double jeopardy, he said, as many AI platforms face copyright infringement lawsuits.

“I think the role of the Oscars is definitely to celebrate great art, especially,” Csathy told CNBC. “But at the same time, the role of the Academy is to protect the rights of creators.” .”

“The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” are also not the only Oscar nominees this year known to have used AI: “Maria,” a biographical drama starring Angelina Jolie as opera actress Maria Callas, used Respeecher to tune the real Callas. voice. “Maria” was nominated for best cinematography.

Disclosure: Respeecher participated in an accelerator program run by Comcast, CNBC's parent company.