How to handle and regulate AI, how to continue making awards shows more appealing to a broader audience, and how key improving diversity is to ensuring relevance and revenue were just some of the questions discussed by the heads of the organizations behind the Oscars, BAFTA Awards and Grammys in Toronto on Sunday morning.
Bill Kramer, the CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. addressed the hot-button issues during a panel on “The Future of Awards Bodies,” moderated by TIFF chief programming officer Anita Lee, at the industry conference strand of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
None of the panelists was shocked to be confronted with a question about the challenges that AI is creating for their organizations. “Well, that is probably the question of the year. How is AI going to affect music and art and culture?” Mason responded. “I don’t have the best answer, but I know that it’s going to happen. I know that AI is going to be disruptive. I know it’s going to have massive impact on how we do everything, maybe not just in music and film and television, but just in our society. So the Academy is trying to manage that and trying to understand that.”
Highlighting that music creators have always been early adopters of new technology, the Grammys boss continued: “I think all of us agree that technology is going to be a part of what our members do. We need to ensure that technology has some guardrails around it, and that it’s used as a tool to amplify creativity, not to replace creativity.”
Mason also emphasized: “I don’t know if you all are aware of the fact that you can literally text in a phrase or a mood or another example of an artist, if you like, and the computer will generate hundreds and hundreds of full songs in 10 seconds. So that’s something that’s both scary and interesting.” Kramer quipped at that point, “don’t freak out the audience!”
Mason argued though that AI will be received differently by different people. “Some of the audience might think that’s great. Some of the audience think that’s the worst thing ever,” he argued. “When you think about a computer singing, or replacing the vocals, or emulating an Aretha Franklin vocal that sounds just like Aretha Franklin, but she’s singing about, I don’t know, circus juggling. You could have a vocalist sing anything and without their consent or without there being any remuneration for that artist, or any approval or the right crediting. These things are happening. So I might sound overly dramatic. We have to contend with for all of our members and for all of our constituents.”
One key issue to focus on is how to identify AI contributions or creations as everyone is currently dependent on creators mentioning if and how the used AI as part of their work. “Figuring out a detection system is going to be important,” Mason concluded. “Then, [it is about] figuring out rules as to what part of AI you’re going to allow. Because I promise you, in the films that are at the festival today or the records that we’re evaluating right now, there’s already AI in them in many ways. So what is going to be the line of demarcation, or the threshold that you’re going to accept AI?”
The Recording Academy has addressed that in its rules and bylaws. “The way that we’ve done it is AI can be used, and it does not make a submission ineligible. AI can be used, but AI is not going to be awarded,” Mason explained. “So if AI wrote the song, the song is not eligible for songwriting category, but it can still be eligible for performance category. If AI is singing the song, it can be awarded as a performance category, but it can be awarded as a songwriting or production category. So we’ve made very specific rules.”
The Grammys boss acknowledged though that these rules are likely to need updates and tweaks over the coming years.
In comparison, Millichip said BAFTA has been analyzing possible rule changes but is taking more time. “You faced it faster than we have. It’s something that we are looking at, considering, not rushing into decisions because we’ve got to get it right,” she argued. “And the honest answer is: we’re not sure yet. Also, I’m still profoundly confused by what it can achieve as well. Like most technological advancements, it’s a tool. ‘How do we use it rather than have it use us’ is the key. I’ve tried to get it to write a few speeches, and all I can say is they were five career-ending versions later. It writes really shit jokes. I think humans are pretty good at writing jokes. Not to be too flippant about it. But it is a big matter for us, but the key is not to rush into a panic and to really consider what proportion of AI will be acceptable.”
Mason warned though that, “there’s not going to be a perfect solution, and even the guidelines that we put into our words process are going to change. They’re going to change in a year or two, most likely.” His conclusion: “So it’s my opinion that we get something established that people can be clear about and have as an understanding, and then commit and promise to evolve it, because it’s going to move quickly.”
Kramer echoed that notion. “Harvey, I totally agree. We all do this,” he argued. “We have to look at our awards rules. We iterate. Nothing is fixed. The film industry has been hit with technological disruption from the beginning of our industry. This is another moment where this is happening.”
The Academy hosted a day-long AI symposium with members, he shared. “It was very interesting to see how certain disciplines are embracing AI and to others less so,” he said. “So it’s a tool. I think people are learning how to use it. It’s not a substitution for an artist, the work of an artist or an individual, but it’s in the industry as we speak.”
With TV ratings for awards shows, such as AMPAS’ Oscars, the BAFTA Awards, and the Grammys, seen as challenged in recent years, organizers have tried to broaden their appeal, reach out to younger audiences and use new platforms.
Kramer said that updating the approach to awards shows was an ongoing priority but emphasized continued passion by audiences, including younger ones, for film. Since the Academy Museum opened almost three years ago, it has welcomed more than 2 million visitors. “More than 50 percent of our ticket buyers are under the age of 40,” the AMPAS boss shared. “What does this tell us about young people? And I’ll define young as under 40. They’re interested in movies. They’re interested in content. That gives me, that gives the Academy, that should give all of us, a lot of hope.”
What does this mean for the big Hollywood awards show? “People are interested in the Oscars, they’re interested in the Grammys, they’re interested in BAFTA,” Kramer concluded. “How we deliver that content will continue to evolve. We’re all thinking about linear TV versus streaming, versus what we put on social. People are engaging with our content around the awards in different ways. It’s growing in different ways and perhaps contracting in certain areas. But overall, the number of eyeballs that we have on our show is vast, and we have to constantly think about how we’re meeting audiences where they want to engage with our award shows.”
Kramer’s takeaway: “We have bright futures ahead of us, and … you’re going to see all of us thinking about this. Every movie studio is thinking about this. Where are our audiences watching our films? We have to think about our award shows in the same way.”
Millichip highlighted that the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony runs three hours but only gets a two-hour time slot on the BBC. “One of the things I wanted to improve a little was make sure that every award is in the show, which is a bit of an editing feat,” she explained. “I actually was talking to Alfonso Cuarón last night, and we were having an argument about the BAFTAs, and I got so exasperated with him. He was laughing. I said, ‘Okay, you come and direct our awards for us.’ And he said, ‘Do you know how long I’d spend in the edit? If you want them delivered in four years time, yes, I’ll do it’.”
While the BAFTAs are a big editing challenge, Millichip concluded: “But the nuance, the change that we made was giving the oxygen to all of the categories that aren’t in the show in full, so that whatever category you’re in, whether it’s a craft category or one of the lead artistic categories, you will be in the show. And that has made a difference to the texture of the show. And we’ve seen two years of increased audiences, which has been brilliant. I think we’re in rude health at the moment. We need to keep it that way.”
Diversity among awards bodies’ membership is also a key part of keeping audiences engaged. “It starts with our membership. We’re ultimately a membership organization, so … the diversification of our membership, the globalization of our membership [is important]. We’re living in a global world,” Kramer said. “Our global audiences are thinking about movies and music in a very different way. So really paying attention to that [is a must]. … The change is happening rapidly. We have to be nimble. We’re not always nimble as organizations.”
So, his team has given much focus to “really thinking about global membership, because that defines how our members are watching movies, how they’re voting, who’s winning, who’s on the stage at the Oscars, and that creates such a ripple effect for everything else we do.” Kramer concluded that it is all about “really thinking about opening up our doors to members in a way that we’ve not done before, thinking about different backgrounds, thinking about their work in a global way, really thinking about redefining how we invite people into the Academy. And with that come new audiences, new programs and new funding. It’s just good business too.”
Mason similarly emphasized that diversity helps awards bodies with representing the world well while also helping with driving revenue.
“If you want to enter the British categories in our awards, you need to have a major film according to the diversity standards,” Millichip explained about BAFTA. “So that’s a really good way that we can use carrot and stick to be more progressive.”
Diversity is key to not being left behind, she added. “It’s really important to remain relevant.” And for that awards bodies must understand the world around them. “To be relevant you need to be representative,” she concluded.
She also shared some insight into a BAFTA change designed to shake things up a but that has proven successful. “One of the things we do in our awards now is that we insist our members watch a minimum number of randomly selected films,” she explained. “And what you find is that people don’t vote with bias, but we found that they were potentially not watching a broad enough selection of films that were available. And so the work is quite subtle, really asking our membership to watch more films, more broadly, outside of their own echo chambers.”
Concluded Millichip about diversity and inclusion: “It needs to be in your DNA. You need to keep moving towards diversification. You need to work towards better equity and representation and just be progressive on a perpetual basis.”
