Hollywood Workers Are Going to Lose Jobs to OpenAI Sora

Tyler Perry is reevaluating where to put his resources amid the rise of OpenAI technology.

The mega-producer told The Hollywood Reporter that his $800 million plans to expand his Atlanta-based studio have been put “indefinitely on hold” after he saw the “mind-blowing” capabilities of the artificial intelligence company’s text-to-video model, Sora. Perry spent four years planning the pricey expansion at his studio, which would have added 12 soundstages on the backlot.

“All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing,” Perry said. “I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me. Being told that it can do all of these things is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities, it was mind-blowing.”

According to Perry, Sora can make it possible for productions to avoid multiple-location shoots — or even to avoid building practical sets.

“If I wanted to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s text. If I wanted to write a scene on the moon, it’s text, and this AI can generate it like nothing,” he said. “If I wanted to have two people in the living room in the mountains, I don’t have to build a set in the mountains, I don’t have to put a set on my lot. I can sit in an office and do this with a computer, which is shocking to me.”

Perry’s firsthand experience with…