Small, AI-native companies running automated pipelines can develop their own intellectual property, while traditional studios hold on to their advantages in established franchises, production infrastructure, talent and distribution, according to VFX veteran Hong Jae Cheol.
Hong, a producer-director at Viscode who began his career at Industrial Light & Magic and worked on films including “Iron Man,” “Transformers” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” laid out that vision at the InnoAsia AI Creators Camp, held Sunday at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Contents & Film Market in Busan. “We are moving from using AI to generate individual images toward using AI as part of a complete production workflow,” he said.
AI is changing the production model, Hong argued, while traditional visual effects remain essential to making generated material usable on screen. He framed the future as a hybrid, and a partnership between AI and human creativity, rather than a wholesale replacement of existing studios.
Hong contrasted a conventional live-action and VFX process, involving 3D assets, animation, rendering and compositing, with an AI-assisted approach. In the latter, actors perform on a controlled set; AI generates environments and visual elements; and VFX artists handle tracking, integration and finishing. He also outlined current AI applications across VFX, animation and filmmaking, including rotoscoping, cleanup, previs, character design, camera tests and environment creation.
Mark Wachholz, chief creative director of Berlin-based Dreamkite Studios, whose AI films “The Cinema That Never Was” and “Céremony” have won top prizes at AI film festivals, approached the shift from the creative side. He described AI co-creation as an invitation to give up some control and allow for surprise, framing the process as “exploring instead of controlling” and “finding instead of knowing.” He also argued that new tools require new ways of thinking, rather than simply applying old methods to new technology.
Director Ahn Jaehong of Climax Studio, who turned to AI filmmaking after arm injuries ended his work behind the camera, brought the discussion back to directing and production. He mapped a workflow from prompts and camera information to scene context, shot lists, storyboards, character and prop sheets, locations and keyframes. The sequence reinforced a point shared by the speakers: AI can assist across multiple stages, but filmmakers still need to shape the story, visual design and final result.
Hong summed up the distinction: “AI is just a tool; film is a sequence.” The discussion centered on how that tool might become part of a connected filmmaking process, with human direction and VFX expertise still determining how its images fit together.
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