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The ghosts of Hollywood\u2019s past haunt Bryn Mooser<\/strong>\u2019s office building\u2014but that\u2019s just the way he likes it.<\/p>\n At one of LA\u2019s oldest soundstages, built by legendary movie producer Mack Sennett and opened in 1916, the walls are covered with pictures of Mabel Normand, one of the greatest comedians of the silent-film era and one of the first women<\/a> to have her own studio. Charlie Chaplin<\/a> filmed movies in this sprawling 25,000-square-foot space; so did David Lynch<\/a> and Martin Scorsese<\/a>.<\/strong> In its later years, music videos like Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cRemember the Time,\u201d No Doubt\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Speak,\u201d and Robin Thicke<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d were all shot there.<\/p>\n Mooser, a prolific movie producer, likes to be surrounded by reminders of Hollywood\u2019s progress\u2014the leap to talkies, the infiltration of color, the adaptation of new storytelling devices and media. \u201cI wanted to be in a space that was, even on a subconscious level, a reminder that our industry has gone through a lot of technological changes in the past,\u201d he says. \u201cAll those changes kind of make sense in the long term. But when you\u2019re in them, the conversations about them must have been really brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Mooser has worked here only eight months, it\u2019s already a bustling space centered around a large room with a dozen computers, where his employees are each focused on different projects\u2014all using generative artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n Asteria, Mooser\u2019s company, calls itself an artist-led generative-AI film studio. Unlike his rivals from Silicon Valley, Mooser sells himself as a creature of Hollywood who\u2019s trying to use AI to enhance storytelling, not replace storytellers. \u201cBasically, AI is a dead end in Hollywood until you solve the copyright issue<\/a>,\u201d he says. So he and his team at Asteria worked with the tech start-up Moonvalley to do just that, creating a new AI model called Marey (named after French cinematography pioneer \u00c9tienne-Jules Marey) that only uses legally licensed material. In July, Marey, which is designed to be used by professional filmmakers, became available across multiple channels, including through direct subscription. Moonvalley also partnered with Adobe to integrate Marey into Firefly and Premiere Pro.<\/p>\n AI<\/em> is the dirty word on everyone\u2019s lips in Hollywood these days. Weeks ago, AI \u201cactor\u201d Tilly Norwood<\/a> sent ripples of panic through the industry thanks to rumors that she might sign with a talent agency. (Spoiler: That didn\u2019t happen.) Then Sora 2\u2014the newest version of OpenAI\u2019s video app, which can generate clips of characters featuring the likenesses of actual actors provided that they opt in\u2014raised alarms for agents and talent. On social media, Robin Williams\u2019s daughter, Zelda,<\/strong> begged<\/a> people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her late father. Bryan Cranston<\/strong> and his agents spoke out when his Breaking Bad<\/em> character Walter White began popping up in videos, including one with Michael Jackson. \u201cI was deeply concerned not just for myself, but for all performers whose work and identity can be misused in this way,\u201d Cranston said in a statement<\/a> he released along with SAG-AFTRA, OpenAI, and others. OpenAI said it had strengthened guardrails that would protect individuals\u2019 voices and likenesses, but the fear remains palpable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n