The Zurich Summit's AI Panel Included a Producer of 'Musk' and the Director of 'AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About'
At the Zurich Summit this weekend, producer Nick Shumaker sat on a panel digging into what AI means for film. Also on stage: Hollywood film financier Vania Schlogel, and directors Zack London and Nick Holt, whose credits include 'Gods Don't Give Gifts' and 'AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About' respectively. Schlogel is founder and managing partner of L.A.-based Atwater Capital, which puts a fund manager's chair at the table next to the filmmakers' ones — a reminder that the AI question in Hollywood is tangled up with who finances and owns the output, not just which tools get used on set. The panel billing itself is almost a joke: a producer of 'Musk' and the maker of a film whose title shrugs off the whole subject, sharing a stage to discuss the subject seriously.
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The accidental pairing is the best part of the lineup. You could not cast a more loaded double bill than 'Musk' and 'AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About' for a conversation about AI in film.
Credits are not arguments. A producer of one film and a director of another arrive with whatever views they hold, and the titles tell us nothing about what anyone on that panel actually said.
Fair, but the composition still hints at the shape of these industry conversations: with Atwater Capital's founder seated alongside the filmmakers, the discussion likely slides from craft toward cost and ownership.