Albert Cheng, vice president and head of AI studios for Amazon MGM Studios, said artificial intelligence has altered the economics of film and television production—enabling the studio to produce content with minimal crews while maintaining broadcast quality.
At the "AI on the Lot" conference in Culver City on Wednesday, Cheng made a direct business argument: AI allows studios to generate more shows using existing Los Angeles sound stages and smaller teams, but only if tax policy evolves to incentivize output over employment scale.
Currently, California's production tax credits reward large-scale projects based on job creation. Cheng advocated for restructuring those incentives to accommodate AI-assisted productions with leaner crews. His reasoning was explicit—making 10 shows with five-person teams creates more job turnover and recurring employment than producing one blockbuster with 200 workers.
Cheng noted that AI technology has moved past early quality concerns and is now indistinguishable from traditionally produced content to average viewers. He stressed that human creatives still drive storytelling and shot selection; AI handles execution, not vision.
Amazon MGM Studios and its corporate sibling, Amazon Web Services, announced three new animated series for Prime Video developed through the recently launched GenAI Creators Fund. Cheng highlighted these projects as proof that the studio model works at scale.
Cheng took the role last summer after leading Prime Video and prior executive positions at Disney-ABC. The conference, now in its fourth year, reflects a shift in industry sentiment. When it launched in 2023, the sector was reeling from economic contraction, dual Hollywood strikes, and widespread anxiety over AI's threat to employment. By 2026, studios and production companies have begun to treat AI as an operating leverage tool rather than an existential threat.
