it seems to be that starting with the boring blocking and tackling i.e. tools for creators is the path of least resistance. Having worked in Hollywood and then started Tongal, I can speak all day about the challenges of partnering with incumbents; the most obvious is they have little to no interest in working with unknown startups hellbent on replacing them.
what about other large (and kinda boring, but moneyed) categories like ... home services? will crafted AI tools empower home and property owners to solve their own problems? ... and will similar tools be a co-pilot for all the young and displaced white collar workers looking at the trades as a haven from total AI disruption?
Won't this be faced with abundance issue? Generating more content will only increase the saturation. The real bottleneck will be the consumption i.e. growth. Kind of what you were trying to imply in your "Revenge of the GPT Wrappers". I think platforms like Netflix, Youtube still have some way to go about solving the "The perfect content to be served to a user to continue the consumption journey". May be Tiktok is there but its a short format content.
Great post! I'm trying to launch an AI startup in the entertainment space, which turns original screenplays into recorded broadcastable drama podcasts and audio books. So, we are targeting the 2M screenwriters and authors of the TAM of 207M content creators. However, our real challenge is how to get human-like, movie-like quality voices. We are thinking of targeting Hollywood botique studios market segment, etc.? Your thoughts?
Arming with Big guys with weapons gives you an unfair advantage over the guys who are just looking to raise the next seed round for their Vertical B2B Saas. Especially, when the big guys are the industry veterans with the guns.
I think the biggest challenge with selling B2B into hollywood is that they tend to be annoying to partner with. Sales cycles are long, they have really complex requirements around security/compliance/etc. Sometimes it's easier to just blaze your own path, but that's my bias :)
The good news is that Hollywood knows their business model is broken, they are excited about AI, so there is def pressure to try/use the tools. An optimist may think that we’re just a few years away from the tech getting there, and the dam walls breaking such that it will be embraced widely. This will be true if the cost model eventually makes things existential for the industry
Fascinating analysis of where AI disruption is headed next! The pace of change is rapid, and it’ll be interesting to see which industries adapt or get left behind. Great insights!
This was one of the sharpest breakdowns I’ve read on the real dynamics at play — especially the distinction between incumbent “defense” vs AI startup “offense.” That framing alone is worth the price of admission.
A few thoughts stood out:
The AI Horde behaves more like evolution than revolution. It doesn’t have a single front. It explores the entire landscape, throwing off mutations — many die quickly, some find strange new habitats and flourish. From that lens, it’s not about whether AI will disrupt Hollywood, but where the fertile edges are.
Creative energy is becoming ambient. With vibe coding, AI voice, and generative video, the means of production dissolve. What’s scarce now isn’t tech — it’s taste, timing, and distribution. The new gatekeepers may not be studios, but networks of cultural resonance. Think TikTok creators as the new showrunners.
New forms won’t look like old ones. Just as YouTube didn’t mimic TV, and TikTok didn’t mimic YouTube, the breakout AI-native format may feel weird or “low-value” at first. But if it has retention and virality, it can snowball fast — especially in a post-linear world where narrative, gameplay, and interaction blur.
Curious what you think about this: will the real Hollywood disruption come from better tools for known formats (Pixar for AI, dubbing, etc), or entirely new expressions that don’t need legacy validation?
Thanks for continuing to write through the fog. The clarity here is rare.
it seems to be that starting with the boring blocking and tackling i.e. tools for creators is the path of least resistance. Having worked in Hollywood and then started Tongal, I can speak all day about the challenges of partnering with incumbents; the most obvious is they have little to no interest in working with unknown startups hellbent on replacing them.
yup! Totally agree. And that's definitely where we've seen huge traction in revenue early on
That's a stop and think article..
what about other large (and kinda boring, but moneyed) categories like ... home services? will crafted AI tools empower home and property owners to solve their own problems? ... and will similar tools be a co-pilot for all the young and displaced white collar workers looking at the trades as a haven from total AI disruption?
Won't this be faced with abundance issue? Generating more content will only increase the saturation. The real bottleneck will be the consumption i.e. growth. Kind of what you were trying to imply in your "Revenge of the GPT Wrappers". I think platforms like Netflix, Youtube still have some way to go about solving the "The perfect content to be served to a user to continue the consumption journey". May be Tiktok is there but its a short format content.
Great post! I'm trying to launch an AI startup in the entertainment space, which turns original screenplays into recorded broadcastable drama podcasts and audio books. So, we are targeting the 2M screenwriters and authors of the TAM of 207M content creators. However, our real challenge is how to get human-like, movie-like quality voices. We are thinking of targeting Hollywood botique studios market segment, etc.? Your thoughts?
Arming with Big guys with weapons gives you an unfair advantage over the guys who are just looking to raise the next seed round for their Vertical B2B Saas. Especially, when the big guys are the industry veterans with the guns.
I think the biggest challenge with selling B2B into hollywood is that they tend to be annoying to partner with. Sales cycles are long, they have really complex requirements around security/compliance/etc. Sometimes it's easier to just blaze your own path, but that's my bias :)
Genuinely curious—how would an optimist spin this? (Asking for a friend who needs some hope.)
The good news is that Hollywood knows their business model is broken, they are excited about AI, so there is def pressure to try/use the tools. An optimist may think that we’re just a few years away from the tech getting there, and the dam walls breaking such that it will be embraced widely. This will be true if the cost model eventually makes things existential for the industry
Fascinating analysis of where AI disruption is headed next! The pace of change is rapid, and it’ll be interesting to see which industries adapt or get left behind. Great insights!
This was one of the sharpest breakdowns I’ve read on the real dynamics at play — especially the distinction between incumbent “defense” vs AI startup “offense.” That framing alone is worth the price of admission.
A few thoughts stood out:
The AI Horde behaves more like evolution than revolution. It doesn’t have a single front. It explores the entire landscape, throwing off mutations — many die quickly, some find strange new habitats and flourish. From that lens, it’s not about whether AI will disrupt Hollywood, but where the fertile edges are.
Creative energy is becoming ambient. With vibe coding, AI voice, and generative video, the means of production dissolve. What’s scarce now isn’t tech — it’s taste, timing, and distribution. The new gatekeepers may not be studios, but networks of cultural resonance. Think TikTok creators as the new showrunners.
New forms won’t look like old ones. Just as YouTube didn’t mimic TV, and TikTok didn’t mimic YouTube, the breakout AI-native format may feel weird or “low-value” at first. But if it has retention and virality, it can snowball fast — especially in a post-linear world where narrative, gameplay, and interaction blur.
Curious what you think about this: will the real Hollywood disruption come from better tools for known formats (Pixar for AI, dubbing, etc), or entirely new expressions that don’t need legacy validation?
Thanks for continuing to write through the fog. The clarity here is rare.
Ah yes, you’re one of those people. Let’s burn all the books, art, music, movies, and instead we can work on “real” problems. Good thinking.