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OUTLOOK www.postmagazine.com 32 POST MAR/APR 2026 t's no secret that Hollywood is spinning right now. Thousands are out of work, theaters are struggling and audiences are tuning out. Even in the best of times, storytelling is hard, and that is before you add in social media, video games, streaming, and now, AI. As Buffy the Vampire Slayer once no- ticed, some problems are recurring. The problems that nearly killed the studios in the 1960s (expensive attempts to re-create the magic of 1965's The Sound of Music) echo into the present-day satu- ration of sequels and remakes. The reason this keeps happening is because risk is terrifying when the stakes are large. At $150M-plus per picture, everyone starts to play it safe. Even Pixar. It is standard, MBA-style thinking to opti- mize and refine what previously worked, but entertainment is not like most con- sumer products. The drive towards safe, predictable stories has run its course. Risk is what entertainment requires, and risk is where the true rewards live for the audiences, studios and the storytell- ers that call this industry home. This be- comes readily apparent when something new comes out and sticks the landing: e.g., KPop Demon Hunters. Sony infa- mously had so little faith in the project that they sold the show, the sequels and the soundtrack to Netflix. The upside of the '60s turmoil was the rogue's gallery of talent that streamed into studios and created work that would define decades of entertainment. The current turbulence now makes change possible at every part of the process yet again, from what gets greenlit to how films are created in the first place. But what parts should be changed? How do you keep the magic intact? AI prompting can certainly generate imagery, and while that might be part of the mix, it doesn't solve the creative insights needed to actually make some- thing of value. To break through you need something with a human connec- tion. But since studios are on their back feet, it's up to artists to grab the reins and take control. In the last few years, new tools — some AI-driven, some not — have been hitting the market that will finally help them to do this. (We're build- ing a few of them.) Films that would have been impossible to create before without massive teams or resources now have a path. And what you'll start seeing in 2026 is more people taking the leap, using tools that ampli- fy their capabilities. The key is keeping what works intact. A lot of the magic comes down to story and performance, and it doesn't take much to get that core essence in place. You just need a story, actors, a camera and a director. The part that takes a lot of money (at the low end) is building the backgrounds, getting everything lit and all the other elements that go into your standard production. Most of this can be optimized. And when you make these pieces move faster in a lightweight way, it not only cuts costs considerably, but allows people to actual- ly focus on the performance. The starter's pistol in the current trans- formation was virtual production. For a while, this was still pretty expensive. Now you can do it with an iPhone. The next development was the rise of affordable, production scanners like Xgrids, which specialize in rapidly creating Gaussian Splats. One person could go on-location, get a workable, lightweight scene, and save lots of time and money. Then AI hit. While this space is still evolving, it's 'world-model' tech like World Labs' Marble that is particularly exciting, as it will allow teams to prompt their way to a location in minutes. This is revolutionary for previs, but could potentially be great for the right productions. Most of this tech isn't that expensive to acquire or use. The new pipelines are leveling the playing field, even in its early stages. This is why I think this might be the most exciting time in the history of Hollywood. All the pieces are in place for an artistic explosion: a studio system in need, trained artists dying to make something new, and thousands of cre- ators looking to branch out or crossover into the feature and series world. We've been thinking about this new world while building Spark, which connects all these new tools together so filmmakers can plan, shoot and keep track of what they create. No need to wait, however. Going from a concept to a Gaussian Splat to a shot test can happen in minutes, right now. Everything from early ideation to what you pitch can move at this speed. This year is the beginning. With fully-capable, end-to-end tool chains hitting the market in 2026, the first series and films to use them should follow in the next year or two. The big question is how much of the progress will be made by first-time filmmakers? And while the next few years won't come without hardships, they will also radically change who gets to make original stories. If that sounds like you, take your shot! NEW TOOLS ARE LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD BY ELIOT MACK CEO & FOUNDER LIGHTCRAFT TECHNOLOGY HTTPS://LIGHTCRAFT. PRO THIS MIGHT BE THE MOST EXCITING TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'S HISTORY I New tools are enabling first-time filmmakers.