Zhang Yimou on AI's Impact on the Film Industry: AI Short Video Output Value Has Reached Tens of Billions, a Major Challenge
At the Golden Rooster International Film Festival exhibition dialogue of the 39th China Golden Rooster Awards, Zhang Yimou stated that the output value of AI short videos has reached tens of billions and a large number of people are watching them, which is a major challenge to the film industry. He also admitted that he does not know what to do when AI technology fully surpasses humans in five or ten years. He advised young directors to be themselves, to learn, accumulate, and improve, and to tell the stories they feel most passionately about.
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2026-11-07 18:05 IT Home - Guilong
Thanks to IT Home user "A Different Experience" for the tip-off!
IT Home, November 7 news: According to a report by the Movie Channel Media Center, the 39th China Golden Rooster Awards Golden Rooster · International Film Festival Exhibition Dialogue was held in Xiamen, where Zhang Yimou, as the main guest, shared his views on the impact of AI on the film industry.
Zhang Yimou said that the output value of AI short videos has reached tens of billions, and a large number of people are watching them — so will they still go to the cinema? He admitted that this is in fact a huge challenge, and that he himself does not know what to do in the future (say, five or ten years from now), when AI technology fully surpasses us (humans).
He offered a message to young directors: be true to yourself, learn, accumulate, and improve, adopt a positive attitude toward life, tell the stories in your own heart, and hold on to the original aspiration in which you have the most feeling and the deepest understanding. He said this may be the only thing we can do.
According to yesterday's IT Home report, on November 5, a relevant official of the National Radio and Television Administration reiterated in Beijing that regarding the relationship between live-action micro-dramas and AI micro-dramas, the Administration's stance is very clear: support live-action dramas and regulate AI dramas.
At the micro-drama forum of the 2026 China Radio and Television Quality Content Creation Conference held that day, the official said that for micro-dramas, what AI brings is not only cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the creation process, but also a systemic transformation of production methods, industrial forms, and development logic. From scriptwriting to filming and production, from dissemination and distribution to overseas operations, the entire chain is being reshaped, and new creation models and new industrial ecosystems are being nurtured. The whole industry must be good at grasping and making use of this, so that AI can serve as a good helper for quality creation and an engine for innovative development.
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