Runway founder Cristóbal Valenzuela wants Hollywood to embrace AI

The Business

KCRW

Tv & Film

4.6 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At 84, veteran mogul John Malone is still a power broker, hinting at “further consolidation in the media industry” following a recent sit down with David Ellison. Should we be on the lookout for a Warner–Paramount merger? Meanwhile in Vegas, the Sphere’s $100 million Wizard of Oz reimagining leans on AI to expand the visuals and even slip in cameos of David Zaslav and James Dolan. The Directors Guild did not take kindly to the stunt. Partners in Banter Kim Masters and Matt Belloni pull back the curtain on the Sphere's Emerald City sideshow.

Plus, Masters speaks with Runway co-founder Cristóbal Valenzuela about the role of artificial intelligence in Hollywood. The Chilean-born developer acknowledges that AI may lead to some job losses, but he argues it will ultimately benefit filmmakers. He explains why studios including Lionsgate, Netflix, and Disney are already using Runway’s tools. Plus, he compares the current backlash against AI to the upheaval that followed the introduction of sound in film.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From KCRW, I'm Kim Masters, and this is the business.
0:05.2	Cristobo Valenzuela is the co-founder of AI firm runway, which might make a lot of people in Hollywood bristle.
0:11.7	But he says studios and independent filmmakers are already using AI tools.
0:16.3	And while he concedes that artificial intelligence will lead to some job losses, he argues that
0:21.1	ultimately it will be a boon to filmmakers.
0:23.6	AI is not Terminator.
0:24.6	AI is not Black Mirror.
0:26.6	AI is not God.
0:27.6	It's a technology that can be very powerful for you to leverage, but you are in control.
0:31.6	Humans are in control, like they've always been.
0:33.6	Valenzuela discusses why studios like Lionsgate, Netflix, and Disney are already using his company's tools.
0:40.2	The Chilean-born developer compares the current backlash against AI to the industry of people that followed the arrival of sound in film.
0:48.1	But first we banter.
0:49.4	Stick around.
0:50.1	It's the business from KCRW.
0:53.4	I am joined by my partner in banter. Matt Bellany. Hello, Matt.
0:57.1	Hi there.
0:58.0	So John Malone, who is a media mogul behind the scenes of many massive developments that affected our culture and our lives.
1:07.6	And this is a guy who supported the launch of Fox News, Ted Turner's CNN, laid the groundwork
1:14.4	for Internet Revolution. He has been called many names because people think he's a, you know,
1:21.4	a guy who favors profit over necessarily the public good, but he's now reached the age of 84. He is a memoir coming out,
1:29.3	and he did an interview with the New York Times recently that gave a window into some of his
	...

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