Summary
Overview
In this episode, Marina Hyde and Richard Osman discuss Amazon's controversial decision to drop a nearly completed $40 million film about Sam Altman called 'Artificial,' despite having an A-list cast and acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino. They explore whether politicians can ever be cool through the lens of Andy Burnham's indie music credentials, and debate Quentin Tarantino's claim that there have been no good films since the pandemic, examining the rise of cultural ranking lists as a major media format.
Amazon Drops Sam Altman Film 'Artificial'
Amazon has dropped 'Artificial,' a nearly completed $40 million film about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Andrew Garfield. Despite having an exceptional cast including Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk and being at the screening stage, Amazon claimed it would be 'better suited to another distributor.' The decision appears tied to Amazon's deepening business relationship with OpenAI, including a recent $50 billion investment and cloud partnership deals, raising questions about corporate influence over creative content.
- Amazon has dropped a $40 million Luca Guadagnino film about Sam Altman called 'Artificial' that was nearly completed
- The film stars Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, with a stellar cast including Jason Schwartzman and Mark Rylance
- Amazon recently did a $50 billion investment deal with OpenAI and a $38 billion cloud partnership
- Early viewers say the film portrays Sam Altman and Elon Musk in a particularly dark and bleak light
- Multiple distributors including A24 and Netflix have also passed on the film
" He has the cold, dead eyes of the boyfriend who joins in the search for the missing girlfriend, in my view. "
" I personally know a number of people who have projects about these guys in development. And there are film and TV projects about the tech barons in development, all of them. "
" This is a man whose companies are being knit tighter and tighter into the apparatus of a number of supposedly democratic states. "
" We are 100% definitively in an era where American popular culture is under the yoke of about five people, all of whom are billionaires and all of whom have quite thin skins. "
The Chilling Effect on Creative Freedom
The conversation explores how tech billionaires' increasing power is creating a chilling effect across entertainment, from late-night TV to cinema. While creatives want to tell stories about these powerful figures who define our age, the tech companies' deep integration into media infrastructure - through cloud partnerships, streaming deals, and investments - makes studios reluctant to greenlight critical projects. The discussion touches on how The Apprentice struggled to find distribution and how many projects about tech barons remain stuck in development despite interest from major writers and directors.
- The Apprentice, starring Sebastian Stan as young Donald Trump, struggled to get distribution despite being awards-worthy
- Studios are asking creators with overall deals if they have 'anything that isn't about Elon Musk or Peter Thiel'
- Editorial independence is being eroded as tech becomes woven into media companies' delivery systems
- Amazon paid $75 million for a Melania Trump documentary but won't release this critical Sam Altman film
" The problem is about them being tackled as subjects is absolutely not with writers and creatives. The problem is not just like they're outside people in the culture that we might not want to offend. They're so knit in to the delivery of your services that you don't really have another choice. "
" I think editorial independence is being eroded all the time and this is for me the worst that I almost prefer if they try to do it shamefully and in the background. Just saying openly that they're not doing it sends a chill wind for me. "
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