Silver Lake production company Asteria is positioning AI as a way to bring film and TV work back to Los Angeles, where more than 40,000 production jobs have disappeared since 2022. The studio, which operates out of the historic Mack Sennett Studios sound stage, argues that generative AI can cut production costs and make it financially viable for projects to shoot locally again.
"We are right now at probably the most significant technological change in the way that we make movies," said Asteria co-founder Bryn Mooser.
The company identifies as an "artist-led, generative AI film and animation studio, powered by the first clean and ethical AI model." Mooser said the technology is being used as a practical production tool - filling out crowd scenes, extending shots, cleaning up footage, and handling animation in-betweening - rather than replacing human writers or performers.
A studio's answer to an industry downturn
The question of AI's role in Hollywood has sharpened as production jobs have fled the city. Federal data shows more than 40,000 production jobs have left Los Angeles since 2022, driven largely by the lower cost of shooting and editing in other states or overseas. For many industry professionals, the fear extends beyond job losses to the possibility that AI could replace an actor's likeness or voice.
"AI has become one of the biggest topics in Hollywood, particularly because the creatives have this fear, and it may be not totally unfounded at all, that AI could replace their likeness, their voice, could take jobs from writers, actors," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak.
Those concerns reached a boil in 2023, when the movie and TV industry was shut down for four months as unions struck over issues including the regulation of AI in production. Mooser acknowledges the industry's fears aren't baseless, but he argues that producers in Los Angeles must adapt if they want to compete.
"I think that anybody who says, 'Well, AI doesn't belong in Hollywood,' I would ask them, 'Is Hollywood working right now?'" he said. "Is it working for those people? If the industry was in a perfect spot, I would say, 'Sure, let's leave it alone.' But it's not."
Asteria claims that smaller teams using AI tools can finish jobs faster, driving the cost of production down and making Los Angeles a more competitive production hub. That matters for a city where the entertainment industry remains a central employer.
For creatives exploring how AI fits into production workflows, Generative Video Courses cover the kinds of tools emerging in this space. Asteria's approach also sits within a broader set of AI for Creatives resources focused on practical applications rather than replacement scenarios.
Will it change the math for LA?
Industry analysts are cautiously open to the idea but stop short of calling it a solution. D'arabedian said he understands Asteria's mission and its logic, though he questions how much momentum any single company can generate for an industry still weighing the risks of the technology.
"If this initiative by this company can make things more efficient in a sense, and then enable LA to become more competitive by virtue of these technologies, then that could be a good thing," said D'arabedian. "But I think the good has to be weighed with what are the potential pitfalls of using AI."
The studio is betting on the cost-saving side of that trade. Mooser's argument from the Mack Sennett building is direct: "We have to do something to try to bring jobs back here," he said, "and it's really important that Los Angeles becomes the place that is always the center of the entertainment industry, including being the center of whatever technology comes next."
Why this matters for creatives
The takeaway for anyone working in film, TV, or digital production is that AI adoption isn't just a technology upgrade - it's an economic survival argument. If leaner, AI-assisted teams can deliver projects for a lower cost, studios like Asteria believe the work will come back to Los Angeles. What remains unresolved is whether that model creates enough roles for human writers, actors, and crew, or whether the jobs that return will look fundamentally different from the ones lost.
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