Hollywood Was Cooked Before AI, and Now It's Only Getting…

PodcastOdd LotsHayes DavenportSep 25

Hollywood’s production economics are tightening as writing rooms shrink, comedy remains difficult to produce and monetize, and established libraries compete with new releases. AI may take on more production work, but its cost advantage is limited against free personalized content, while comedy remains a particular challenge. The slowdown is also affecting Los Angeles restaurants, nightlife, tourism appeal, and studio real estate, even as major franchises retain high library value.

Artificial Intelligence Automation Real Estate

Preview · 9 more points in the app

Read the Full Summary

Key Takeaways

AI could eventually take on more Hollywood production work, putting jobs such as hair and makeup, set design, and gripping at risk; however, AI-generated entertainment still faces competition from abundant free, personalized human-created content and limited consumer viewing time. Comedy is an especially difficult area for AI, according to the discussion.

Television’s production economics have compressed creative labor, with Family Guy’s former 30-person writing staff contrasted with a seven-writer room that would now be considered large. The guest says strike rules requiring minimum room sizes and durations have further changed the economics of starting a writers’ room, while smaller staffs can constrain joke development in ensemble comedies.

Comedy faces a difficult commercial environment: its weaker commercial and theatrical upside reduces studios’ incentive to produce it, while high-joke-density formats depend on multiple writers pitching and testing material. Existing libraries such as Family Guy also compete directly with every new release because viewers can access entire catalogs rather than only programs airing on rival networks.

TECHNOLOGY

AI Production Impact — AI may soon handle more Hollywood production work beyond generating outlines, although comedy remains particularly difficult. As adoption advances, hair and makeup teams, set designers, and grips could face job losses that ripple through Los Angeles’ broader economy.

“And so hair and makeup, people like, set design, grips, things like that, like, that is sort of on an immediate of this when it comes to Yeah. AI…”—

ECONOMY

Smaller Writing Rooms — Television writing staffs have contracted sharply. Family Guy had 30 writers when the guest worked there, while a seven-writer group once considered a small breakout team would now be viewed as a large room. The comparison shows how production economics have compressed creative labor.

“I worked on a show called Great News, which is kind of in the 30 family Yeah. Where the joke density Family Guy is the same way…”—

Strike Staffing Rules — The guest says writers’ strikes changed staffing economics by requiring writers’ rooms to meet minimum size and duration rules. Those requirements have changed the calculus of starting a room.

“Part of it is a result of the strikes where if you have a room now, it has to be of a certain size and for a certain number of…”—

Comedy Writing Constraints — Ensemble comedies such as Great News and Family Guy are difficult to produce with a single writer. Joke development depends on multiple writers pitching ideas and testing what gets a laugh, so smaller rooms risk constraining the quality of high-joke-density formats.

“But I'll say, with a show like great news with a show like Family Guy, it is almost impossible to come up with a show like to write a show…”—

MARKETS

Studio Oversupply — Los Angeles studio real estate faces a supply-demand mismatch. Major facilities were financed around the 2016 peak and began construction around 2019, but demand has since weakened. The guest says this is creating issues in the studio real estate economy.

“That's when a lot of studio space started to get financed…”—

Hollywood Production Collapse

Hayes Davenport traces Los Angeles's production decline from its 2016 peak, linking falling shoot days to streaming shifts, strikes, and shrinking opportunities for writers.

Creators And Production Geography

The conversation examines unemployed writers, the local economic value of influencers, and why tax incentives are moving productions from Los Angeles to competing regions.

Mini Rooms And Comedy Economics

Davenport explains why television writing rooms are shrinking, why collaborative joke-heavy shows need many writers, and how cost pressures are reshaping comedy production.

Libraries, AI, And Hollywood Jobs

The speakers discuss how established libraries compete with new releases, why AI remains stigmatized in production, and how automation threatens Los Angeles's below-the-line workforce.

Why Comedy Is Vulnerable

Horror's low-budget commercial model is thriving while comedy struggles, and AI may handle outlines or some genres sooner than it can reproduce genuinely funny writing.

Hollywood's Local Economic Ripple

The decline in production is affecting restaurants, tourism, nightlife, and the city's cultural identity, with fewer events and less of the lifestyle once exported by Hollywood.

The End Of Monoculture

Davenport argues that Hollywood's shared celebrity culture has fragmented, even though older movie stars and valuable franchises remain visible and commercially important.

Live Show Closing

The hosts thank Davenport, identify the live venue and producers, and direct listeners toward Odd Lots newsletters, community channels, and subscriptions.