Eyes On AI in Film Schools with Justin Winters

***This episode was recorded in early 2026. OpenAI has since discontinued Sora (referenced at ~15:32, ~19:22, and ~26:05), and its $1B Disney licensing deal (~26:05) was cancelled as part of that shutdown.***

Is AI ending film careers or creating them? AI film professor Justin Winters has watched it from every side: Sundance panels, Hollywood writers rooms, and a film school classroom where his students all want a career path he says no longer exists.

Justin moderated Sundance's AI panel with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and former Academy president Janet Yang, and he brings that insider view here: the studios quietly building AI divisions, the $30 million OpenAI-funded animated film premiering at Cannes while Disney spends up to $1.5 million per minute of animation, and the House of David VFX budget that turned 700 shots into 500 VFX and 200 Gen AI.

Then it gets personal. The quiet student who became the AI artist behind the Coca-Cola commercial. The TV writer who built millions of followers in 11 months. And the agent who refused to meet the most brilliant student Justin has ever taught, because she wasn’t leveraging the technology. His advice to her is the best 60 seconds of the episode.