The entertainment media market is projected to more than double by 2035, driven by streaming, gaming, digital content, and AI-powered recommendations that are reshaping how audiences consume entertainment. In this episode, we also look at the UK’s record film and high-end TV spending, the rapid rise of AI video generation, and how Oscar recognition still influences theatrical viewership even as streaming changes audience habits.

The global entertainment media market is entering a major expansion phase as streaming, gaming, and on-demand digital content continue to reshape how audiences consume entertainment. According to market projections, the sector is expected to grow from $3.24 trillion in 2025 to $6.17 trillion by 2035, while the U.S. market alone is forecast to rise from about $971.77 billion to $1.43 trillion over the same period. Much of that growth is being driven by digital streaming, which now makes up nearly 40% of industry revenue, alongside rising demand for original programming, mobile gaming, esports, and immersive formats such as virtual and augmented reality.

At the same time, the industry is facing pressure from piracy, rising production costs, and the need to keep audiences engaged across increasingly fragmented platforms. Studios and streamers are investing heavily in exclusive content, while gaming and ad-supported digital formats continue to expand their share of the market. Regional growth is also shifting the balance of power, with North America still leading and Asia Pacific emerging as the fastest-growing market thanks to mobile-first audiences in countries like China, India, Japan, and South Korea. In the UK, film and high-end TV spending has also surged, reinforcing how competitive the global content market has become. Even the Oscars remain influential, with awards recognition still capable of driving audience interest in theatrical releases and streaming viewership, even as viewing habits continue to evolve.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

Artificial intelligence is now reshaping every stage of film and TV production, from script development and planning to editing and viewer analytics. Streaming platforms are racing to feed global audiences, and AI tools that speed up workflows and reduce costs are becoming essential in the cutthroat competition. Actors face little direct threat. Synthetic performers and digital doubles are still experimental. The bigger change is in the production engine, with scheduling software, editing systems, and simulation tools transforming how films take shape well before release.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, AI and Entertainment Reporter and researcher, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

OpenAI is shutting down Sora and walking away from a reported $1 billion Disney content deal, marking a major retreat from AI video generation as the company shifts focus toward robotics and agentic AI. The episode also looks at streaming’s continued growth, smart TV gatekeeping battles in Europe, AI-powered performance through Val Kilmer’s planned return, and the legal fights over AI training, authorship, and digital likeness rights.

OpenAI’s decision to shut down Sora less than two years after its launch signals a sharp turn away from consumer AI video and toward robotics, agentic systems, and more physically grounded forms of artificial intelligence. The company’s reported $1 billion Disney partnership has also fallen apart, underlining how quickly AI entertainment deals can shift when strategy, intellectual property concerns, and product priorities change. Sora originally attracted huge attention for turning text prompts into realistic video clips, but the shutdown suggests OpenAI is now more interested in technologies that solve real-world tasks than in competing directly in the video creation market.

That shift lands in a wider entertainment landscape still being reshaped by streaming, platform power, and AI-driven content workflows. Broadcasters are pressing European regulators to rein in the smart TV ecosystems controlled by Google, Amazon, Apple, and Samsung, arguing that discovery and distribution are becoming too centralized. At the same time, Hollywood is experimenting with AI in more personal ways, from Val Kilmer’s estate-backed return in As Deep As the Grave to the broader rise of digital likenesses and synthetic performances. The episode also touches on the growing market for gig workers who sell personal data and voice samples to train AI systems, and on the legal boundaries around AI authorship, with the U.S. Supreme Court leaving in place the view that copyright still requires a human creator.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

At Cannes Marché du Film 2026, AI Takes Center Stage

During Marché du Film, I spoke with and listened to a film industry immersed in AI technology

At Marché du Film, AI felt like a business model taking shape in public rather than a distant abstraction. The language had shifted, with AI now framed as production support that helps with brainstorming, editing, analysis, VFX, and workflow, while the creator remains human. That distinction mattered. In Cannes, the conversation centered on control, and on tools that promise to speed up development, sharpen decision-making, and ease the grind of production without stripping away authorship.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood Film PR agency, ⁠Ginger Media & Entertainment⁠, ⁠a journalist and ⁠researcher⁠ on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast ⁠Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech⁠

Film and TV companies are competing harder than ever for audience attention as streaming, gaming, and short-form video keep pulling viewers away from traditional TV and theatrical releases. With box office recovery still uneven, studios are spending more on tentpoles, sports rights, and original programming while platforms like Netflix, YouTube, and FAST services fight for the same time, subscriptions, and ad dollars.

The entertainment industry is facing a major shift as film and TV companies compete for attention across theatrical, streaming, gaming, and social platforms. U.S. box office sales remain below pre-pandemic highs even as 2026 tentpoles are expected to lift totals, while rising ticket prices are masking softer attendance and a stronger move toward streaming for adult-skewing films. At the same time, studios and platforms are pouring money into original programming, live sports, and subscription growth, with Disney, Netflix, and other major players using bigger content budgets to defend their positions in a crowded market.

Streaming now dominates viewing habits, while YouTube, FAST services like Tubi and Pluto TV, and short-form video have become central to the fight for audience time. Artificial intelligence is adding another layer of disruption, with tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo 3 flooding feeds with generated video and raising concerns about AI slop and content quality. In Europe, the audiovisual market continues to grow, but rights and royalties for creators remain uneven, adding another pressure point to an industry already being reshaped by platform power, global competition, and changing consumer behavior.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

Digital Afterlife News: Dead Celebrities, Dead Relatives, AI industry set for significant growth.

Google’s Sweetwater explores how AI turns grief into a new kind of memory.

Character.ai blocks teenagers from chatting with its AI bots amid safety concerns.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI TechTechnologyArtificial IntelligenceMental HealthStartup

HumanX took over San Francisco this week, drawing more than 6,500 attendees, with an impressive 60% at VP level or above, alongside 400+ sponsors, 300+ speakers, and a packed media presence of 350 journalists. Held across several days in April 2026, the event brought together some of the biggest names shaping AI right now. Speakers and participants included leaders and voices from companies such as OpenAI, NVIDIA, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and Meta, alongside a surge of fast-rising startups entering film, media, healthcare, and enterprise AI.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a journalist and researcher on visual media technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

AI revolution in film and TV production and industry future report

AI is boosting productivity by 5–10% in development and pre‑production (visual pitches, script breakdowns, A/B story testing, and shot lists), with potential expansion into physical production (virtual sets, fewer reshoots) and post‑production (VFX, clipping, dubbing, faster workflows). Up to 20% of U.S. original content spend — about $10 billion by 2030 — could be addressable, with distributors capturing most of the value through margins as producers fragment.

SAG-AFTRA eyes studio tax on digital performers amid unstoppable rise of AI

Autodesk sues Google over AI-powered movie-making software

Amazon plans AI push to accelerate TV and film production

AI loops cause cultural stagnation with no new data

AI set to transform cinema operations from scheduling to box office forecasting

AI to make linear TV and streaming feel like a mood-shifting platform

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

AI set to reshape film and TV production from script to screen.

Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionise every phase of television and film production, potentially transforming not just how stories are told, but who gets to tell them. As demand for video content surges, US adults now spend almost seven hours daily watching across platforms, stagnant budgets, lengthy production schedules, and fierce competition for viewers’ increasingly fragmented attention challenge traditional media.​ 

Amazon Prime Video introduces AI-powered video recaps for original series

New Dutch AI time‑travel series from Tilly Norwood creators

Beta Film launches AI startup Chapter41 with industry veterans

Kevin Reilly to helm AI startup Kartel as entertainment and tech worlds converge

Disney+ eyes user-generated AI videos despite IP lawsuits

Amazon Prime Video introduces AI-powered video recaps for original series

Eros Innovation raises $150m to power AI media platform

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, journalist and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast Digital Afterlife: Hollywood & AI Tech

ByteDance promises safeguards for Seedance AI tool, AMC Theatres pulls AI short film ‘Thanksgiving Day’ after online backlash, Streaming viewers want AI assistance but not AI-generated content.

At a screening of ElevenLabs’ Chroma Awards-winning AI short films, entries struggled under cinema lights, exposing immature technology and artificial narratives despite bold creative efforts. The limitations were clear: too crude for cinema beyond smartphone fodder. Days later, ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0 online, winning instant praise from enthusiasts while prompting panic and legal threats from Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery, Disney, and Paramount over its uncanny IP recreation.

Hollywood studios across the industry are grappling with their growing reliance on artificial intelligence, from post-production enhancements to screenwriting aids. Last year’s Oscar winner, “The Brutalist,” stirred controversy after admitting AI-enhanced actors’ accents. This year, such disclosures have gone quiet, even from the Academy, which maintains a de facto “don’t ask, don’t tell” stance, with every best picture nominee likely touched by AI in production. Artists remain fiercely resistant following the 2023 strikes, screenwriters appear to embrace chatbots, while viral AI demos like the faked Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt fight have circled overblown narratives of Hollywood’s demise.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood PR agency, Ginger Media & Entertainment, a writer and researcher on technology and entertainment, an MFA photographer and filmmaker, and host of the podcast The Digital Afterlife of Grief.