Thomas Frey is who you will undoubtedly find when you do a Google search on “futurist speaker”. Having shared the stage with many A-listers, Frey has earned that moniker. But his true skill demonstrated repeatedly in this week’s episode is taking an event or innovation and the extrapolating the future. In this episode we see him do that in real time. It’s a unique glimpse into the futurist process.

Doug Shapiro, one of the leading analysts of trends in the media and entertainment industry, explains how Hollywood now faces a second phase of digital transformation. First, the Internet unbundled media distribution, and now AI is reshaping the creative process. No one will be spared: impact will be felt by major media companies, independents and the full range of professionals from screenwriters to directors, cast and crew. Shaprio provides a summary of the changes that occurred in the past 20 years and his bold forecast of the AI-defined future that will lead to infinite content. Topics covered in this episode: how the definition of quality is shifting; how value is migrating to new control points in the media supply chain; how YouTube and TikTok paved the way for GenAI; the demise of middlemen; the fragmentation of attention; the extreme power law of popularity; the rise of new gatekeepers.