As Hollywood grapples with the rise of artificial intelligence, powerhouse talent agency CAA is leveling up to protect its artists from AI abuse. And it all comes down to a vault.
Speaking at TheWrap’s Grill conference on Tuesday, CAA head of Strategic Development Alexandra Shannon broke down how she spearheaded the creation of the CAAvault, which was set up in September 2023 and uses technology from AI company Veritone to capture and store digital likenesses and voices.
“[The Vault] focused on enabling our artists, our talent, to capture their digital likeness and their voice and be able to own that so our clients, who have gone through the vault, own their authorized, authenticated version of themselves,” Shannon explained. “They’re in control of it. We’ve created permissions around who can use it and how.”
Shannon was joined onstage by Matt Galsor, a partner at law firm Greenberg Glusker; Brian Robillard, the COO of AI company Deep Voodoo; and Sean King, the general manger of Media & Entertainment at Veritone, a publicly traded AI company based in Irvine.
Veritone sponsored the panel, titled “Protecting Creative Rights + Opportunities in the Age of AI,” which was moderated by TheWrap’s Business Editor Alexei Barrionuevo. Together, they discussed how to best leverage AI to help creators, rather than put them out of a job.
“There’s a hesitation and resilient kind of allergy to the technology itself, because it has that potential [to reshape the industry],” Galsor, who represents A-list directors James Cameron and David Fincher, told TheGrill crowd in Los Angeles.
Robillard, whose AI startup was co-founded by “South Park“ creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, said the tech isn’t something the entertainment industry should fear. Instead, it’s “a tool for humans” to make content better, faster and cheaper.
“We have one customer who’s making a couple movies right now,” Robillard said. “And normally, that actor would have to sit in a prosthetics chair for six hours a day, on a three-month production shoot and the whole crew would have to be sitting there. Now, with our technology, they just walk onto set as they are with just the wardrobe, and in real-time it puts the hair and prosthetics over them. They see it in the live feed. It goes into the dailies and then, ultimately, into the production.”
Echoing those comments, King insisted the creative opinions of Hollywood’s actors, directors and producers are paramount.
“Fundamentally, we are an AI company, which is a controversial topic, especially in the industries that my team represents,” he said. “But let me be clear: from our perspective, AI is a tool, but it’s never going to be the tool.”
King added, “What we really do is focus on trying to find and make the most out of the audio and video that you create.”
Meanwhile, Shannon said that CAA has been busy contemplating the industry-shifting potential of AI — forcing the agency to weigh the pros and cons for its clients.
“We had to figure out, what does it mean for our clients? How do we, on the one hand, protect them from any sort of misuse when the laws [to safeguard artists] aren’t there anytime soon,” she said. “But on the other hand, there’s undeniable opportunity with these tools and technologies.”
Shannon stressed the need to pursue “ethical AI” to protect creatives.
“Having a set of partners that are aligned in the ethics behind it, behind the principles of consent, credit and compensation, is critical,” she said.
However, not everyone is as bullish that AI is helping the entertainment industry.
Earlier in the day, during another AI panel, focused on its growing influence in Hollywood, actor and filmmaker Justine Bateman warned that AI “will burn down the business.”
How do we protect [our clients] from any sort of misuse when the laws aren’t there anytime soon?
— Alexandra Shannon, CAA Head of Strategic Development
“If you start taking out chunks of duties, maybe the whole marketing department, maybe a camera, maybe all the actors or half the actors, or the crew doesn’t get their days to qualify for insurance because you’re only using them for three weeks instead of 12,” Bateman said, “whatever it is, the structure will collapse.”
In support of her skeptical AI stance, Bateman founded Credo23, the 2025 film festival that won’t allow movies that use AI to be submitted.
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