The SPIEF announced the inability of AI to replace the producer's flair in film production

The use of modern technologies requires creative courage and willingness to experiment from industry professionals. At the same time, no artificial intelligence (AI) can replace the producer's flair in filmmaking. This was announced on June 6 by Dmitry Tabarchuk, CEO of NMG Studio, at the session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026) "A New Era of filmmaking: hybridization of approaches, neuroplasticity and breakthrough technologies."

According to him, AI and LED screens are transforming filmmaking, but they do not free producers from the need to take risks. Tabarchuk noted significant changes in the computer graphics and postproduction markets.

"We can clearly see how the mini-computer graphics market is changing in the market. We see how the postproduction market is changing," he stressed.

The head of NMG Studio explained that technological progress does not always lead to cheaper production. New specialists who are able to work with AI and modern equipment form their own cost of services. This forces producers to evaluate the economic feasibility of each approach in advance.

"There are professionals working with AI, there are professionals working with LED screens, when working with any other new technologies, and these professionals are already putting up their price tag in the same way," Tabarchuk said.

He added that when preparing projects, it is necessary to take into account not only the technical potential, but also the payback of stories created with the help of complex solutions. According to the expert, neural networks are not yet able to accurately predict the success of a creative idea.

"No AI, in my opinion, will allow us to draw that exact conclusion. In the end, you're experimenting anyway, in a sense, and you're faced with the question: do I believe it or don't I believe it," said the CEO of the company.

Tabarchuk cited the work on the Chelyuskin project as an example of using a hybrid filming model. The first ones." The material was shot both on expeditions in the north and in pavilions using computer graphics and LED panels.

"We shot the Chelyuskin project on LED screens. When our set sank, we realized that we definitely wouldn't be able to shoot this story in the north," the speaker said.

Currently, NMG Studio is working on the next large-scale project using LED technologies. Tabarchuk summarized that the key criterion for choosing tools remains genre conformity and the ability to make a story convincing to the audience.

"Our goal is not to replace humans, but to create a fast and accurate AI—based assistant."

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Earlier that day, Dmitry Pashutin, Director of strategy at the National Media Group (NMG), said that AI would remove the threshold for entering video content production, which would lead to an increase in the amount of content and further fragmentation of the audience. He called the creation of big brands in the context of the advertising industry and the ability to tell long stories the key challenges for the industry.