Joe Russo on AI, Streaming, and Art vs Entertainment: Sands25

The Sands International Film Festival was inaugurated in 2022 in St Andrews by directors Joe and Anthony Russo and their production company AGBO. This year marks the fourth of its running. 

“I think that art is very personal,” said Russo, in regards to how balances entertainment and art in his work — and if any difference exists between the two. “It’s a personal expression, and entertainment is an expression where you try to reach a wide group of people. So, I think there are elements that overlap about the two. There are elements that are very distinct.”

“I love to entertain people. I like to tell very broad stories, I like to erect a large tent and invite everybody in, under the tent, to have an experience together. And, so, that’s our focus, it’s always been entertainment. If you go back and look at all of our comedic work we did in television, the Marvel movies, our focus has always been towards entertainment. And, of course, there are other filmmakers who focus on personal expression, and we support both.”

Regarding the future of technological development and AI being used in film, Russo stated, “What’s scary, obviously, is the complexity of the technology and its ability, by corporations, to replace workers. The most complex part of AI is how it disrupts our traditional structures. What’s exciting about it is the way it can bring costs down, which, I think, is a barrier for voices, especially diverse voices in storytelling, and the costs are no longer validated by the return in the business.” 

“So, you’re seeing a strong conservative movement, and when markets can track like that, the first things to go are the interesting ideas and the interesting projects, because everyone wants to try and play it safe. I think we’re in a moment where technology can help us, as James Cameron said, ‘bring costs down’.”

“It’s the focus of artists — like, my brother and I spent tens of millions of dollars of our own money trying to figure out how to integrate technology in a way that enhances artists’ work and supports artists' work, without replacing art. We are focused, like Cameron, on bringing down those costs so that the door can be opened to a wider group of storytellers, and that filmmakers around the world can use whatever tools they want to use to tell their story.” 

Although he delivered a thought-provoking and concise description of the potential benefits of AI used in film, it is nonetheless ironic that Russo discussed the focus on ‘bringing down costs’, given that even his post-Marvel work thus far has been inordinately expensive. This has been reaffirmed incisively by The Saint’s own writer Leo Berenson in his articles on It’s Russover and The Money Sinkhole of Modern Hollywood, in which he calls to attention the hundreds of millions of dollars poured into the Russos’ post-Avengers projects.

Russo nonetheless emphasises how AI can bring opportunities to smaller and independent filmmakers: “It’s not just exclusively for a high budgeted commercial studio film that anyone can have access to those tools. That’s the exciting part about AI technology.” Indeed, through Russo and his production company AGBO, Sands Film Festival is a platform for smaller, independent filmmakers to share genuinely diverse and impactful work. 

As a last question, I asked Russo on the importance of having a cinema space in an age of streaming. “I think, my brother and I, we’re agnostic about how you receive your stories, but I think that what's important about cinema, obviously, [...] [is] that you can collect with other people. You can stay connected on a human level. The best experiences we've had telling stories are Infinity War, Endgame, where the audience was interactive with the storytelling, screaming, cheering, having that communal experience together, expressing themselves.”

“But I think there are great benefits to streaming, as well, which includes the fact that it spends more money on content, and has a less specific focus to its agenda for that content, which allows for more diverse voices and diverse stories to be told, it’s more experimental in that regard. And I think that’s an element that people don’t talk about enough, is how supportive streamers like Netflix actually have been.” 

Russo’s emphasis on the importance of streaming for the sake of its willingness to spend money recalls the opening question he answered on the difference between art and entertainment — the distinction between art as personal expression and entertainment as one that is wide-reaching. Russo’s contributions towards and leadership of the festival nonetheless highlight his focus on diversity in storytelling, inviting “everybody in […] to have an experience together”.

Photos by Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images for University of St Andrews