Head of Characters

Netflix has used AI on about 300 titles, but "human touch is critical," Exec says in Busan. Netflix's Asia-Pacific production head Sung Q Lee, 'The Outlaws' director Kang Yun-sung and Wētā FX's Kimball Thurston discussed creative possibilities, production savings and the limits of AI at the streamer's Creative Asia event in Busan. October 10, 2026 10:12pm Netflix has already used AI in various capacities on about 300 titles, one of its senior production executives said Saturday during an industry discussion at the Busan International Film Festival. Sung Q Lee, Netflix's senior director of production for Asia-Pacific, said the technology was being deployed across the filmmaking process, but stressed the importance of preserving human creativity. "[AI] is being used in previsualization, production design, working out set-dressing concepts ahead of time, in editing and of course in VFX," Lee said. "But the question that matters to me isn't, 'How much AI can we put into this title?' but, 'What more can this title do with AI's help?'" Lee was speaking at Netflix's annual Creative Asia event, presented in partnership with the Busan International Film Festival. The panel, co-hosted with the Motion Picture Association, also featured Korean filmmaker Kang Yun-sung, the director of The Outlaws and an enthusiastic adopter of AI tools, and Kimball Thurston, chief technology officer at Wētā FX. Much of the discussion focused on the opportunities AI could create for filmmakers working with limited budgets, although the speakers repeatedly emphasized the need to preserve human creative judgment. The occasion also highlighted just how differently the Hollywood creative community and Asian content sector tend to perceive the potential perils and promise of the technology, with the former profoundly wary and the latter seeing it mostly as an opportunity. Kang partnered with self-described AI filmmaker Kwon Han-seul last year to co-direct Run to the West, billed as Korea's first fully AI-assisted feature. The project struggled at the box office amid bad buzz over its AI visuals, earning about $100,000. Kang said the pace of AI's advancement meant the film already looked somewhat dated by the time of its release, but he remains undeterred about the technology's potential for screen storytelling. The director is now in production on an action film called The Gulf of Aden, which heavily utilizes generative AI tools from China's Kling AI. He said the technology has enabled him to realize myriad scenes that otherwise wouldn't have been possible due to the budgetary constraints "that have held the Korean industry back from growing to its full potential." Kang estimated that the AI-assisted approach could reduce the film's production costs by around 40 percent. "When we calculated how much we'd save on The Gulf of Aden for financing, it came to a reduction of around 40 percent," Kang said. "That's not just from replacing CG and VFX. The shoot itself was streamlined, and that cut down our production time to some extent." He added: "What has been buried due to budgetary issues was able to be put back on the table." Netflix's Sung tried to place AI within the context of the constant technological revolutions that have characterized the film industry since its earliest days. "Technological changes and new tools have helped a great deal with the 'how,' or how we make what we make better," he said. "But they never decided the 'why' - why we have to tell this story." "But when it comes to conveying emotion," he later added, "ultimately, a human has to touch it. AI can get many jobs done, but does it touch human emotion? The human touch is critical and necessary." Thurston similarly described Wētā FX's use of the technology, so far, as "assistive AI," rather than something that's "allowed to change the creative intent in any way." "It provides us - very fast - with the visual images and visualization. So from the director's perspective or the cinematographer's perspective, it's very easy to identify the errors and correct them," he explained. "Our goal is to reduce simple, repetitive tasks," he added.

The iPhone Duo's unfolding animation is giving Z Fold 8 owners FOMO, but not me. When I first got my hands on the iPhone Duo, I admittedly dismissed the unfolding animation that would soon become a highlight of online discourse. I was less interested in the smooth transition as content shifted from one screen to another and more focused on details such as the matte inner display and seemingly invisible crease. But in the weeks since Apple unveiled its first foldable iPhone, which drops Oct. 23, I've seen countless examples on social media of people trying to recreate that buzzed-about animation on their Android foldables. While the Play Store offers plenty of launchers for customizing Android phones - including ones that mimic the iPhone's home screen - this appears to be one iOS design element that users are particularly eager to bring to their devices. Sometimes, you really can't predict what people will care about most - or the lengths they'll go to imitate a feature. The primary phone people have used to recreate the iPhone Duo's cascading transition effect is Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8, which debuted in July with a passport-size foldable design ahead of Apple's release. Unlike iOS, Samsung's One UI interface, which runs on top of Android on Galaxy devices, doesn't include a folding animation. Instead, content simply transitions from the Z Fold 8's cover screen to its inner display once the phone is opened about halfway. I never considered this a deficiency until I saw the flood of positive reactions to the iPhone Duo's fluid transition effect. To bridge that gap, several creators have posted videos explaining how to use third-party apps and developer tools on GitHub to get a similar effect on the Z Fold 8, with caveats like "the smoothness and quality won't be the same'" and "install it [at] your own risk." (That's encouraging!) The steps don't seem particularly complicated, and some options appear to have cropped up in the Play Store as well. I've chosen to forgo installing these Duo-copycat apps on my precious Galaxy Z Fold 8 for two reasons. First, I'm not much of a risk-taker. Second, I'm not interested in imitating an aesthetic element of Apple's software with a derivative version, especially when the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a standout foldable device in its own right. While the value of the Duo's sleek animation has since grown on me, I'm not quite desperate enough to retrofit it onto a foldable phone that's just as functional without that flourish. Don't get me wrong: I think Apple's combination of hardware and software expertise will elevate the iPhone Duo in a way that merits the attention the phone has received, despite being relatively "late" to the foldables game. But I also think it's more tasteful for consumers to embrace what each phone-maker does best, rather than shoehorning in a competitor's feature for something as superficial as an animation effect. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is one of my favorite phones I've tested this year, earning it a CNET Editors' Choice Award. Its versatile design is optimized for both vertical and horizontal content: I can stream YouTube videos and movies on the 7.6-inch inner display, then rotate it to seamlessly scroll through social posts. The crease is barely noticeable, and the battery easily lasts all day. The 5.5-inch cover screen never feels cramped, while its sharp corners give the phone a highly polished look. And despite lacking a telephoto lens, the Z Fold 8's dual rear cameras pull their weight, capturing crisp, vibrant photos. The iPhone Duo shares many attributes with the Z Fold 8, including a palm-size design, 7.6-inch inner display and dual rear cameras. Those similarities prompted Samsung to post a series of salty tweets after Apple debuted its foldable last month, including one that reads, "Let us know when you're done reheating our leftovers." That said, I am curious how app developers might optimize their platforms for the iPhone Duo in ways we haven't seen with other foldable phones. While the Android operating system spans a wide range of devices and configurations, iOS developers only have to cater to a single foldable, potentially leading to a more tailored and streamlined experience. We got a glimpse of how Netflix is building its app for the Duo, and it'll be interesting to see how both Apple and other third-party developers take full advantage of the phone's 1.4:1 aspect ratio in ways that could make its predecessors seem behind the curve in that regard. "Borrowing" features from each other is what phone-makers do best. Down the road, it's possible companies such as Samsung will implement foldable capabilities that Apple rolled out first, and vice versa. Heck, Apple's delayed entry into this space means it had time to analyze what worked well for its competitors before jumping in with its own rendition. It's just how the industry works. So maybe the Galaxy Z Fold 9 - or whatever Samsung decides to call the follow-up to the Z Fold 8 - will have its own nifty opening animation. But until Samsung itself embraces the idea, I'll stick with using the standout foldable as-is. Abrar Al-Heeti Senior Technology Reporter Abrar's interests include phones, streaming, autonomous vehicles, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. In addition to her current role, she's worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco - steep inclines and all. See full bio

Netflix data shows k-content drives global tourism growth. entertainment Key takeaways. * New research from **Netflix** reveals that 67% of its international subscribers express a desire to visit South Korea, directly correlating platform engagement with travel intent. * Sung Q Lee, Netflix's senior director of APAC production, emphasizes that narrative-driven storytelling is a more potent driver of tourism than traditional scenic marketing. * The findings were unveiled at the third annual **Creative Asia** event, a collaboration between Netflix and the **Busan International Film Festival** (BIFF). TrendPulse analysis. Industry context. This data underscores a broader shift in the **media and entertainment** sector: the evolution of the "content-to-commerce" pipeline. For years, tourism boards have relied on traditional advertising, but Netflix's model proves that immersive storytelling creates a deeper, more emotional connection with potential travelers. This mirrors the "The White Lotus effect," where specific filming locations see massive spikes in tourism, but on a national, systemic scale for South Korea. Competitors like **Disney+** and **Amazon Prime Video** are increasingly looking to replicate this model by investing in localized content across Southeast Asia and Latin America. However, Netflix maintains a first-mover advantage. By consistently funding high-budget, culturally specific productions, they have created a self-sustaining ecosystem where the platform acts as a global cultural ambassador. This strategy effectively hedges against the volatility of the streaming market by diversifying the value proposition of a subscription beyond just entertainment. Why this matters. For decision-makers, this insight signals that the ROI of content production now extends far beyond subscriber acquisition and retention. Governments and regional tourism boards should view streaming platforms as essential partners in economic development. TrendPulse is seeing a move toward "soft power" diplomacy where the narrative control held by streamers directly influences national tourism policy and infrastructure investment. Furthermore, this trend suggests that advertisers and brands should pivot their strategies. Instead of traditional product placement, brands should seek deeper integration into the narrative fabric of global hits. If 67% of a massive, global audience is actively looking to visit a country based on the stories they see, the potential for cross-industry partnerships - ranging from hospitality and retail to aviation - is immense. Investors should monitor how streamers leverage these partnerships to create "experience-based" subscription tiers or integrated travel booking features within their apps. The bottom line. Content-driven tourism is now a primary economic engine for streaming platforms, requiring executives to treat narrative development as a key component of global brand and travel strategy. Read the full article. This analysis is based on reporting from Variety AI-powered news analysis · October 10, 2026 Editorially Reviewed