iQIYI's Gong Yu: Most Film & TV Projects Are Losing Money, AI Will Drastically Cut Production Costs in 1-3 Years

At the 16th Beijing International Film Festival Industry Forum, Gong Yu, founder of iQIYI, pointed out that current film and TV production costs are too high, with most projects unprofitable—only 30% to 40% of dramas make money. Besides actor costs, fees for other roles are still rising, posing significant financial risks to the industry.

Gong Yu believes AI technology brings a turning point: AI-generated short films at the festival cost only 1/5 to 1/10 of traditional shooting. Large-scale AI application in the next 1-3 years will drastically reduce production costs, allowing more works to reach audiences. Additionally, AI is expected to break the centralized content supply model of long video platforms and drive industry transformation.