Matt Umbarger

AI is easy. Being remembered isn’t | Exploring what survives in a world of infinite content | Academy Nicholl Top 1% | Ad reel:

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

https://t.co/S5gK6ZanJF

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@taherdhanera Production became abundant. Story became abundant. Taste may become abundant. Scarcity doesn’t disappear though. It migrates. We just don’t have the language for this new version yet.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Cool post. Bring on the Rocky Horror Picture Show in every neighborhood! haha. The recording interlude may be ending…but I think the bigger shift isn’t from recorded media to live media as a whopper shift. It’s from scarce production to scarce selection. After all, when anything can be created, deciding what deserves attention becomes the art…we just don’t have the language for this shift yet.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

AI can democratize CGI. It can’t democratize being the next Charlie Kaufman.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@WriterMcG Yes. When production becomes abundant, meaning becomes scarce. That sounds abstract right now; I think that’s temporary.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@savefilmer The production revolution already happened. This is the commoditization phase.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

This is interesting, and kinda predictable early stage. The cascade of commoditization will roll on. Infinite content, same number of eyeballs. If you look out a few years, I wonder if literally "making videos" is really what all of this is building toward or something beyond that (as abstract as that sounds right now).

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Yes, I think this is directionally true. AI 100% compresses production roles...but it doesn’t erase emotional architecture, or rhythm, escalation...you know, storytelling itself. I feeel like this (mostly) uncharted future (which we don't have language for yet) prob belongs to filmmakers/creators whatev who can synthesize multiple storytelling dimensions at once. Not people pretending craft no longer matters.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Scarcity makes talented creators valuable. Abundance makes talented curators valuable.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

We're moving from an era where execution signaled meaning...to an era where execution is assumed and meaning has to be rediscovered. That's the new thing people are struggling to articulate. That 'empty calories' feeling is the beginning of recalibration.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Haters gonna hate, from the 1600's 'til now. Same-same. Ignore. Do you. AI video is paradigm-shifting, but there is a lot of apples 2 apples comparison happening. Production is exploding. Attention isn’t. Full stop. Infinite content. Same number of eyeballs. This tech forces the unlock of one narrative layer deeper. Until now, production quality has acted as a proxy for meaning. That's done. The divide between “looks good” and “actually lingers” is about to get very uncomfortable. That is quiet part that very few people seem to be saying out loud.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@Diesol @runwayml Solid work. It kept me there. The best AI shorts don’t just show you spectacle….they make you question intent. The robot being kind to the kid while still feeling potentially dangerous kept the tension alive the entire time.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Respectfully, AI won’t kill Hollywood. It will kill the assumption that expensive production automatically deserves attention. That is clearly false now.

When everyone can make something that looks cinematic, the value shifts to: tension, identity, meaning, and emotional residue. These are MUCH harder to pull off than most ‘Hollywood is Dead!’ people understand.

The cost of making collapses. The cost of caring skyrockets.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

We are still very much in the cool tools and “check out my workflow phase” …but those are about to become invisible. That is not a moat. Surprisingly few people are discussing the obvious second order of effects that will kick in before long so the fact that you’re recognizing it now puts you ahead of the crowd.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Game of Thrones reminded you of what obsession feels like. That short firm is fun and really strong technically, beautifully made, but it’s basically a commodity moving forward. When production becomes abundant, meaning becomes scarce. Production quality has acted as a proxy for meaning. That time is over. This was a fun watch, but I agree with you. It’s simply emulating a narrative that already exists.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

Screenwriting & attention engineering are going to merge. A lot of clipping culture today is basically pattern interruption, ...dopamine pacing...emotional spikes every few seconds...loop design...curiosity gaps, etc.

That’s useful. But on its own, it becomes empty stimulation. Quickly. You feel this already when you watch some AI shorts: visually insane, emotionally weightless.

Screenwriting brings the missing layer...character intention, escalation with consequence, subtext (hard to learn), delayed payoff, emotional orientation, thematic coherence, memory formation, and so on.

The merge point is prob something like this: Screenwriting teaches you why people stay. Clipping teaches you how to stop them from leaving before the “why” arrives.

That’s the convergence.

The future probably belongs to creators who understand BOTH attention physics & emotional architecture...and that combination will be an extremely scarce skill.

Right now most people only understand one side.

Traditional screenwriters often underestimate: Pacing velocity, modern attention conditioning, thumbnail/title/opening psychology, internet rhythm,
meme language & retention mechanics.

Meanwhile clip-first creators often underestimate fundamentals like character bonding, anticipation, emotional residue, tonal modulation, narrative inevitability, payoff discipline, symbolic meaning, and (most importantly) in a world of infinite content...why certain scenes linger for years.

The overlap is especially powerful in commercials, in trailers, in short-form narrative, serialized content
creator-led brands, and a bunch of other things I am completely clueless on I'm sure.

Instant emotional clarity combined with controlled escalation is probably closer to the merge point than most people realize.

The next generation of strong storytellers probably won’t look like traditional Hollywood writers OR pure internet clippers.

They’ll be narrative systems designers, emotional editors...something like attention choreographers, or basically people who understand when to spike attention, when to withhold, when to compress, etc etc.

Because in abundance, pacing itself becomes meaning.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@Gossip_Goblin I have no idea what I just watched but I like it lol

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@AI__Angelo @taherdhanera That was always the scarce skill.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@alexutopia @Chahatxsharma This feels on point. Up until now, production quality has acted as a proxy for meaning. That’s over: Infinite content. Same number of eyeballs. The game didn’t open up with tools. It just changed where it’s won.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

@Gossip_Goblin I did. It was great. I watched the whole thing twice.

[Matt Umbarger @Matt_Umbarger]

I dig the atmosphere you’re building with these…it’s easy to step into. Feels like there’s an interesting layer where subtextt, arcs, and character depth could start to carry more weight over time….so the experience lingers beyond the visuals. That’s what will take this (already impressive) only-you style to the next narrative level. Really enjoyed it.