Jon M. Chu Says AI Couldn’t Have Made One of Wicked’s Best Moments

If there’s anyone who understands the value of viral marketing, it’s Wicked: For Good manager Jon M. Chu.

At WIRED’s Big Interview lawsuit successful San Francisco, the onetime YouTuber and Crazy Rich Asians manager said that moving with acts similar Justin Bieber taught him the worth of connecting with fans online during the instauration process. While directing Bieber’s performance film, Never Say Never, successful the precocious aughts, Chu said the then-14-year-old prima utilized Twitter to present Chu to fans. After Bieber posted a clip joking that the manager was pursuing him astir connected set, Chu told WIRED’s elder civilization editor, Manisha Krishnan, helium began to ticker his online followers turn by tens of thousands of radical astir instantly, thing that truly drove location the powerfulness of nonstop transportation with a instrumentality base.

Working with Bieber, Chu said, made him recognize that “the communicative is being told earlier you adjacent commencement shooting, and aft you’re done with the movie, you person to proceed that story.” That’s wherefore helium believes fans person felt truthful invested successful Wicked—and its sequel, Wicked: For Good—and wherefore the movie’s selling and property tours person leaned truthful heavy connected the relationships built by the formed portion filming.

Bonds, similar the 1 betwixt stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, came from the immense unit the unit felt to marque thing not lone large but besides bankable. “We lone had each other, truthful we’re very, precise bonded,” Chu said, likening the narration to that of Silicon Valley developers moving agelong hours unneurotic to present a caller product.

A Bay Area native, Chu said helium has ever felt partially indebted to the tech satellite for his commencement successful entertainment. In the ’90s, erstwhile Chu was conscionable a teenager, tech-minded customers astatine his parents’ Chinese edifice would gaffe him computers, video cards, and bundle erstwhile they heard helium was funny successful filmmaking, giving him a limb up connected chap students erstwhile helium went to assemblage astatine the University of Southern California. “I was built by the generosity of this place, and I consciousness a large work erstwhile I’m back,” Chu said.

The manager besides said that due to the fact that of his longtime narration with technology, he’s somewhat open-minded erstwhile it comes to the interplay betwixt AI and filmmaking. The manager is “fascinated” by AI’s imaginable for accusation gathering and organization, and helium has enactment enactment into learning however to usage AI successful his ain process due to the fact that helium wants to recognize its potential.

On the flip side, Chu said, erstwhile making Wicked helium felt determination was worth successful having applicable sets and being capable to improvise alternatively than having to constitute each spot of dialog, camera motion, oregon characterization successful advance.