Director Gregg Araki's own account of fixing a scene shot next to a freeway.
Gregg Araki isn't an AI evangelist. But making his new film, he ran into a problem every location shoot dreads, and reached for an AI tool anyway.
Shot Right Next to a Freeway
A key dialogue scene was shot on a mini-golf course right next to a freeway. The audio was wall-to-wall highway noise, the kind of problem that used to mean expensive ADR, or a scene you just live with.
"Literally Insane"
Using AI-assisted post-production audio tools, his team masked the highway noise with ambient sound design. Araki's own words: "It was literally insane the way these things can work."
Not a Sound-Mixer Replacement
Araki was clear he's not signing up to replace actors or writers with AI. It's a "this specific, common problem now has a much cheaper fix" story.
Who This Actually Helps
This matters most for independent and lower-budget productions, the ones who never had the money for a second sound day or heavy ADR. That gap just got smaller.
My Honest Take
The tool didn't make Araki an AI convert. It solved one specific, expensive problem, cheaper. That's more honest than either "AI replaces you" or "AI changes nothing."
One Real Problem, Solved Cheaper
By someone who isn't rooting for AI to win.