The New Threshold of Creative Labor: Qualitative Insights from Turkish Cinema Professionals

This study examines the transformative effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on film production in Türkiye, focusing on two primary axes: screenwriting and editing, and visual effects (VFX) and post-production. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with eight cinema professionals and analyzed through Reflexive Thematic Analysis, the research moves beyond technical descriptions to map the socio-technical shifts in creative labor. The findings identify an emergent model of 'Assisted Creativity under Resource Scarcity,' where AI functions as a 'senior assistant' that enhances speed and cost-efficiency while remaining limited by its inability to replicate local narrative and cultural codes, character 'inner transformation,' and causal plotting. Within the Turkish context, the study highlights a democratization-precarity paradox: while AI lowers entry barriers for independent productions, it intensifies labor through 'multi-role' requirements and role contraction. Ultimately, the study discusses the relocation of cinema in an algorithmic age and offers theoretical insights into the preservation of national narrative sovereignty.