Can the AI video model Seedance 2.0 usher in a "DeepSeek moment" for the film and television industry? Recently, ByteDance's Jimeng launched the Seedance 2.0 model. It is reported that this model can create cinematic-quality videos from text or images, utilizing a dual-branch diffusion transformer architecture capable of simultaneously generating both video and audio. Thanks to its impressive capabilities, including multimodal input and generating movie-level video from text or pictures, Seedance 2.0 quickly gained significant online attention. Acclaimed director Jia Zhangke praised it as "truly impressive" and plans to use it for short film creation, while Luo Yonghao stated more bluntly that "making a film might only require a director now." Feng Ji, founder and CEO of Game Science, suggested this marks the end of the "childhood era" for AIGC. Simultaneously, the impact was felt across the ocean in Hollywood. Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared related content, expressing astonishment at the rapid pace of AI development. However, Seedance 2.0 has also sparked intense debate surrounding copyright issues in the film and television sector. So, from a practical standpoint, how is the film and television industry assessing the technical maturity of Seedance 2.0? Has the "productivity tipping point" for film and television content creation already arrived?

AI Video: Evolving from a "Toy" to a "Tool" Some industry professionals believe Seedance 2.0 possesses critical significance, capable of altering film and television production methods. Xiao Qing, an AI entrepreneur with years of experience in the film industry, stated that if last year's Nano Banana primarily addressed the阶段性痛点 of "consistency," then Seedance 2.0 solves the "last mile" problem. In her view, both technological advances qualify as "DeepSeek moments" for AI video. Xiao Qing believes Seedance 2.0 truly enables "everyone to become a director": "I don't even need to have learned the basics of audiovisual language or editing. As long as one has watched enough films, knows how to tell a basic story, and possesses fundamental aesthetic judgment, it's just a matter of 'rolling the dice a few more times' (referring to generating multiple attempts)." Tan Jian, an associate professor at the School of Digital Media and Design Arts at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, also believes the emergence of Seedance 2.0 signifies that relevant AI tools have crossed the threshold from being "toy-grade" to "tool-grade." He explained, "The tipping point for directly generating short films from scripts has arrived, but the tipping point for full-length feature production has not." He added, "The truly remarkable aspect of Seedance 2.0 isn't just that 'the visuals look more real,' but that it bypasses traditional film production workflows; good writing equates to good filming."

However, as Seedance 2.0 continuously reshapes external perceptions of AI video capabilities, evaluations of such tools within the industry are becoming more divided. A veteran film marketer and producer expressed that AI can only support short content demonstrations for some creatives and cannot serve as the core productive force for creation: "It's an additive tool, but for those who already control industry resources, beyond cost reduction and efficiency gains, it holds little meaning." As a staunch advocate for "live-action filming," this individual believes some aspects don't need cost-cutting or efficiency gains; the value lies in the manual, frame-by-frame craftsmanship—the "human touch"—while AI merely adds more low-barrier content creators. A director involved in acting, producing, and filming numerous projects stated clearly that Seedance 2.0 empowers the traditional film industry but will undoubtedly impact emerging sectors. The director gave the example of short drama production, suggesting it might reduce the need for storyboard artists and extensive actor involvement, consequently decreasing employment opportunities.

Empowerment or Replacement? The Battle for Audience Attention Amid Productivity Expansion From an entrepreneur's perspective, Xiao Qing humorously remarked she "welcomes" AI's influence: "Look at the leading figures in the AI video field today; they are inevitably individuals with strong learning abilities, high creativity, and great diligence. I hope AI can promote creative democratization, enabling people to accomplish more, allowing more talented individuals to stand out." On the other hand, Tan Jian pointed out that while the cost structure for generating short films directly from scripts has been rewritten, several significant barriers remain in the realm of full-length features: character consistency and performance continuity over long narratives, controllable editing pace, complex narrative structures, copyright licensing chains, and verifiable source attribution. Nevertheless, the fact that top-tier directors like Jia Zhangke are personally experimenting sends a clear signal: "Professional creators are already starting to treat it as a production tool that can be integrated into the filmmaking process."

Beyond technical disagreements, more practitioners are focusing on another pressing question: If production barriers are truly broken, how will the industry structure be reshaped? Will it lead to content "inflation"? Regarding this, Tan Jian believes inflation in short videos and even short dramas is almost inevitable, but the "scarcity" of entertainment will not disappear; it will simply transform into a scarcity of high-dimensional creativity. He explained: "There is already massive demand for content like short video ads, with high update frequencies. Once production costs plummet from tens of thousands to just tens of yuan, production capacity will explode. However, productivity expansion itself is necessary. The global digital content market is worth over a trillion dollars annually, with a significant portion representing a gap for 'having creativity but lacking production capability.'" Looking ahead, Xiao Qing believes that merely trying to compete for audience attention through AI production itself is an unsustainable path, "because everyone is thinking the same way." She noted that based on current trends, everyone's attention will inevitably become "diluted" in the future: "At that point, the highest value won't lie in high-quality AI videos, or even high-quality live-action videos, but in methods that can consistently capture audience attention, such as personal IP, for example."