Gold Derby's Debra Birnbaum on the Oscars: Warner Bros wins big, AI is a raw nerve, and writers' rights must be protected
Mar 16, 2026 with Debra Birnbaum
Key Points
- Warner Bros dominated the Oscars with "One Battle After Another" as the night's biggest winner, reversing recent negative coverage for the studio.
- The industry treats AI as a raw nerve despite unconsciously using it for years, risking future strikes unless guilds and studios clarify who controls creative decisions.
- AI-assisted tools in post-production like facial-capture upressing can enhance filmmaking without harming performance or authorship if the industry acknowledges where it's deployed.
Summary
Warner Bros dominated the Oscars with "One Battle After Another" as the night's biggest winner, according to Debra Birnbaum, editor-in-chief at Gold Derby. The film's sweep was unsurprising but noteworthy given the studio's recent negative coverage. Host Conan O'Brien impressed Birnbaum with his self-awareness, particularly his tongue-in-cheek jokes about the ceremony moving to YouTube. Michael B. Jordan's win stood out as the emotional highlight of the night, which Birnbaum describes as historic and deeply moving.
The Oscars treated AI as a raw nerve that no one wanted to openly address. AI has been embedded in entertainment for years—Netflix recommendations, for instance—yet the industry is reluctant to discuss its actual role. Everyone uses AI "unconsciously," but the guilds remain hypersensitive about it, creating risk of future strikes if terms aren't clarified. Studios and creatives need to acknowledge where AI genuinely helps production without letting it replace human creative decision-making or script writing.
Birnbaum points to practical examples where AI has already enhanced filmmaking without controversy. When Marvel used AI to upres facial-capture data for Josh Brolin's Thanos performance in the Avengers films, it delivered technical support to visual effects teams while preserving the actor's core performance. The Brutalist's campaign was damaged partly by ADR (automated dialogue replacement) questions, but the key question is whether AI-assisted tools actually harm the final product or the performer's creative contribution. If AI helps films get made faster without degrading performance or authorship, the industry should ask whether the pain is warranted.
The core problem is definitional. Birnbaum does not say AI in post-production is inherently wrong. She calls instead for honesty about where it's being used and how it affects the work. The industry needs to "find that happy medium" between acknowledging AI's practical benefits and protecting writers' and performers' core rights.