a16z Podcast

Episode: Marc Andreessen on the State of Film and Hollywood

Date: October 17, 2025
Guests: Marc Andreessen, Kathryn Boyle, Eric (co-host), and others

Episode Overview

In this rich and incisive conversation, Kathryn Boyle and her co-hosts are joined by Marc Andreessen to examine the dramatic transformation of Hollywood and the broader film industry over the last decade. The episode focuses on three interwoven themes: the cultural and creative shifts post-2019, the fallout and fading influence of "the message" era (a cultural "woke" moment), and the immense promise and disruption of new technologies (especially AI) opening up film-making to the masses. Together, they explore the effects of streaming, industry economics, changing audience appetites, and why the next generation of great films might be made by creators who would never have had studio access.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Cultural Role of Movies

• Marc Andreessen likens films to the myths and legends of past cultures, now serving as the key vehicle for shaping, expressing, and immortalizing a civilization’s values.
  • “Movies play the role in our culture that myths and legends used to play in ancient cultures or that novels used to play 100 years ago… the art form that is capable of… expressing and making permanent the most important aspects of a culture or of a civilization.” (00:00)
• The decline of shared cultural moments and the fragmentation of audience attention are identified as core challenges since the 1990s.

2. The Turning Point: 2019 and the End of an Era (05:00–10:00)

• The panel agrees that 2019 was an inflection point—one of the last years where great, universally resonant films appeared (e.g., “1917,” “Parasite,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”).
• COVID is not seen as a sole explanation for the recent decline; the long production cycle means many current films were conceived pre-pandemic.

3. The “Message Era” — Wokeness and Hollywood's Crisis (15:00–41:00)

• Andreessen introduces "the message" (capital M) as a shorthand for the set of social and political themes that dominated Hollywood output: “All white people are racist, all men are sexist, America is a force for evil, etc.” (16:30)
  • He credits YouTuber Critical Drinker for documenting this phenomenon.
• Describes a “reign of terror” in Hollywood, where missteps on cultural issues could end careers, fundamentally warping the industry’s creative, staffing, and business decisions.
  • “Everybody in Hollywood had, like, friends whose careers just got, like, completely detonated, you know, at one point, you know, in one unpredictable way or another.” (17:50)
• Predicts we are now in a transitional “interstitial” period, where films green-lit during the height of "the message" will continue to arrive but increasingly feel out of touch (“musty”).
  • “There’s going to be like a thousand more of those [films with the message] the next three years, and they're just going to land like an absolute thud...” (18:41)

4. Case Studies: "One Battle After Another" & "Eddington"

• "One Battle After Another" (19:49–27:00):
  • Andreessen critiques the film as a "time capsule" of the message era—intensely political and out of step with the new mood. Despite a legendary director and cast, it’s described as both interesting and musty, showcasing the challenge of delayed releases in a fast-changing culture.
  • “By the end he's just like, oh no, that was great... These people are amazing, these are the myths and legends of our time… it's just very clear at the end. He's like, yes, and I completely endorse and support all of this.” (22:09)
• "Eddington" (25:57–39:50):
  • Hailed as the first film since "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" to feel like genuine "capital A art."
  • Praises director Ari Aster for directly addressing recent real events—COVID, George Floyd protests, social media, wokeness, and Trump—something other films have avoided for fear of backlash.
  • Vividly recaps plot elements, ultimately lauding the film for its boldness and realism.
    • “It’s like, it has the opposite of the musty feeling... wow, I'm actually finally seeing on screen real people again.” (25:57)
    • “[Ari Aster] was like, I'm just gonna grab the stove with both hands and I'm just gonna, like, hold up for dear life.” (27:34)

5. Economic Pressures and the Streaming Revolution

• Streaming initially flooded the industry with money (Netflix, others), but now that investment wave has ebbed, undermining riskier, artistically ambitious projects (11:23–14:45).
  • “As the streamers are consolidating... that money got pulled back. That was a big kind of financial blow.” (11:58)
• Major business model changes: With the demise of syndication and DVD aftermarkets, upside for breakout hits has vanished, reducing incentives for risk-taking.

6. The Cracks Appear: Hope for Comedy, New Genres, and Cult Hits (41:00–56:50)

• Signs of a post-message era emerge: comedies are being green-lit again and can poke fun at culturally sacred cows.
  • “The thing that makes comedy funny is when it's subversive… you just could not make a funny movie for the last eight years. Like, it was impossible. It was way too risky.” (41:57)
• Discussion of “Naked Gun” reboot and “Fantastic Four”—films that succeed either by nostalgia (“Naked Gun”) or a genuine focus on pro-family themes without the overlay of contemporary political messaging.
  • “Naked Gun” described as a “minor miracle”—funny, commercially successful, and blissfully free from heavy messages (51:05–54:44).
  • “Fantastic Four” praised as “the most pro family movie in Hollywood” in years (54:44–56:38).

7. Audience & Critic Disconnect

• Studios grappled with a powerful, sometimes “radicalized” staff and critic environment, where critics heavily influence careers—often at odds with the broader movie-going public. Financial results (as superhero movie sales flag) are forcing change (44:10–50:48).
• Rotten Tomatoes is cited as an emblem of this; critically beloved movies can flop with audiences, and vice versa.

8. AI: The Next Industry Quake (46:06–50:48; 62:10–66:37)

• AI’s impact is compared to the early days of digital film—potentially vastly lowering barriers to entry, enabling “people with no visual skill, no access to a set or to a camera” to create animated shorts and eventually feature films (46:06).
  • “AI is going to make a whole new kind of filmmaker possible to exist for the first time, which is the filmmaker with no visual skill, right. Or access to a set or to a camera or to actors, but with an idea…” (49:02)
• Despite early “moral panic” and union opposition, executives see AI as the latest in a long line of technological advancements in movie history.
• The South Park origin story is offered as an earlier example of how new tools enable outsider creativity—AI is the next leap (62:34–66:37).

9. The Ultimate Threshold: Classic Literature, New Medium

• Would "Atlas Shrugged" or "The Fountainhead" ever get made today?
  • Andreessen argues they're timeless, but both would encounter intense resistance from critics and entertainment gatekeepers (56:51–62:10).
  • “But, like, the cultural overlay of that, like what it would take in Hollywood to do that and the level of attack that you would come under, the level of savagery that you would encounter… it would be every bit as intense today as it was in the 1950s.” (59:35)
  • Suggests these adaptations may happen only through AI and grassroots creativity.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Marc Andreessen on the role of film as cultural mythology (00:00):
  • “Movies play the role in our culture that myths and legends used to play in ancient cultures or that novels used to play 100 years ago…”
• On "the message" and changing Hollywood (16:30):
  • “Movies transform themselves… films that could have been great… just basically became… political propaganda.”
• On the risk for creators in the message era (17:50):
  • “Everybody in Hollywood had, like, friends whose careers just got, like, completely detonated… in one unpredictable way or another.”
• On “One Battle After Another” as a time capsule (22:09):
  • “By the end he's just like, oh no, that was great. Like, that was fantastically good. These people are amazing… Clearly wants to make these people into mythical figures.”
• On “Eddington” as breakthrough Capital A Art (25:57):
  • “It's like, it's like it has the opposite of the musty feeling. It has the feeling of, oh, I'm actually finally seeing on screen real people again.”
• On comedy's return (41:57):
  • “You can now make comedies again... what makes comedy funny is when it’s subversive… you just could not make a funny movie for the last eight years.”
• On AI democratizing film (49:02):
  • “People who otherwise would be limited to only being novelists or being maybe people who do graphic novels but are creative geniuses are going to be able to actually make full movies with AI…”
• On the challenge of adapting “Atlas Shrugged” (59:35):
  • “The level of attack that you would come under, the level of savagery… it would be every bit as intense today as it was in the 1950s.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 — Marc on film as modern myth
• 05:00 — 2019 as last “great” Hollywood year
• 10:00 — Hollywood’s slow production cycles & lagged cultural relevance
• 11:23–14:45 — Streamers’ impact on industry economics
• 16:30 — The rise of "the message" in Hollywood
• 22:09 — "One Battle After Another" as a political artifact
• 25:57 — Praise for "Eddington" as vital new art
• 41:57 — Return of comedy and creative risk-taking
• 46:06–49:02 — How AI could remake who gets to be a filmmaker
• 51:05–54:44 — The new “Naked Gun”: a post-message comedy hit
• 56:51–62:10 — On the prospects for film adaptations of “Atlas Shrugged”/“The Fountainhead”
• 62:34–66:37 — South Park, technological shifts, and AI filmmaking

Conclusion

This episode offers a dynamic, insider’s guide to how—and why—Hollywood is changing fast, what’s being lost and what may be reborn, and the exhilarating, terrifying creative unknowns unleashed by new technology. With characteristic candor and wit, Marc Andreessen describes a cultural reset in full swing: the fading of a didactic era, the return of risk and comedy, and the coming of an AI-powered, democratized future for film.