‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Filmmaker Daniel Kwan “Really Terrified” Of AI – SXSW

Anthony D'Alessandro
·2 min read
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The Daniels, two years after they world premiered Everything Everywhere All at Once at SXSW, and an year after winning a slew of Oscars for the film including Best Picture, came back to Austin, TX to give a multi-prong talk at the fest which culminated in Daniel Kwan exclaiming that he’s “terrified” of A.I.

“It’s magic, it’s going to solve cancer and bring solutions, it’s a powerful thing, but I’m really terrified of this new story,” said Kwan.

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Kwan described a situation whereby many are “chasing” AI to stay ahead of it, “because you know you’re next.”

The Oscar winning filmmaker, appearing with his Everything, Everywhere co-director Daniel Schneinert, said that “we’re not at a place that’s disposable, (there’s) no longevity between employees and employers.”

Kwan said, “We’re not saying don’t use A.I. — I don’t believe in dogmas.”

“AI is here and will be rapidly deployed in every aspect of our lives.”

The duo in a multi panel talk spoke about their development process for unique storytelling, defying paradox and embracing absurdity. One topic they discussed was how they made money early on with short videos on YouTube and Vimeo and commercials by “chasing the algorithm.” One of their early videos they made was of a dog getting skateboarded over.

“There’s no moral to this, but the internet liked it,” said Scheinert.

Another catchy commercial they made for Dibs showed a guy smashing plates.

Advised Scheinert about AI, “When you use it, try to think about why you’re using it. Do you want to increase value in your life or mae money for the billionaires.”

“If someone says there’s no side effects and it’s great, that’s terrifying bullshit. We have to think about how to carefully deploy this stuff,” said the filmmaker.

The Daniels’ next movie, which is top secret, comes out on June 12, 2026 via Universal. They inked an exclusive five-year movie pact back in August 2022.

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