Jorge Gutiérrez thought he was being noble.
The director of “The Book of Life” had watched generative AI quietly move into every animation studio in town, and he had a bad feeling about it. “There aren’t enough artists overseeing this stuff,” he thought.
So when Amazon MGM Studios offered Gutiérrez the lead on “Punky Duck,” one of three series under its new GenAI Creators’ Fundhe took the job, seeing it as part of a mission. “I thought, I’m going to make sure artists are guaranteed a seat at the table,” he says. “I’m going to make sure this is driven by artists.”
What followed was one of the fastest public implosions in recent memory. When it was announced that Gutiérrez was taking the “Punky Duck” job, his peers didn’t see him as a hero working for the cause, but as a defector. Immediately, the death threats started against him and his wife, as did the publishing of his home address.
“What I quickly learned is this is a black-and-white issue,” Gutiérrez says. “You’re pro or you’re anti — there’s no in between right now.” He adds, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. My intentions were good, but I was taking my family to hell by doing this.”
