Beyond the Hero’s Journey: AI, Protopia & the Future of Film with Taryn O'Neill

Apr 22, 2025

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

In this lively, idea‑packed episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew sit down with Taryn O’Neill—filmmaker, futurist, and impact storyteller—whose work bridges entertainment, emerging technology, and climate action. They trace the (nostalgic) arc from DVD‑by‑mail and the early YouTube web‑series boom to today’s streaming ecosystem, unpacking how residuals, budgets, and community engagement have all been up‑ended.Taryn explains why AI‑assisted production will slash visual‑effects costs while opening the door for global, community‑driven studios and more inclusive narratives, and the challenge of Hollywood to balance tent‑pole spectacle with ethically trained generative tools. The trio debate second‑screen “chat‑bot cinema,” immersive venues like the Las Vegas Sphere, and the promise of nonlinear, game‑like story structures that spiral far beyond the hero’s journey. Along the way they explore protopian futures, embodied AI on set, new guardrails for creative labor, and why cultivating “storytelling literacy” may be humanity’s most important operating system. Whether you’re a cinephile, tech optimist, or skeptic, this conversation will leave you re‑imagining what it means to make—and experience—movies in an accelerated, AI‑powered century.

More about Taryn O'Neill

Taryn recently directed two feature adaptations of bestselling fantasy novels and co-created The Assignment, a “positive climate fiction” short in partnership with ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination. As the creator of the weekly #FutureFilmFridays series, ‘The Futurist Handbook for Hollywood’ and co-founder of Scirens - a creative team championing STEM and climate narratives in Hollywood - Taryn explores how science, AI, and cultural shifts are reshaping the stories we tell and how we tell them. We dive into the power of storytelling as a tool for transformation, why Hollywood needs more Protopias, and how futures thinking can help reimagine everything from film production to planetary survival.

Links:

-----

Modem Futura is a production of the Future of Being Human initiative at Arizona State University. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. To learn more about the Future of Being Human initiative and all of our other projects visit - https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: @ModemFutura

Host Bios:

Sean M. Leahy, PhD - ASU Bio
Sean is an an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. He is a Foresight Catalyst for the Future of Being Human Initiative and Research Scientist for the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University.

Andrew Maynard, PhD - ASU Bio
Andrew is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society. He is the founder of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative, Director of the ASU Risk Innovation Nexus, and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU College of Global Futures.

-----