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AI Visionary Cristóbal Valenzuela Advocates A New Era In Film Production Strategy

Reimagining Film Investment

Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder and CEO of Runway, proposed a shift in how film budgets are allocated during remarks at Semafor World Economy. Instead of investing $100 million into a single 90-minute film, he suggested distributing the same budget across 50 projects to increase output and improve the chances of producing a commercially successful title.

Transforming The Economics Of Creativity

The proposal reframes film production as a portfolio strategy rather than a single high-risk investment. Valenzuela argued that increasing the number of projects raises the probability of success, particularly as artificial intelligence reduces production costs and shortens timelines. This approach challenges traditional studio models built around a limited number of large-scale releases.

Lowering Production Costs And Broadening Access

AI tools are already reshaping production workflows across scripting, planning, and visual effects. Valenzuela pointed to projects such as Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi, where estimated costs were reduced from $300 million to $70 million, according to TheWrap. Studios, including Amazon and Sony Pictures, along with filmmakers such as James Cameron, are exploring similar efficiencies. Lower production costs also lower barriers to entry, enabling a wider range of creators to participate in film production.

Scaling Creativity Through Volume

The strategy relies on volume rather than selectivity. Producing more content increases the likelihood that a small number of projects will achieve significant commercial impact. Valenzuela compared this approach to publishing, where large volumes of content coexist with a limited number of bestsellers. Critics argue that higher output does not guarantee quality, but AI-driven production continues to expand the feasible scale of content creation.

A Future Defined By Accessible Storytelling

Valenzuela emphasized that broader access to production tools could reshape the industry’s talent pipeline. “The best movies are yet to be made because we haven’t heard from probably the billions of people who haven’t had access to this technology,” he said. As AI adoption expands, studios are increasingly evaluating how lower costs and higher output could redefine both production strategies and creative participation.

payabl. Launches Click To Pay With Visa To Help Merchants Improve Checkout Conversion And Reduce Fraud

payabl. has launched Click to Pay with Visa, a new card payment experience designed to help merchants reduce checkout friction, improve authorisation rates, and deliver a faster, more secure online payment journey.

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Click to Pay replaces manual card number entry with a token-based checkout experience. Once a customer’s card is enrolled, they can complete purchases in just a few clicks, without re-entering card details. The result is a faster checkout that mirrors the ease of contactless payments in-store, while maintaining strong security standards.

For merchants, the impact is measurable. According to Visa, Click to Pay can deliver up to a 11% uplift in authorisation rates compared to manual card entry, alongside significant fraud reduction through network tokenisation. Faster checkout also helps reduce cart abandonment, particularly on mobile, where typing card details remains a major source of friction.

“With online checkout, every extra step costs conversion,” said Breno Oliveira, Chief Product Officer at payabl. “Visa Click to Pay removes one of the biggest points of friction at the moment of purchase. It helps merchants approve more legitimate transactions, reduce fraud exposure, and give customers the experience they already expect.” 

Visa Click to Pay is available through payabl. checkout, enabling merchants to activate the service without additional integration complexity. The solution works across devices and supports existing security flows, including 3D Secure where required.

“Consumers have come to expect a highly personalised, intuitive, and seamless payment experience, whether they’re buying a coffee, shopping online, or applying for a loan. Visa Click to Pay aims to meet these expectations by removing the need to manually enter card details, thus enhancing both security and the consumer experience in online card payments. With the support of network tokens, Visa Click to Pay enabled a more secure and smoother transaction process, available in many countries around the world. According to European VisaNet data, Visa Click to Pay may allow a 4.5% uplift in merchant sales, meaning a possible annual increase of €51 bn in SMB eCommerce sales in the UK and EU,” said Michael Ioannides, Country Manager, Visa Cyprus.

The launch forms part of payabl.’s broader focus on checkout optimisation, helping merchants improve conversion, approvals, and payment reliability at scale. Click to Pay with Visa is now live for eligible merchants across Europe. 

Checkout expectations are rising across Europe 

Insights from payabl.’s State of European Checkouts report underline why frictionless checkout experiences are becoming a commercial priority. The research found that consumers cite speed (46%), convenience (44%), and security (41%) as the top reasons for choosing a payment method. More than half of consumers (53%) are open to switching to newer payment methods and nearly half (48%) are open to one-click checkouts, provided the solution is backed by a trusted brand such as Visa.

“Checkout is no longer just the final step of a transaction,” said Oliveira. “It is a critical part of the overall customer experience. Our research shows that 43% of European consumers will not return to a site after a poor checkout experience. For merchants across the UK and Europe, that translates directly into lost customers and lost revenue.”

The launch forms part of payabl.’s broader focus on checkout optimisation, helping merchants improve conversion, approvals, and payment reliability at scale. Click to Pay with Visa is now live for eligible merchants across Europe.

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