For several decades, placing long-shot bets and hoping for the best was pretty much all there was when it came to making TV shows and movies. Then along came data and analytics.

On this episode of Now & Next we hear from Jack Zhang. Jack is a Waterloo grad who has devised a machine-learning system that breaks movies down to their core elements—tens of thousands of them in total—to predict a movie’s likelihood of success. And as you’ll hear in the inaugural episode of our second season, that’s only one of the many things Zhang’s artificial intelligence program can do.

For more information about Now & Next, this episode, to learn more about artificial intelligence in filmmaking, or to consult the show’s credits, visit https://trends.cmf-fmc.ca/