Making Magic in Media and Entertainment with Artificial Intelligence

The Wizard of Oz movie is filled with classic quotes. One of them is simply, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" That quote, of course, occurs when Dorothy's dog, Toto, pulls back a curtain to reveal a man at a control panel and microphone. Rather than the sought-after magical Wizard of Oz, the man is, at best, a wizard of special effects. Today, nearly 80 years after the first release of the movie version of Wizard of Oz, we live with a wizard of our own making who is now often behind the curtain in video games, movies and sporting events.