Fuji TV is making generative AI part of how it makes dramas, and says it will be able to use the technology in every drama it produces by October 2027.
The Japanese broadcaster announced on November 5 that it is fully ramping up the use of generative AI in live-action drama production. It has already been used in several shows, including its current Monday 9 p.m. drama Eguchi Yosuke and Matsushima Nanako's "Emergency Room 24 Hours".
Eguchi Yosuke (Photo: Model Press)
In a July reorganization, Fuji TV set up an "AI Center" in its digital strategy division and opened "AI Sandbox," a testing ground for AI at its Wangan Studio. For "Emergency Room 24 Hours," directors used generative AI before filming to visualize the images they had in mind and shared them with the production and technical teams, then decided how to shoot each scene. The drama uses AI for detailed image work in medical scenes and for accident scenes that are hard to recreate with live filming alone. For an explosion scene in the first episode, the team composited smoke onto a fictional aerial view generated by AI.
Fuji TV says it chooses, scene by scene, among live-action filming, VFX, CG and generative AI, which lets it attempt shots that were difficult before while easing the burden on crews and improving safety on set. In some video production steps, the network found AI cut the workload by up to 70 to 80% compared with conventional methods. It stressed that the figure applies only to specific tested processes, not to overall production costs or the whole production process.
Matsushima Nanako (Photo: Model Press)
Starting with the October 2026 season, Fuji TV will designate at least one drama each season as an "AI-enhanced slot" and use AI Sandbox to make it. The network, which produces 16 drama series a year for its prime-time slots, plans to share what it learns internally and expand from there, aiming to be able to use AI in all of its dramas, depending on the work and scene, by October 2027.
