The Abundance Economy: One person can now do what used to take a studio

We’ve crossed an invisible line in creative production. Ten years ago, a 15-minute animated short meant a small army of specialists and months of work. Now, one person with a generative suite can finish it in a day. The world’s still arguing about “AI job loss,” but the real story is that the entire studio has collapsed into a single workspace—and nobody noticed.

Here’s the scale of that shift:

2015 2025
Screenwriter, producer, director, animators, sound designer, editor, voice actors (≈ 20–25 people) One creator using generative tools
2–3 months of production 1 day to generate and edit
$50,000 – $250,000 budget ~$30 software + a pair of pajamas
Specialized software, render farms, licensing fees Browser and text input
Scarcity economics — who can afford to create Abundance economics — who has taste and vision

Creation isn’t the bottleneck anymore. Imagination is.

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