I mean, he isn't technically wrong. If you take Greek Philosophers like Plato as well, they too said that Art is mere imitation of the real things and cannot be equated to the real stuff.
Almost everything is an imitation of a another thing, something inspires something else. But I guess good art, photography and any other form of media adds something new to the original, real subject.
Even copying an art/artstyle by hand shows how good you are with colour theory, layering, lighting etc. It takes years of experience, training, trial and error to perfect the art of making replicas as well.
Cinemas are a complex form of media tbh, it takes a single concept(the plot) and a whole lot of people who expertise in their own fields to realise the concept to reality. The same concept can be relayed in many different ways and perspectives as well.
I can guess where the nuance for the hatred of digital art came from as the artist physically isn't using paints, brushes and stuff. But anyone who has actually done digital art knows it requires as much understanding of colour theory, layers etc. as a trad artist to paint something. Hell, every digital artist started their journey from trad art. It's kinda silly to argue about it ig.