A24 and Google have struck an AI research partnership that will see the independent studio work with Google’s DeepMind unit to develop new AI-powered technologies for filmmakers.
Google’s roughly $75 million investment is tied to the partnership and is in line with what Thrive Capital invested during the studio’s last funding round, according to the Wall Street Journal. The partnership will give A24 access to DeepMind’s research and infrastructure, while DeepMind researchers will work with the studio to build out new workflows. The deal does not give Google access to A24’s content library or its data.
The deal represents the latest marriage between a Hollywood studio and AI in an era where companies have oscillated between partnerships and lawsuits. Disney’s short-lived deal with OpenAI to license its suite of characters came as it sued AI companies like MiniMax and Midjourney for copyright infringement, while Lionsgate expanded its partnership with the AI firm Runway AI to develop new intellectual property and produce AI-generated shows drawing from its existing franchises. Netflix also purchased Ben Affleck’s AI startup InterPositive, aimed at building tools for filmmakers, earlier this year.
A24 partner Scott Belsky, who leads the studio’s technology division A24 Labs, told the Journal the studio’s Google partnership differed from other deals because AI developers mistakenly advertised their products as a means to make films cheaper and faster. His division is developing applications for AI-generated storyboards, another reimagination of the production process that has seen filmmakers like Martin Scorsese rubber-stamp.
“We think there are better uses that preserve creative control and support risk-taking,” he told the Journal, arguing the new tools “won’t look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with.”
“We believe breakthroughs happen when you get technology into the hands of the best minds in the field,” Eli Collins, a vice president of product for DeepMind, told the Journal.
A24 has been a landing pad for many emerging filmmakers, with the critical and commercial success of its roster of films — “Lady Bird,” “Moonlight,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Marty Supreme” and the recent box-office winner “Backrooms” — owed to its trust placed in the filmmakers it’s enlisted and the fervent, largely young fanbase it has amassed. (Roughly 85% of those who saw “Backrooms” during its opening weekend were under 35, according to PostTrak data.) The agreement comes as roughly half of adults under 30 believe AI will harm society, according to a Pew Research study published last week.
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From Variety US