A24 and Google have entered into an AI research partnership that will see the independent studio work with Google’s DeepMind division to develop new AI-powered technology for filmmakers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google’s approximately $75 million investment is related to the partnership and matches the amount invested by Thrive Capital in the studio’s previous funding round. The partnership will give A24 access to DeepMind’s research and infrastructure, and DeepMind researchers will collaborate with the studio to build new workflows. The deal does not give Google access to A24’s content library or its data.
The deal represents the latest marriage between Hollywood studios and AI in an era when companies vacillate between partnerships and litigation. Disney’s deal with OpenAI to license its suite of characters was short-lived as the company sued AI companies like MiniMax and Midjourney for copyright infringement. Meanwhile, Lionsgate has expanded its partnership with AI company Runway AI to develop new intellectual property and produce AI-generated programming from existing franchises. Earlier this year, Netflix also acquired Ben Affleck’s AI startup Interpositive, which aims to build tools for filmmakers.
Scott Belsky, an A24 partner who heads the studio’s technology division, A24 Labs, told the Journal that the studio’s partnership with Google is different from other partnerships because AI developers mistakenly promoted their products as a way to make movies cheaper and faster. His department is developing applications for AI-generated storyboards, another reimagining of the production process that made filmmakers like Martin Scorsese rubber-stamp.
“We think there are better ways to use it that maintain creative control and support risk-taking,” he told the Journal, arguing that the new tool “doesn’t resemble the forced generation type of AI that people find uncomfortable.”
“We believe that breakthroughs happen when we put technology in the hands of the best people in the field,” Eli Collins, DeepMind’s vice president of products, told the Journal.
A24 has been a landing spot for many emerging filmmakers, and the critical and commercial success of its films, including Lady Bird, Moonlight, Everything at Once, Marty Supreme, and recent box office hit The Backrooms, is due to its faith in the filmmakers it works with and the passionate, largely young fan base it has built. (About 85% of people who saw “Backroom” during its opening weekend were under 35, according to PostTrak data.) The agreement comes as about half of adults under 30 believe AI will have a negative impact on society, according to a Pew Research poll released last week.
