A24 takes on Google money to build AI tools

Google is investing $75 million in the film studio A24 and the companies are teaming up to develop, wait for it, AI tools. Google says the "partnership aims to expand what is possible in the future of entertainment." The multiyear deal doesn't give Google access to A24's library of film and television, so we won't have to suffer through a sloppified sequel to Marty Supreme just yet. 

Instead, the companies will develop tools that assist with various aspects of filmmaking. A representative from A24 told The Wall Street Journal that the tools "won't look anything like the prompted generative type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with." Instead, the first application will be something that uses AI to generate storyboards. 

The companies hope to eventually get these tools in the hands of A24's stable of filmmakers. "We believe breakthroughs happen when you get technology into the hands of the best minds in the field," said Eli Collins, a vice president of product for DeepMind. As an aside, there are at least 2,000 working storyboard artists in the Hollywood system who probably would like to continue engaging in their trade.

A24 has a reputation as a studio for emerging filmmakers that resonate with young audiences. These people tend to dislike AI. Kane Parsons, who directed Backrooms — the studio's highest-grossing film by a wide margin — has called the technology "genuinely harmful" and a signifier of "cultural and economic rot." 

This could fly under the radar, as the forthcoming tech is being pitched as assistive in nature and not a replacement for filmmakers. This approach reminds me of Ben Affleck's AI startup, which was recently acquired by Netflix. That team is building a suite of tools that help with post-production stuff, like color-mixing and relighting. As another certainly unrelated aside, there are around 400 colorists in the Hollywood system and roughly 2,800 active union members working as professional set lighting technicians and operators. Just a fact worth knowing about showbiz!

This has been an absolute bang-up year for A24. Backrooms made over $300 million, making it the company's most successful film ever. Marty Supreme made nearly $200 million and nabbed a bunch of Oscar nominations. A24's revenue has more than doubled in the past two years and the company was recently valued at $3.5 billion.