Hollywood Already Uses Generative AI
A contextual look at how major studios and AI-native companies are leveraging AI to innovate content production and storytelling, and Acting Pal’s focus on supporting skilled AI filmmakers and performers.
Contextualizing Studio AI Adoption
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Lionsgate struck a deal with Runway to train on over 20,000 titles, aiming to save “millions and millions of dollars” (Vice Chair, Michael Burns) in production costs [1]
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Disney and Paramount have both formed internal AI task forces to explore deployment of AI. Although neither have openly specified how they plan to use AI, one can imagine Disney or Paramount using data from classic films to cost-effectively generate sequels or TV spin-offs.
Production companies are also using AI to facilitate niche tasks. Jumpcut (recently acquired) found success with their tool Script Sense that has been used and trusted by several hundred Hollywood studios and agencies to breakdown and summarise scripts (powered by Anthropic’s safe LLM API) [2].
It isn’t just incumbents using AI. AI-native production houses are emerging—Promise and Asteria Studios, both well funded, are developing original IP using AI from the ground up.
Both startups and legacy players are betting on AI’s potential to cut costs and produce high-quality content at scale. This is just the beginning: soon every production company will, at some level, integrate AI into their workflows to save both time and money…
Fans Become Storytellers?
Companies are also using AI to imagine new creative verticals. Take Showrunner, for example—a platform Amazon recently invested in [3]. It allows individuals to create their own AI-generated TV shows (either inspired by existing series or entirely original). Other users can then build on these shows, expanding the world collaboratively.
Fans are not master storytellers. Crafting a compelling narrative is extremely hard. Even seasoned professionals often miss the mark. On Showrunner, the novelty comes from the fact that fans created the content—not necessarily from the quality of the content itself.
To tell a great story, you need great storytellers. Even if AI can generate the bulk of the material, someone with strong creative instincts still has to choose what to use and how to shape it. Without taste and narrative clarity, the result can be a sloppy mess.
Acting Pal Takes a Different Approach
Instead of focusing on fan-driven storytelling or community-built IP, Acting Pal’s new feature, Projects, is designed to support highly talented creative teams—specifically AI filmmakers and performers—in selling their stories to distributors.
Acting Pal’s infrastructure is built to reward highly skilled AI filmmakers and performers—not fans with aspirations of someday being one.
Our bet is that talented and dedicated AI-native filmmakers and performers—willing to explore “acting at the frontier”—will shape the great stories of tomorrow. These are the creative teams that we focus on servicing and supporting.
References
- Lionsgate Lets Filmmakers Augment Movies With AI
- Anthropic and Jumpcut: AI-Driven Storytelling
- Amazon Backs Showrunner’s AI Streaming Platform
See also
Cameron Dejahang
Co-founder, Acting Pal
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