The studio renowned for its original storytelling enters into a partnership with Google to develop AI filmmaking tools.
Google and independent movie studio A24 strike a new artificial intelligence research partnership to develop AI-powered filmmaking technology.
The search giant is investing an estimated $75 million into A24 and will give the studio access to Google’s DeepMind AI research and infrastructure, while DeepMind researchers will work with the studio to create new workflows and new tools for movie production and distribution.
This long-term, nonexclusive deal will not provide Google with A24’s data, such as its film and television library.
Scott Belsky, an A24 partner who leads the studio’s 20-person technology team, A24 Labs, said the partnership with Google was distinct from other deals because AI developers promoted their products as a way for films to be made cheaper and faster, which is not as enticing to filmmakers.
“We think there are better uses that preserve creative control and support risk-taking,” he said, adding that new tools “won’t look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with.”
Though Google is no stranger to online entertainment through YouTube and even has teamed up with individual filmmakers, like Darren Aronofsky in the past, this is the first deal with an actual film studio.
“We believe the best way to develop tools that empower artists is to work directly with them,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a statement on Google’s website. “By collaborating with filmmakers and industry leaders like A24 from the beginning, we can build new AI features to support artists in authentic, meaningful storytelling that helps enable their creative vision.”
A24 has earned a reputation as an original, boundary-pushing independent cinema, with critical and commercial success for many of its films, with Academy Award nominees and winners such as “Lady Bird,” “Moonlight,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Brutalist,” “Marty Supreme” and recent box-office hit, “Backrooms.”
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The studio’s last funding round in 2024 saw a large investment from Thrive Capital, fairly similar to what Google is putting in now. In the past two years, A24’s revenue has more than doubled as it has increased film budgets and expanded into unscripted television, music and theater, which has proved to have paid off.
For A24, the deal puts the studio back in the game with competitors like Netflix and Amazon Studios, who have already begun developing more tools for filmmakers, as well as Lionsgate’s recent collaboration with startup Runway AI.
The partnership with Google comes at a time when roughly half of adults younger than 30 believe AI is harmful to society, according to a recent Pew Research study.
As a studio so well known for its work with emerging filmmakers and intrigue for younger audiences, those most wary of AI infiltrating creative spaces, this partnership is a big move and a potential risk for A24.