Indie studio A24 has defended its $75m deal with Google DeepMind, arguing that it wants “a seat at the table” when it comes to AI.

Seemingly inspired by Martin Scorsese, A24 recently decided to torch its years of audience goodwill (and trendy reputation) by announcing a multi-million dollar deal with an AI tech company.

Facing a vociferous response over the past few days, the indie studio behind the likes of Backrooms and Civil War has come forward with a statement.

Speaking to Wired, company representative Sophia Shin argued that its work with Google DeepMind is a “research partnership” in which both entities will “learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows.”

“Our relationship with our audience is something we don’t take for granted,” Shin said. “This partnership exists because we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, and so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them. We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines.”

That last sentence is particularly telling. A24’s stance on AI, it seems, is similar to Lyndon B Johnson’s attitude to J Edgar Hoover: when asked why he kept Hoover in post as director of the FBI, the President famously said, “Better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.”

The problem, in this scenario, is that it’s artists and filmmakers who end up covered in piss, whether they’re the ones whose work has been scraped without compensation or consent, or those whose jobs have been replaced by an app. Last week, A24 Labs boss Scott Belsky suggested that the tools his part of the company are working on with Google’s researchers are working on are connected to storyboarding and pre-production.

Read more: The growing filmmaking showdown: AI vs storyboard artists

In other words, there are plans to automate the parts of the filmmaking process that are already fairly cheap. There’s a reason why illustrators and storyboard artists don’t own yachts and private islands.

A24’s table-based attempt to defend its new deal hasn’t, it’s fair to say, calmed the situation down. A Reddit page dedicated to A24 makes for grim reading, at least if you’re an executive at A24. “Huge sell out, and a giant FU to artists who they’ve supported for years,” one succinct post reads.

The company’s AI deal hasn’t impressed Kane Parsons – the Backrooms director who’s spoken out against the technology before. As spotted by Kotaku, he wrote a brief yet pointed post on his Discord server, which reads:

“Making it very clear those resources are not to be spent on Backrooms. Obviously, A24 is a big machine. I’ve got no input on this investment […] I can’t imagine this decision is popular with most directors.”

We’ll bring you more on the growing fallout from A24’s AI gambit as it comes in.