Andreessen Horowitz Backs Generative AI TV and Film Studio

Will generative artificial intelligence’s star be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame? 

Media investor Peter Chernin’s North Road and Silicon Valley VC titan Andreessen Horowitz think so. They’re backing a new startup production studio, Promise, that will use the technology to make films and television and pioneer “new formats,” the firm announced Tuesday.

Fusing Finance and Fiction

McKinsey analysts estimated last year that Generative AI could deliver some $80 billion to $130 billion in value to the media and entertainment industry, worth 1.8% to 3.1% of sector revenues. A lot of that value would come in obvious places like marketing and sales, where promotional materials or customer service can be — and already are, in some cases — automated by AI.

But, as it has become more sophisticated, Generative AI has begun manifesting in mainstream Hollywood productions, too. In July, “John Wick” and “Knives Out” studio Lionsgate agreed to let AI startup Runway have access to its library of content in exchange for a custom AI model to be used in film production and editing. Earlier this month, Disney set up a unit to oversee AI adoption. The logical evolution is a studio dedicated to Generative AI, which Promise plans to make good on:

• CEO George Strompolos founded network Fullscreen, COO Jamie Byrne is a former YouTube executive who helped start its creator revenue-sharing program, and chief creative officer Dave Clark is a commercial director who dabbles in AI-filmmaking himself, notably a five-minute short, Battalion, that portrays the only African American US Army unit involved in the D-Day invasion.
• “In my experience, as big companies dabble in things, it’s not the best road to success,” Chernin told The Wall Street Journal, explaining his decision to invest. “It’s likely better done in a separate company that is 100% focused.”

Let’s Ask Batman: Not everyone in Hollywood believes Generative AI is capable of making full productions. “What AI is going to do is disintermediate the more laborious, less creative and more costly aspects of film — that will allow costs to be brought down,” Ben Affleck, the actor and filmmaker who co-owns production company Artists Equity, said at a panel last week. “I wouldn’t like to be in the visual effects business; they’re in trouble because what cost a lot of money is now going to cost a lot less. But it’s not going to replace human beings making films.”