In a significant move, Lionsgate and the video-focused artificial intelligence research firm Runway have inked a deal that will see Runway train a new generative AI model on Lionsgate content, and will see the entertainment company use the tech as it produces future film and TV projects.
While details are scarce, the companies say that the new model will be “customized to Lionsgate’s proprietary portfolio of film and television content,” and exclusive to the studio. The purpose will be to “help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work.”
Lionsgate is the studio behind John Wick, The Hunger Games, and other franchises.
The Lionsgate deal is the first partnership between Runway and a major Hollywood studio, though everyone in the business is looking at the potential for the tech closely, given the speed with which generative AI tech can create images and video based off of text or image prompts.
It can also, as insinuated by Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns, ultimately serve to reduce costs, something that every studio is interested in, but particularly Lionsgate, which has long relied on films and series that are produced at more modest budgets compared to the blockbusters at some counterparts.
“Runway is a visionary, best-in-class partner who will help us utilize AI to develop cutting-edge, capital-efficient content creation opportunities,” said Burns. “Several of our filmmakers are already excited about its potential applications to their pre-production and post-production process. We view AI as a great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing our current operations.”
Of course, AI tools have also become a flashpoint for Hollywood, with unions worried about the impact on jobs, actors and musicians worried about misuse of their likenesses, and studios worried about the legal ramifications.
In the last week alone, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that regulates AI performance replicas; and a documentary producers group released guidelines on how generative AI can and should be used in the genre.
Studios are more openly experimenting with AI tools, even as there remains legal uncertainty, and concerns from labor.
Runway, for its part, frames itself as helping the creative community execute on their vision.
“We’re committed to giving artists, creators and studios the best and most powerful tools to augment their workflows and enable new ways of bringing their stories to life,” Runway co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela said in a statement. “The history of art is the history of technology and these new models are part of our continuous efforts to build transformative mediums for artistic and creative expression. The best stories are yet to be told. Lionsgate has an incredible creative team and a clear vision for how AI can help their work – we’re excited to help bring their ideas to life.”