What the Runway-Lionsgate partnership tells us about Hollywood

History is being made. AI video startup Runway has partnered with Lionsgate, creator of The Hunger Games, to bring AI to film. Runway’s goal is to help the artistic community with cutting-edge tools to bring their stories to life, and now with this deal, maybe even on the big screen.

Interestingly, the Oscar-winning film “Everything everywhere and at once“used Runaway’s special effects tools in his famous film rock scenewhich saved a lot of time, cost and physical effort. Lionsgate Entertainment is a Hollywood powerhouse that has previously produced award-winning films and shows like Twilight, John Wick and The Hunger Games. Under the agreement, Lionsgate will be able to use AI Runway tools exclusively to create content.

Runaway was founded in 2018 by NYU graduates. Founders Cristóbal Valenzuela, Anastasis Germanidis, and Alejandro Matamala were in talks earlier this year to value their startup at a whopping $4 billion.

Runway also released Gen-3 Alpha, which is trained on both video and images and enables Runway’s text-to-video, image-to-video, and text-to-image tools. This model is publicly available to anyone. “The history of art is the history of technology, and these new models are part of our ongoing efforts to build transformative media for artistic and creative expression; the best stories are yet to be told,” said Cristóbal Valenzuela, one of Runway’s founders.

Hollywood 2.0

The future of cinema is AI, but not in the way you might think. In a tangible sense, AI can be used sensibly in films during pre- and post-production processes, and even for character generation. But in a broader sense, it lowers the barrier to entry and allows many more people to venture into this difficult and legacy-driven space.

The country’s own AI Runway film festival, similar to the one in Cannes, is an attempt to exclusively celebrate artists who use new AI techniques in their short films. Launched two years ago, the festival is an attempt to open a dialogue about the (inevitable) role of AI tools in the film community and engage creators from all backgrounds to understand their perspectives.

“If we had deepfake face swapping technology, a movie like The Irishman would look different and it wouldn’t have taken us ten years to make it. While we were waiting for the finances to finish the movie, we were also waiting for newer technology,” said Jane Rosenthal, a leading American film producer, in an interview with Cristóbal Valenzuela.

She’s also a member of the Dean’s Council at NYU Tisch, one of the top film schools in the world, and is enthusiastic about the role of AI in today’s zeitgeist, especially for newer filmmakers. For context, The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Rosenthal, is an interesting case study in how the moviegoing experience can be improved (when AI is used responsibly) while saving a lot of time and resources in the process.

“Experimenting with AI is fantastic. Speaking of speed, you know how it works, for example, if an actor gets hurt or cuts himself while shaving, there’s no makeup on it and you have to stop shooting. But now, with AI tools, you can just continue shooting and fix it. You can fix anything,” she added that AI is nothing new, but its variety and speed are something new.

Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign was a cultural reset, showing how technological advances can support artistic expression rather than restrict it. The artist’s vision remains at the heart of any film or work of art, and incorporating AI into that process is a logical progression in today’s world.

Hollywood’s relationship with AI startups hasn’t always been smooth

Despite the very visible benefits, last year the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America protested the growing use of AI in creative spaces, fearing the loss of jobs and artistic freedom. That protest ended with the introduction of checks and balances to ensure that AI is used as a complement to, and not a replacement for, the industry. The scars of SacrJo’s controversy with OpenAI are still fresh in the mind.

Nevertheless, the general sentiment remains to find ways to work with these AI startups. As more models emerge and the race to AGI seems to be heating up, it’s likely that AI models will start training themselves if Hollywood studios don’t step up and volunteer to collaborate. Lionsgate has a first-mover advantage here. For consumers, these AI tools could usher in a new paradigm of filmmaking, leveling the playing field, allowing low-budget films to compete with big-budget films without compromising on quality.

Does Sam Altman not plan events in Los Angeles anymore?

OpenAI’s dominance in this space is still coveted, despite never releasing Sora, its text-to-video generator, to the general public. While privately available to some, it’s unclear why OpenAI hasn’t yet released a Sora subscription model similar to ChatGPT. The possibilities of Sora are incredible. OpenAI even teased more Sora with videos earlier this month, leaving people wanting more.

Sam Altman reportedly attended Hollywood events in Los Angeles earlier this year, presumably to get some progress done before Sora’s official release. Altman is fascinated by the science fiction films in the industry and hopes to see more of them in the future. He has spoken many times about his favorite film, Herdirected by Spike Jonze and his influence on him. After the premiere of Sora, OpenAI’s lobbying in Hollywood was very fruitful, with many studios and artists, including the famous Ashton Kutcher, endorsing the AI ​​video generator. However, Runway’s attempt to secure a huge deal on such a scale is undoubtedly a step ahead.

Sora’s announcement was one of the first and most anticipated breakthroughs earlier this year, leading to a series of launches from its competitors. “It’s very easy to copy something that works, so I think there are two ways to achieve success: for example, if we imitate quickly or if we push the boundaries“Altman said in a recent interview, referring to the upcoming OpenAI rollout.