back roomA recent horror movie blockbuster, the film is full of ideas about repetition and degradation. Its central theme, the horror of a world seemingly mindlessly and monstrously stealing our own, was seen in some circles as a critique of generative AI. This idea clearly struck a nerve. Recently, the worldwide box office revenue has exceeded 300 million dollars. back room ” was the biggest hit to date for the buzzy boutique producer and distributor, New York company A24.
On the back of this box office success, it’s somewhat amusing that A24 recently announced a $75 million research partnership with Google’s in-house artificial intelligence lab, DeepMind. As The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, the tech giant is partnering with A24 to develop new filmmaking “tools” as part of A24’s tech startup A24 Labs, overseen by co-founder Scott Belsky.
“This is a research partnership,” Sophia Singh, communications director at A24, told WIRED in an email. “We are actively working with DeepMind researchers to learn, iterate, build, and shape new tools and workflows.”
This is the latest in a series of uneasy and controversial marriages between Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Late last year, Disney announced it would acquire $1 billion in OpenAI stock, including licensing characters such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and C-3PO to the company’s Sora video generation model. A few months later, the contract, as well as Sora itself, was terminated. The threat AI poses to film, and the creative arts more generally, feels entirely existential. Automate (and kill) entry-level jobs, blackmail writers’ rooms, and squat on complexes to display AI-generated works that run the gamut from the boring to the abhorrent. Some studios have sued AI companies for copyright infringement.
There are also growing concerns that AI’s takeover of the movie business could have a chilling effect, as seen recently when studios distanced themselves from Luca Guadagnino’s biopic of OpenAI founder Sam Altman. artificial.
The announcement of the A24 AI partnership was particularly puzzling and controversial precisely because of A24’s place in modern film culture.
A24’s die-hard fans don’t seem to be taking the latest collaboration news particularly well. Earlier this week, A24 released the trailer for Jesse Eisenberg’s new musical drama debut. For X, the comments below the trailer were peppered with criticism aimed at A24, from fans posting tombstones and announcing the company’s demise, to promises to illegally pirate the film (to eat into A24’s profits), to sarcastic remarks such as: [sic] The ending of a24 is ai. ” (The definition of “sarcasm” may differ from person to person.)
“Our relationship with our viewers is something we don’t take for granted,” emphasizes A24’s Shin. “This partnership exists because we want to decide what tools we build for artists, so they can have a say in shaping it, rather than being handed the tools. We’d rather have a seat at the table than sit on the sidelines.”
Google DeepMind did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
cool factor
A24 is a big tastemaker in the movie world. Film critic Esther Rosenfield says, “In the same way that Disney sells nostalgia, A24 has been selling a sense of being very hip and cutting edge for its entire existence.”
in front back roomA24 ushered in authentic American indie films such as; Witch, Moonlight, Midsommar, Everything, everywhere, all at once. and recent Marty Supreme. The studio has launched and supported the work and careers of serious filmmakers such as Sofia Coppola, Denis Villeneuve, Ari Aster, Jane Schoenbrunn, Celine Song, and the Safdie brothers. Since its founding in 2012, it has earned dozens of Academy Award nominations. The distinctive A24 logo in front of a movie trailer is often enough to promote a new release in a movie culture dominated by boring series IP blockbusters.
