Promise: New AI-Powered Studio Backed by Hollywood and Silicon Valley Giants

Andreessen Horowitz-backed studio Promise to start producing movies, series using AI

(Reuters) - Promise, backed by former News Corp President Peter Chernin and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, will produce films and series using generative AI tools, the company said on Tuesday. The startup, launched on Tuesday, said the announcement marks the culmination of a fundraising round. Hollywood studios have been exploring ways to incorporate GenAI tools to reduce costs and speed up the content creation process. Promise -- founded by Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos, former YouTube executive Jamie Byrne and AI artist Dave Clark -- aims to capitalize on the GenAI boom and said that it was working with Hollywood stakeholders to create a multi-year lineup of content. The startup said it was developing a production software for artists called Muse, which will integrate GenAI throughout the process of producing movies and shows. In February, ChatGPT-developer OpenAI introduced Sora, a tool capable of generating feature film-like quality videos from text inputs, prompting Hollywood executives and agents to meet the Microsoft-backed company to discuss potential creative collaborations. Meanwhile, Adobe said last month it has started publicly distributing an AI model that can generate video from text prompts. (Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona)

Peter Chernin's North Road, Andreessen Horowitz Backing New Gen AI-Focused Entertainment Studio

MSNBC 'Morning Joe' Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Meet With Trump in Bid for "New Approach" to Coverage A new Hollywood entertainment studio wants to put generative artificial intelligence at the heart of all its projects, and it has backing from a pair of major power players in the business: The North Road Company and Andreessen Horowitz. The new studio, Promise, is being led by George Strompolos, who was the CEO and founder of creator-centric software and media company Fullscreen; as well as Jamie Byrne, who most recently led creator partnerships for YouTube; and Dave Clark, a filmmaker who uses AI in his work. Strompolis will be CEO, with Byrne serving as resident and COO, and Clark as chief creative officer. Peter Chernin's North Road and a16z partner Andrew Chen led the investment round, giving the studio cash but also the resources of Hollywood and Silicon Valley heavy hitters. Chernin's TCG previously invested in Fullscreen. Promise is launching during a disruptive moment for the entertainment industry, with many in the business fearful of Gen AI's potential to shake up how the industry operates. The technology was a focal point in last year's Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with the actors union ultimately seeking compensation for their members for use in AI-generated projects or roles, and with the WGA seeking stricter rules around how the tech can be used. Given their backgrounds in the worlds of creator-driven content, it is no surprise that the new studio is leaning into that world, hoping to leverage proprietary software to help creators level up their productions, while also "engaging with leading Gen AI artists, Hollywood talent, and rights-holders to develop a multi-year lineup of category-defining films and series." "We are investing in a new class of Gen AI talent who blend traditional filmmaking chops with cutting-edge technical expertise, setting a new standard for high-quality storytelling enabled by AI," said Strompolos in a statement. "We believe this is a transformational moment in entertainment and a studio must be built from the ground up -- around the artists, the tech, and a new workflow -- in order to unlock its full potential." "There is something undeniably exciting about Generative AI, and we are bullish on George and Promise's ability to empower storytellers," Chernin added. "This team understands that prioritizing artists and creatives is the only approach as we begin to apply Generative AI into the creative process, and Promise has the most inventive and user-friendly model we have seen." Promise has developed new software that it calls MUSE, which integrates gen AI tools across the production process, and will be at the heart of its projects. In an open letter on their website, the founders elaborated on their vision for the company, one that still centers creative people: "This new era of creativity holds extraordinary promise, but it takes more than advanced technology to succeed. To bring great stories to life, we need great storytellers -- writers, actors, producers, directors, visual effects artists, and so many others -- who bring their creativity and vision to every project. For Promise, technology is the backbone, but the creative community is the heart and soul." North Road's holdings include stakes in the production companies Kinetic Content; Left/Right; 44 Blue Productions; Words + Pictures, as well as Questlove's Two One Five Entertainment and Peyton manning's Omaha Productions. A16z currently has $44 billion in committed capital, and its investments have included AirBnB, Slack, Instacart, Substack, and Roblox.