- Disney is reportedly using generative AI from the same startup as Netflix
- Lionsgate and AMC Networks have also inked appointments with Runway AI
- An increasing number of studios is experimenting with the technique
Disney is reportedly the latest Hollywood study that is quietly using the same generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools as Netflix – and it’s easy to see why others have been attracted to the controversial tech as they cite time and cost -saving benefits of production.
According to Bloomberg, Walt Disney Company has tested Runway AIS tools and has even gone so far as talking to starting up using its generative AI tools in movies and TV shows. While a spokesman for Disney has confirmed that there are no plans to integrate the software, it’s just another sign of how studios become more comfortable using AI.
It’s no secret that Netflix, for example, uses AI. Co-Ceo Ted Sarandos Marked open as much – under the company’s earnings call last week – AI was used to generate a VFX (visual effects) sequence in an original production for the first time in dystopian drama Medaut. At that time, it was not revealed which AI software was used, but a source has allegedly confirmed to Bloomberg that it was actually Runway AI’s Tech.
To be ready, Medaut Was not the first time Netflix had used AI. It tried unsuccessfully to fix the 80s sitcom Another world with ai upscaling and was caught by AI Oscars -Controvers after Emilia Pérez was criticized for using voice improvement technology. Still, it marks the first time that Netflix has used generative AI in one of its own original projects.
The reason why it is remarkable is because generative AI has the potential to prevent the entire industry completely. There is a reason why the Hollywood actors and authors’ strikes in 2023 were so strongly focused on establishing protective measures to protect the livelihood and creative integrity of VFX artists and animators.
It’s one thing to mess around with Runway’s AI to transform your home videos into Hollywood -blockbusters, but for a billion dollar industry to start cutting corners is a smooth slope that many are rightly worried about.
What other Hollywood Studios use Runway AI?
It is not only Netflix and Disney that are reportedly working with Runway AI. Two years ago, Variety revealed that VFX artist Evan Halleck used the startup tools in All everywhere at once To remove the background from certain scenes.
The same reasons were used when they are now, with Halleck, who claimed it was cheaper and faster to use AI tools than more time -consuming processes such as rotoscoping. Sarandos recently repeated these feelings when he said “that the vfx sequence [in The Eternaut] was completed 10 times faster than it could have been completed with visual, traditional VFX tools and workflows ”.
At that time it was also reported that the runway even worked The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “They use it almost daily to translate hours of work. The team is capable of itering their ideas faster and it helps them increase their creative workflow,” Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela told Variety.
In the years ago, Hollywood has started to warm up to AI even faster, so some may have predicted. In fact, it is reported that Runway AI broke a deal with Lionsgate in September 2024. Vice President of the Michael Burns study says the bond will help it produce “movies and TV shows that we would otherwise never make”.
Since then, several production companies have jumped on the bandwagon. The Creator and Co-ShowRunner of Amazons House of David, Jon Erwin revealed to Variety that different AI tools were used to create a scene in the show, including Runway’s AI videoorerator.
Just last month, Runway AI also collaborated with AMC Networks to use its tools to help visualize a TV show that has not yet been produced as well as to generate marketing photos, Hollywood Reporter (THR) reported. “It’s a bit of a natural transition for every entertainment and media company; they have to think through what AI means to them,” Valenzuela told Thr On the question of the AMC partnership.
It seems to be inevitable that more studios will continue to work with Runway AI when more becomes comfortable making it publicly known, and it seems that startups do not stop at Hollywood. A new text-to-video game AI generator is on the way, which will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the gaming industry once it has been developed, according to The Verge. Could we see Bane Ai doing the same intervention in the gaming industry? I would look at Hollywood as the plan.
