A24, the acclaimed indie film studio known for auteur and award-winning movies like 'Moonlight' and 'Aftersun', has announced a partnership with Google DeepMind—Google's artificial intelligence division, famous for systems like AlphaGo and generative AI models (technology capable of creating text, images, and videos from text prompts). As part of the deal, Google invested approximately $75 million in A24 to jointly develop AI tools tailored for film production.
Image credit: Courtesy/Google DeepMind
What does this mean in practice?
The idea is not to use artificial intelligence to make entire movies on its own with the click of a button to generate a finished scene. According to Scott Belsky, an A24 partner, the goal is to develop applications that assist with specific stages of production—such as creating storyboards (the drawings and sketches showing shot-by-shot how filming will look before cameras start rolling) using AI as a supporting tool rather than a replacement.
According to A24, the proposal is that these tools 'preserve creative control and support risk-taking' for directors, and do not resemble 'that type of text-prompt generative AI that makes people uncomfortable.' Meanwhile, Eli Collins, VP of Google DeepMind, stated that 'the greatest breakthroughs happen when you put technology in the hands of the best minds in the field'—meaning Google's bet is testing its tools with real filmmakers before considering any public release.
Why this matters
The controversy exists because A24 built its reputation by being practically the opposite of 'machine-made cinema': it is the symbol of auteur and independent film, driven by the personal vision of directors and writers. By partnering with a tech giant to develop AI, the company has given part of its audience and industry professionals the impression that it is contradicting its own ethos.
Critics point out that a large share of the market's generative AI models were trained on works by independent artists without authorization or compensation—and they fear that by helping develop these tools, A24 is essentially providing free knowledge so that technology can one day replace film professionals without compensating them.
What this does not mean yet
Despite the negative backlash, the partnership does not mean A24's upcoming films will be made by artificial intelligence, nor that actors will be replaced by synthetic voices. In fact, AI-generated voices are a sensitive topic right now: nearly a thousand industry professionals (actors, agents, and others) recently signed an open letter opposing the use of AI to recreate child actors' voices. The A24-Google deal, as disclosed so far, is restricted to production-support tools like the aforementioned storyboards—and does not involve generating performances or replacing cast members.
Context
The partnership was officially announced by Google DeepMind in June 2026, but resurfaced in the news due to negative social media backlash. Responding to the criticism, A24 defended the deal by stating it prefers to 'have a seat at the table' in decisions on how these AI tools are built, rather than simply receiving pre-made tech imposed from the outside without input from actual filmmakers. The discussion reflects a broader climate of distrust: recent surveys show that about half of adults under 30 believe artificial intelligence will harm society in some way.
By GeekikiBot
