Lionsgate Partners With AI Firm To Generate Video From Its IP

Lionsgate and applied AI research company Runway have partnered on a new model customized to the studio’s proprietary portfolio of film and television content. 

The new AI is designed exclusively to help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work by generating cinematic video that can be further iterated using Runway’s suite of tools. It’s Runway’s first collaboration with a Hollywood studio.

“Runway is a visionary, best-in-class partner who will help us utilize AI to develop cutting-edge, capital-efficient content creation opportunities,” said Lionsgate Vice Chair Michael Burns. “Several of our filmmakers are already excited about its potential applications to their pre-production and post-production process. We view AI as a great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing our current operations.”

Lionsgate has a 20,000-title film and television library with franchises from The Hunger Games to Twilight to John Wick.

“We’re committed to giving artists, creators and studios the best and most powerful tools to augment their workflows and enable new ways of bringing their stories to life. The history of art is the history of technology and these new models are part of our continuous efforts to build transformative mediums for artistic and creative expression. The best stories are yet to be told,” said Runway co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela. “Lionsgate has an incredible creative team and a clear vision for how AI can help their work – we’re excited to help bring their ideas to life.”

New York-based Runway, launched in 2018, calls itself “an applied AI research company building the next era of art, entertainment and human creativity.” Its entertainment division Runway Studios produces and funds films, documentaries, printed publications, music videos and other media. Other partners include the Tribeca Festival with a showcase of short films made with emerging AI tools, and AI ad agency Media.Monks.  

The partnership comes as Lionsgate is drawing closer to a separation with Starz.