AI Startups: Hollywood Disrupted by Massive Fundraising

AI Invades Hollywood: A Revolution in Progress

Wonder Studios, a British company, is at the forefront of innovation by using artificial intelligence to expand intellectual property and create original works. This movement is part of a broader trend where AI is beginning to transform the film industry, whether in production, marketing, or visual effects. Major Hollywood studios, such as Netflix and Amazon, are integrating AI to optimize their processes, particularly in special effects and enhancing the viewing experience. Lionsgate, for its part, has partnered with the startup Runway to train an AI model on its vast content library.

AI startups are raising significant funds to disrupt the traditional film and television sector. Among them, Moments Lab, a French company, has raised $24 million for its video library indexing tools. Neosapience, specializing in synthetic voices and videos, secured $21.5 million. Other startups, like Papercup, which focuses on dubbing, have raised $20 million, while Wonder Studios has secured $12 million for its innovative projects. Companies like StorReel and Metaphysic are also exploring new avenues, having raised $9 million and $7.5 million, respectively.

It is a challenging time for Hollywood. Budgets are generally not what they used to be, and studios know they must do everything they can to make projects faster and cheaper. AI comes into play. Netflix and Amazon have discussed how they use AI to create elaborate special effects and enhance the viewing experience. Lionsgate is partnering with the startup Runway to train an AI model on its library. Other players in Hollywood are using AI but are not publicly discussing it.

At the same time, many are concerned about the use of AI by tech giants to appropriate their intellectual property. Studios have contested the video generation by Sora from OpenAI, which encroaches on their copyrighted characters. Disney and Universal have sued Midjourney, accusing it of using technology to plagiarize Star Wars, The Minions, and others.

Studios must also be sensitive to the fears of talent being replaced by AI, as well as public attitudes. A YouGov poll conducted in early October revealed that viewers were divided on the use of AI. People were most accepting of using AI to translate subtitles into other languages (64% in favor), but least accepting of the idea that AI characters could replace human actors (65% against).

How Do AI Founders Present Their Vision to Investors and Hollywood Players?

Business Insider interviewed the founders of startups behind tools aimed at disrupting traditional television and cinema. They shared the pitch decks they used to raise funds.

Here are nine pitch decks used by AI startups to raise millions to disrupt Hollywood:

• Series B

  • Moments Lab, a French company whose tools index studio video libraries and create new videos from raw footage: $24 million
  • Neosapience, a platform for synthetic voice and video: $21.5 million

• Series A

  • Papercup, a startup promising to revolutionize dubbing: $20 million

• Seed

  • Wonder Studios, a British company using AI to expand intellectual property and create original works: $12 million
  • StorReel, a startup creating short dramas with interactive AI characters: $9 million
  • Metaphysic, which uses AI to create realistic deepfakes: $7.5 million
  • Filmustage, which uses AI to analyze scripts and perform other pre-production tasks: $1.5 million

• Pre-seed

  • Strada, a platform promising to streamline the production process: $1.9 million

• Others

  • Fable Studio, which received support from Amazon to enable creators to produce their own animated shows: undisclosed amount.