A24 is taking a very A24-sized swing at AI filmmaking tools: not by handing over its movie library, but by pairing with Google DeepMind to develop technology it says is meant to help filmmakers work differently. The independent studio and Google have formed an AI research partnership backed by an investment of roughly $75 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The money is reportedly in line with what Thrive Capital put into A24 during the studio’s most recent funding round. In exchange, A24 gets access to DeepMind’s research and technical infrastructure, while DeepMind researchers will work with the studio on new production workflows.
Just as notably, the deal does not give Google access to A24’s content library or its data. In Hollywood’s current AI climate, that is not a minor footnote. It is the part everyone reads twice.
What A24 and Google are actually building
The partnership will run through A24 Labs, the studio’s technology division led by A24 partner Scott Belsky. The goal, according to the Journal, is to build AI-supported tools for filmmakers rather than systems designed to replace the creative process outright.
One area already being explored is AI-generated storyboards. That kind of tool could help filmmakers visualize scenes earlier in production, test ideas, or communicate more clearly with crews before cameras roll. It is less glamorous than a robot writing an Oscar speech, which is probably for the best.
Belsky told the Journal that A24 sees its approach as different from other entertainment industry AI deals because many developers have pitched the technology as a way to make films cheaper and faster.
“We think there are better uses that preserve creative control and support risk-taking,” Belsky said, adding that the new tools “won’t look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with.”
Eli Collins, a vice president of product for Google DeepMind, framed the collaboration as a way to put advanced tools directly into the hands of working artists.
“We believe breakthroughs happen when you get technology into the hands of the best minds in the field,” Collins told the Journal.
Why this deal lands differently in Hollywood
The A24-Google agreement arrives during a tense stretch for entertainment companies trying to decide whether AI is a creative tool, a legal threat, a cost-cutting machine, or all three before lunch.
Studios have been moving in several directions at once:
- Disney had a short-lived deal with OpenAI to license its suite of characters, even as it sued AI companies including MiniMax and Midjourney for copyright infringement.
- Lionsgate expanded its partnership with Runway AI to develop new intellectual property and produce AI-generated shows drawing from existing franchises.
- Netflix purchased Ben Affleck’s AI startup InterPositive earlier this year, with the company focused on building tools for filmmakers.
That combination of deals and lawsuits has made every AI announcement in Hollywood feel slightly loaded. For studios, there is clear pressure to experiment. For writers, actors, directors, animators, and crews, the question is often what exactly is being experimented on, and who benefits if the experiment works.
A24’s public framing is designed to answer that concern before it becomes the whole story. By stressing that Google will not get access to its films or data, and by positioning the tools as support for directors rather than automated content generation, the studio is trying to draw a line between assistance and replacement.
Whether audiences and filmmakers accept that line is another matter.
Why A24’s reputation matters here
A24 is not just another studio trying to bolt a technology strategy onto a release calendar. The company has built much of its identity around giving distinctive filmmakers room to take risks, then finding audiences willing to follow them into stranger corners of mainstream cinema.
Its track record includes critical and commercial successes such as “Lady Bird,” “Moonlight,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Marty Supreme,” and the recent box-office winner “Backrooms.” That reputation matters because A24 has become a trusted name for many younger viewers who see the studio as a home for original voices rather than franchise management by spreadsheet.
That younger audience is especially important in this case. According to PostTrak data cited in the source report, roughly 85% of people who saw “Backrooms” during its opening weekend were under 35.
At the same time, skepticism toward AI runs high among young adults. A Pew Research study published last week found that roughly half of adults under 30 believe AI will harm society. So A24 is entering this partnership with a fanbase that may love its films but does not necessarily want Silicon Valley wandering around the edit bay without supervision.
That tension is the real story behind the investment. A24 and Google are betting that AI can become part of the filmmaking process without flattening the human judgment that makes films worth watching. It is a careful pitch, and likely a necessary one.
A24 is presenting the deal as a way to expand creative control, not surrender it. In an industry where “efficiency” often makes artists reach for a lawyer, that distinction will matter as much as the technology itself.
