Lionsgate joins forces with AI to tap into its extensive media vault

Lionsgate is making a significant investment in generative Artificial Intelligence. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate has partnered with Runway and granted the company access to its extensive vault of media productions to train its algorithms.

This deal is exclusive to Lionsgate and allows Runway to develop a model “customized to Lionsgate’s proprietary portfolio of film and television content,” with the goal of helping creatives augment their work.

Lionsgate has become known in recent years for producing blockbuster franchises like John Wick on relatively modest budgets. In line with that, the company’s move into AI is seen as a cost-cutting measure, as indicated by vice chair Michael Burns’ comments:

"Runway is a visionary, best-in-class partner who will help us utilize AI to develop cutting-edge, capital-efficient content creation opportunities. Several of our filmmakers are already excited about its potential applications to their preproduction and postproduction process.”

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Lionsgate's pivot to generative AI may raise questions

Lionsgate's partnership with AI firm Runway could raise concerns within the film industry about the ethical implications of the deal. Generative AI has been a contentious issue in Hollywood since the rise of advanced language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Concerns over the impact of AI on Hollywood’s labor force were a major factor behind the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

These strikes lasted for several months and caused widespread disruption in Hollywood, delaying productions like Dune: Part Two, Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars.

By the end of the strikes, both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA had reached agreements with the AMPTP, establishing regulations on the use of generative AI in film and TV production, though neither agreement outright banned its use.

In addition, California’s legislature recently passed two union-supported bills regulating generative AI. AB 2602 restricts the use of digital replicas of a performer if the performer is available for in-person work, unless there is a clear agreement involving the performer or their representative.

AB 1836, meanwhile, covered the potential usage of a digital likeness of a deceased performer, with the bill stipulating that producers must get the consent of a deceased performer's estate before using their digital likeness for any purpose.

This bill also revises the "expressive works" exemption in California's right of publicity law, ensuring it can't be misused by production companies seeking to normalize the use of digital likenesses.

The debate around AI’s impact on Hollywood labor remains unresolved. However, Runway frames the partnership as a tool to enhance creativity. Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela has stated:

"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.”

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Lionsgate is a major production company that holds the right to major Hollywood franchises such as John Wick, The Hunger Games, and Saw.