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A24 is the independent studio largely responsible for making modern arthouse movies mainstream, with recent hits like Marty Supreme and Backrooms shaping cultural conversations.
Now the cult film production company is partnering with Google's AI-focused DeepMind team to develop AI tools for its filmmakers, according to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal. As part of the deal, Google is investing $75 million into A24's 20-person Labs team to create new tools for movie production and distribution. These tools will be available to A24 creators, but they'll also funnel back into Google's AI ecosystem.
Google previously partnered with Darren Aronofsky, a firm believer in using generative AI in filmmaking, and the director of movies like Black Swan and The Whale. But this is the first time the company has staked money in a Hollywood studio.
The search giant currently owns the massive video hosting website, YouTube, and one of the most widely available AI video generation tools, Veo. DeepMind's investment in A24 represents an expansion of its research scope, which has recently expanded into video games as well.
The deal between the studio and the tech giant doesn't allow Google to train AI models on A24's catalog of television shows and movies. Instead, A24 Labs is currently developing an application to produce AI-generated storyboards, the rough draft art created before a movie's visuals are fully fleshed out.
When asked for comment, a representative of the DeepMind team pointed CNET toward Google's official blog post about the partnership.
According to that post, Google's "specific goals, technical outputs and creative milestones of this initiative will evolve over time," indicating that the scope of this partnership may change as A24 and DeepMind foster a "deep research and development collaboration... spanning multiple projects over time."
A representative for A24 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AI tools in cinema
The A24 Labs team responsible for creating the new AI tools is headed by Scott Belsky, who left Adobe's executive team for his new role in January 2025.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Belsky believes that audience and director pushback against AI tools hinges on public perception that generative AI is used to make movies cheaper and faster.
"We think there are better uses that preserve creative control and support risk-taking," Belsky told the Wall Street Journal. He argued that A24's AI usage "won't look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with."
While it's true that actors and directors have by and large rallied against introducing generative AI into the filmmaking process, Hollywood studios have a far more hot-and-cold relationship with the burgeoning industry. Some producers have threatened legal action against AI giants for alleged copyright violations, while others, such as Disney, have attempted to cut ill-fated deals with companies like OpenAI.
A24's unconventional storytelling
A24 was founded in 2012 by three film production veterans with a mission to release movies other companies wouldn't touch. Some of the company's earliest productions, including Oscar Award-winning pictures Moonlight and Lady Bird, have become cult classics, championed for their portrayal of coming-of-age stories and for featuring characters from marginalized communities that are typically underrepresented in Hollywood films.
While the production company has long been renowned among cinephiles, it arguably became a household name in 2022 with the release of Everything Everywhere All at Once, its first film to surpass $100 million in box-office earnings.
A24's more recent films have consistently scored critical and financial accolades. Backrooms became the largest original horror movie debut in history, and has raked in more than $270 million at the box office during its theatrical release. A24's upcoming Elden Ring movie, directed by Alex Garland and adapted from the popular FromSoftware video game, is slated to be the company's biggest production yet, commanding a $175 million budget.
The DeepMind deal is representative of the cultural clash at the heart of A24's business model: While the production company elevates independent talent, first-time directors and scripts that other studios might not be willing to take a chance on, it's still a business worth up to $3.5 billion that's beholden to investors.
It's unclear how the Google AI deal may yet affect A24's sterling public reputation, but it's very unlikely that the audience of theatergoers that shows up time and time again to support independent projects will be happy with the news.
