A24 got its first taste of artificial intelligence backlash in 2024 when it released AI-generated posters for “Civil War,” then its most expensive release to date. Why did a movie about photojournalism use artificially generated images to promote it? Didn’t this film have a big enough budget that it didn’t have to use AI for the marketing? Did they learn nothing from director Alex Garland’s first film “Ex Machina”? Others just hated what they saw on principle.
Though that backlash came shortly after the animosity directed at AI during the 2023 writers and actors strikes, the powers that be at A24 surely must have known this could be a possibility again.
On Monday, A24 and Google DeepMind announced a partnership that includes a $75 million investment from Google intended as part of research into developing AI workflows for filming. IndieWire tried to put some context into what this deal actually was, reporting that this was strictly a research partnership, not a production deal, that it included no mandates on producing films or other specific AI projects, and that models wouldn’t be trained on A24 IP.
But, as we later pointed out in a separate piece, access to A24’s internal process is essentially the whole ballgame. A24’s tightly guarded culture is often viewed as what has led to the company’s success and its cultural cachet. Inviting Google’s AI tech bros into that hallowed ground that helped make Barry Jenkins, Ari Aster, Greta Gerwig, Jane Schoenbrun, and now Kane Parsons into household names just doesn’t sit right with anyone who has spent $40 on an A24 candle.
“Fucking losers. Time for film bros to stop glazing this mid production company,” one comment read on a recent tweet promoting A24’s trailer for “The Debut,” Jesse Eisenberg’s film that has absolutely nothing to do with AI and certainly doesn’t deserve to be catching such strays. “You’re a joke and a disgrace to filmmaking. Good luck filling those seats,” another read.
It’s not hard to find disgruntled comments on IndieWire’s articles whenever we write about AI, but even we were shocked at some of the animosity we saw toward the news.
“Dress it up however you want it, A24 just sold its soul.” “NEON was the realest all along.” “So disappointing. AI can and will never make art. The sooner this bubble pops the better.” “NO A24! You were the chosen one!” “Byeeee A24, got no time or energy to make excuses for a wannabe tech company masquerading as a production company.” “I hope ya’ll know that these hate comments aren’t just a PR blip and won’t just eventually blow over. We genuinely hate AI. This is a bad move.”
Actress and filmmakerJustine Bateman, who was among the most vocal critics online of AI during the WGA strike in 2023, has also been on a tear in the wake of the Google DeepMind announcement.
Bateman’s accusation about having films “altered against your wishes” is a baseless assumption, but it underscores the deep mistrust people have when they hear about the sheer involvement of AI in art in any form.
A24 gave a statement to Wired earlier this week reiterating that its partnership with Google DeepMind is for research and that it would never take its relationships with filmmakers for granted. A24 sees this as a means to give creators access to the next wave of tools, just as it has always done, not about mandating what they make or altering their work:
“This is a research partnership. We’re working side-by-side with DeepMind’s researchers to learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows. Our relationship with our audience is something we don’t take for granted. This partnership exists because we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, and so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them. We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines.”
The rebuttal will be that any form of AI could or should be seen as theft and is a slippery slope toward taking away people’s jobs. Others pointed to the recent comments of Parsons on AI, that the “Backrooms” director referred to AI as “creative rot” and that he’s inherently less interested in something generated by it.
It doesn’t help that this A24 drama comes in the wake of Amazon MGM dropping the rights to “Artificial,” Luca Guadagnino’s nearly-completed new film that is a “Social Network” style story about OpenAI’s Sam Altman, one that A24 has now passed on distributing itself. It has raised bigger questions about the involvement of tech in any Hollywood studio, and it looked for a while like A24 was above Disney cozying up with OpenAI or Lionsgate training Runway models with their IP.
History would suggest A24 can easily weather this controversy. It just had the biggest box office hit in its history with “Backrooms,” and it has a slate on the horizon that includes the Chris Hansen and “To Catch a Predator” movie “Primetime” starring Robert Pattinson, an “Elden Ring” movie from Garland, an Anthony Bourdain biopic, and opening today, Olivia Wilde’s Sundance sensation “The Invite.”
But just ask MUBI about how controversies over funding and investments can fester over an extended period of time and forever change the perception of a company among some of its most loyal followers. A24 won’t have trouble acquiring or developing films with interesting filmmakers over this, but they suddenly feel a lot less cool.
