Lionsgate sign deal to train AI on its films

by James Harvey |
the hunger games (1)
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Lionsgate has signed a deal with AI company Runway, giving it full access to the John Wick and Hunger Games producers’ film and TV archive.

Lionsgate has signed a deal with Runway that will allow the company to train AI on its back catalogue in exchange for access to its software for use in film and TV production, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The studio hasn’t yet specified what aspect of the production process the technology will be used for. AI was at the centre of months-long negotiations with Hollywood’s actors and writers’ guilds during the strike action of 2023.

“Runway… will help us utilize AI to develop cutting edge, capital efficient content creation opportunities,” Lionsgate Vice Chair Michael Burns said in a statement, according to the BBC.

Runway is one of a number of AI companies currently being sued for potential copyright infringement in a California court.

Runway co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela said that AI can “significantly accelerate one’s progress through creative challenges… by helping to solve specific tasks, not by replacing entire jobs.”

On an unrelated note, here’s a graph showing the correlation between hours worked and take-home pay for workers not on PAYE contracts (the majority of people employed in the film industry):

…And here’s another graph, showing the correlation between the number of hours it takes to do a task and the number of people employed to perform it:

hours x number of employees graph

How fascinating! Still, Mr Valenzuela says AI won’t replace any jobs, so we’re sure everything’s fine.

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