AI Company Offering Filmmakers Grants Up To $1M To Use New Tech

The artificial intelligence (AI) startup Runway announced that it is offering grants of up to $1 million for filmmakers willing to use the technology on future projects.

It’s all part of their newly created “The Hundred Film Fund,” per Variety, which was created to help fund both short and feature-length films. The company noted that grants would range from $5,000 to $1 million and that applications would be processed and responded to within 14 days of submission.

Runway also doesn’t require applicants to use its software, only that they use AI for their work. Any approved filmmakers using AI will be offered up to $2 million in credits to use Runway’s AI program, however.

Runway co-founder and CEO Cris Valenzuela told Variety there isn’t a catch to this offer. “This is not about getting our money back,” he told the outlet, insisting that the grants are simply meant to serve as incentives for filmmakers to embrace AI for their work. The Runway founder also mentioned that the company would not retain rights to any film projects produced with their grants.

“We’re a software company. Our business is to sell tools,” Valenzuela said. “Our success will be rooted in our ability to help storytellers make these films.” 

“We believe that the best stories are yet to be told, and that traditional funding mechanisms often overlook these new visions,” the Runway exec added, saying that there was no set amount of money the company was giving out and that submissions would be on a rolling basis.

All pitches will be evaluated by a team of individuals representing the tech and entertainment industry. Those include Tribeca Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal, Nvidia VP Richard Kerris, recording artist and entrepreneur will.i.am, film colorist and Company 3 founder Stefan Sonnenfeld, and Asher XR CEO Christina Lee Storm. The outlet noted that Kerris and will.i.am are both investors in Runway.

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The AI company recently made headlines for being the first to sign with a major studio, Lionsgate, to use its proprietary software to comb the studio’s library and help facilitate future projects, as The Daily Wire previously reported. 

At the time, Runway stressed the collaborative nature of the deal, using the word “augment” rather than selling itself as a replacement for creative work. 

“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,” Valenzuela said.

“The history of art is the history of technology and these new models are part of our continuous efforts to build transformative mediums for artistic and creative expression. The best stories are yet to be told,” he added. “Lionsgate has an incredible creative team and a clear vision for how AI can help their work — we’re excited to help bring their ideas to life.”