Wednesday Jun 24
ENTERTAINMENTGoogle

Google Buys Into A24

22JUN
GOOGLE A24

Google just took its first-ever stake in a film studio. It's $75M into A24, the indie house behind Hereditary, so DeepMind can build AI tools with its filmmakers. Fans want a boycott.

This isn't a normal investment. Google gets something it can't buy elsewhere: a seat next to top filmmakers while they actually work.

A24 partner Scott Belsky says these tools won't feel like prompt-and-generate AI. Think AI storyboards, not auto-made movies. The deal gives Google no access to A24's library or data.

Fans aren't buying the nuance. Boycott calls are spreading, and Backrooms director Kane Parsons says he'd erase generative AI if he could.

full brief & sources

⚡ Why this matters

  • First time Google has taken equity in a film studio. The tech-Hollywood line just moved.
  • Sets up DeepMind to become the default AI toolmaker for filmmakers, not a vendor they resist.
  • Lands mid-backlash. Tests whether a 'creative-control' framing can survive fan anger.

🔍 What happened

  • Jun 22: Google invests about $75M in A24, its first equity stake in a film studio.
  • The money is tied to a DeepMind research partnership, not general funding.
  • It matches Thrive Capital's check from A24's last round.
  • DeepMind researchers will build new filmmaking workflows alongside A24.
  • The deal gives Google no access to A24's content library or data.
  • It follows Netflix buying AI startup InterPositive and Scorsese joining Black Forest Labs.

💬 Smart takes

  • Scott Belsky, A24 partner: the tools 'won't look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with.'
  • Eli Collins, DeepMind VP of product: 'breakthroughs happen when you get technology into the hands of the best minds in the field.'
  • Skeptic, Kane Parsons, Backrooms director: 'If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would.'

🧭 Where this goes

  1. Likelymore tech-lab-into-studio deals follow within 12 months.
  2. LikelyA24's first AI-assisted storyboards show up in a real production this year.
  3. Possiblethe boycott fades once a well-reviewed A24 film ships with quiet AI help.
  4. Wild Carda major A24 director publicly quits over the deal.

🥄 The Spoon Take

This is how AI gets into Hollywood. Not by selling 'cheaper, faster' to studios that hate it, but by sitting next to the artists and building what they ask for. Google isn't buying A24's movies. It's buying a front-row seat to how the best filmmakers think.

🤔 Pushback

A research deal with no library access may produce nice demos and no shipped tools. 'We sat with filmmakers' is not a product.

·Variety - A24 AI deal·TechCrunch - DeepMind $75M bet·IndieWire - A24 opens workflow·Pedestrian - Boycott backlash