I see the incredible promise: on set of an AI film shoot as new studios embrace controversial tech
A new AI film studio, Promise, is using AI models to create backgrounds, special effects, and even 'synthetic performers' in its movies, bypassing traditional studios and financing.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
The rise of AI film studios like Promise is sparking controversy, with some film-makers embracing the technology as a creative renaissance, while others fear for their jobs and the loss of human connection.
Imagine a movie set where a human actor is acting with a computer-generated background and special effects. This is what's happening at a new AI film studio called Promise, where they're using AI models to create movies that are cheaper and faster to make. Some people are excited about this new technology, while others are worried that it will replace human actors and make jobs disappear.
Analysis
Promise: A New Era in Film-Making
The emergence of AI film studios like Promise is a game-changer for the film industry. With the ability to create backgrounds, special effects, and even 'synthetic performers' using AI models, these studios are bypassing traditional financing and sound stages. This shift has sparked controversy, with some film-makers embracing the technology as a creative renaissance, while others fear for their jobs and the loss of human connection.
Leading directors like Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro have criticized generative technology, citing concerns about job losses and the potential for AI to replace human actors. However, the excitement and energy about AI's potential was palpable at Promise's new base, where a human actor, Tori Thomas, waited for her call amid rows of computers for early shooting on the studio's newly announced AI-enabled horror film, Touch Grass.
The sound stage was little more than a corner of the office hung with white sheets. A small camera followed Thomas as she scrambled in a chase scene, then the AI did the rest. It superimposed her movement in real time on to a field of swaying grass generated by a Chinese AI model, Seedance 2.5, released this month, which looks set to dramatically slash production times.
Whole scenes – actor and backdrop – were instantly visible on the director's handheld monitor, as if they were filming in real locations. Even the seedheads in the AI-generated meadow moved as Thomas appeared to brush past. In another take, the field was easily replaced by a nightmarish underground cavern. With a glance at the screen, Thomas could immediately see the backdrop she was acting with.
Promise is not alone in embracing the technology, which Netflix last week said it had used in 300 of its 1,000 titles in 2026. Ron Howard, the veteran director of the Da Vinci Code and A Beautiful Mind, is set to release an AI-enabled animated documentary feature about prisoners of war in Vietnam, working with another new AI studio, Obsidian.
Brad Pitt said this week that while there was a lot of pushback, 'AI is going to be the very thing that, if used as a tool, is going to help these mid-budget films, $40m- to $90m-budgeted films, get made.' Filming crew at Promise studio
The Promise shoot involved veteran film-makers including Joel Hynek, an Oscar winner who worked on the manual special effects for Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1987 action-horror film Predator. 'When we went from optical to digital film, we thought we'd gone to heaven,' he told the Guardian. 'It's like that again. So many things are easy to do. I am an embracer of AI. Some people are wary of it, a little afraid of it, but I see the incredible promise.'
Others, like Nolan, voice concern. 'I've never seen a technology advancing so rapidly, so completely rejected by the public,' the Odyssey director has said. 'Everybody's suspicion of it is so extreme, particularly young people.' There has been a backlash against an AI resurrection of the late actor Val Kilmer to star in a new feature and the emergence of the AI 'actor' Tilly Norwood, with the actor Emily Blunt calling it 'really, really scary' and pleading: 'Please stop taking away our human connection.'
But the new AI studios are undeterred. Dave Clark, the director of Promise's Touch Grass – who is also working on an animation, Hardcore 94, set to an early 1990s LA hip-hop soundtrack – said that with 'great dialogue and backstory', AI-generated characters could become interesting and believable. The US actors' union Sag-Aftra will no doubt beg to differ, but Cardoza predicted: 'Next year [AI actors will] be just as good as real actors.'
George Strompolos, a co-founder and the chief executive of Promise, estimated that hybrid AI films – human actors alongside AI technology – would prove 20% to 50% cheaper than conventional production. That could free film-makers from requiring major studio investment.
'We're at the beginning of a golden era of independent, highly empowered creative companies – call them small studios, micro studios – that will lead to more creative risk-taking,' he said. Joa
Key points
- A new AI film studio, Promise, is using AI models to create backgrounds, special effects, and even 'synthetic performers' in its movies.
- The studio is backed by Google, Silicon Valley venture capitalists, and Disney.
- Promise is not alone in embracing the technology, with Netflix saying it has used AI in 300 of its 1,000 titles in 2026.
- Some film-makers, like Ron Howard, are embracing the technology, while others, like Christopher Nolan, are critical of it.
- The use of AI in film-making could lead to a creative renaissance, with more independent and empowered creative companies emerging.
The use of AI in film-making could lead to a creative renaissance, with more independent and empowered creative companies emerging. This could result in more diverse and innovative storytelling, and potentially even more jobs in the film industry.
The rise of AI film studios could lead to significant job losses in the film industry, as human actors and writers are replaced by AI-generated content. This could also result in a loss of human connection and creativity in the film-making process.
