Artificial intelligence has already transformed music, publishing, advertising, and software development. Now, one of Hollywood’s most influential independent studios is taking one of the industry’s biggest steps into AI-assisted filmmaking.
Google announced a multi-year research partnership with A24, backed by a reported $75 million investment, to develop new AI-powered tools for filmmakers. Unlike many recent AI announcements centered on generating finished creative content, this collaboration focuses on building production tools and creative workflows intended to assist filmmakers throughout the production process rather than replace them.
While the announcement has sparked debate among filmmakers and audiences, it also highlights a rapidly evolving legal landscape. As AI becomes embedded into the filmmaking process, questions surrounding intellectual property ownership, licensing, contracts, and liability will become increasingly important.
AI Is Moving Behind the Camera
For the past several years, much of the public conversation around AI in entertainment has focused on AI-generated images, deepfakes, and synthetic actors. The Google-A24 partnership represents something different.
According to the companies, the goal is to develop tools that improve filmmaking workflows by combining Google’s DeepMind research with A24’s creative expertise. Early reports suggest the collaboration may include technologies that assist with storyboarding, production planning, editing, and other creative processes, while leaving artistic decision-making in human hands. Google also confirmed that the partnership does not give it access to A24’s existing film or television library.
That distinction matters.
Rather than replacing filmmakers, the companies are positioning AI as production infrastructure with software designed to help creators work more efficiently. Whether the technology ultimately functions that way remains to be seen.
Intellectual Property Questions Begin Before Production Starts
Whenever AI contributes to a creative process, ownership becomes more complicated.
If AI helps generate storyboards, production designs, visual concepts, or editing suggestions, numerous legal questions can arise:
- Who owns AI-assisted creative materials?
- Can AI-generated production assets receive copyright protection?
- Who owns improvements made through AI-assisted workflows?
- What rights do filmmakers retain over prompts, outputs, and revisions?
- Can technology providers reuse creative inputs to improve future AI models?
Many of these questions depend less on copyright law than on carefully negotiated contracts between studios, production companies, technology vendors, and creative professionals. As AI becomes another production tool alongside editing software or visual effects platforms, contractual language will increasingly determine ownership and permitted uses.
Licensing May Become More Valuable Than the Technology
One of the more notable aspects of Google’s agreement is what it reportedly does not include.
Google will not receive access to A24’s existing content library as part of the partnership. That limitation likely reflects growing concerns throughout Hollywood about protecting valuable intellectual property while still exploring AI innovation. Studios possess enormous libraries of copyrighted films, scripts, production artwork, and other creative assets. Those libraries are among the industry’s most valuable forms of intellectual property.
Future AI partnerships will likely require careful negotiations addressing:
- Training data restrictions
- Permitted uses of copyrighted materials
- Confidential production information
- Security requirements
- Data retention policies
- Ownership of AI-generated outputs
The legal negotiations surrounding these agreements may ultimately become as important as the underlying technology itself.
Contracts Will Define the Future of AI Filmmaking
The Google-A24 partnership also demonstrates why entertainment contracts are evolving. Traditional production agreements rarely contemplated AI-assisted creative work. Today’s agreements increasingly address the following issues:
- AI usage policies
- Rights to AI-generated materials
- Disclosure obligations
- Talent approvals
- Copyright ownership
- Confidentiality protections
- Vendor responsibilities
- Indemnification for infringement claims
Studios, production companies, agencies, and technology providers all have different interests that must be carefully balanced through negotiated agreements. As AI tools become integrated into production pipelines, protective contractual covenants will likely become one of the most important legal safeguards available.
The Industry Is Still Defining the Rules
Not everyone has welcomed the partnership. Some filmmakers and fans have criticized A24’s collaboration with Google, expressing concern that closer ties between Hollywood and AI companies could accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in creative work and erode the studio’s reputation for filmmaker-driven storytelling. A24, however, has emphasized that the initiative is intended to help creators shape AI tools rather than have those tools imposed upon them.
Those competing perspectives illustrate where the entertainment industry currently stands. The conversation is no longer about whether AI will become part of filmmaking. Instead, the focus has shifted to how AI should be used, who controls it, and who owns the creative work that results.
Looking Ahead
The Google-A24 partnership may become one of the most influential AI collaborations Hollywood has seen. Whether it ultimately changes filmmaking or simply improves existing production workflows, it represents another step toward integrating artificial intelligence into mainstream entertainment.
For studios, producers, investors, technology companies, and creators, the legal issues surrounding AI are becoming increasingly complex. Intellectual property rights, licensing agreements, technology partnerships, and carefully drafted contracts will all play a central role in determining how these collaborations develop.
As AI-assisted filmmaking continues to evolve, businesses should review their existing agreements and AI policies now rather than waiting for disputes to arise.
Romano Law will continue monitoring developments at the intersection of artificial intelligence, entertainment, and intellectual property law as the legal framework surrounding AI-assisted content creation continues to develop.
Contributions to this blog by Kennedy McKinney.
