Runway has allocated $5 million in cash to help fund up to 100 original films that use the company’s AI video generator in some way.
According to a report by TechCrunch, Runway has set aside $5 million of its own money to award as grants to filmmakers in a bit to jump-start the AI film.
Today we are launching The Hundred Film Fund to provide resources to filmmakers and creatives who have AI augmented film projects in need of funding.
Learn more and apply: https://t.co/CV5VLTAjUt
— Runway (@runwayml) September 26, 2024
In a blog post on Thursday, Runway announced the “The Hundred Film Fund” which is designed to support the launch of any video-based project that incorporates the company’s AI generative video model in some capacity.
Runway is dedicating the $5 million fund to filmmakers creating “features, shorts, documentaries, experimental projects, music videos,” or some as-yet-unknown format. The awards could also come with Runway credits.
At present, Runway says that the fund sits at $5 million with the potential to grow to $10 million. Applications are now open and grants range from $5,000 to $1 million with an additional $2 million in Runway credits to be awarded.
Runway describes “The Hundred Film Fund” as an effort to help filmmakers who make use of AI to tell their stories.
“We believe that the best stories are yet to be told, but that traditional funding mechanisms often overlook new and emerging visions within the larger industry ecosystem,” the company writes in the blog post.
Runway Head of Creative Jamie Umpherson tells TechCrunch that the company wants to be “as flexible as possible in how we’re approaching the scope of this fund” and that “each project will be assessed on its own particular production needs when it comes to grant considerations.”
The publication reports that Runway will itself assert any form of ownership or control over the projects, only requiring that awardees send biweekly production updates and that the AI video company is allowed to showcase the final result as it sees fit.
Runway’s announcement of the fund comes as the AI video company tries to make inroads with the film industry. Earlier this month, Runwway announced a partnership with Lionsgate that will see a custom video model trained on the Hollywood studio’s extensive catalog.
Nonetheless, AI technology is still considered highly controversial by many filmmakers and movie fans alike.
Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signing two bills into law that will protect actors and performers from unauthorized AI clones. The laws aim to protect actors from AI replicas of their likeness or voice being used without their consent.
Image credits: Header image via Runway.