AI video generators need to believe that filmmakers will use their models in the production process. Otherwise why exist?

To jump-start the new AI film ecosystem, Runway has set aside $5 million in cash and more in service credits to fund up to 100 original films. If you’re an AI-curious director, now’s your chance to get a little backing.

Runway’s Hundred Film Fund is intended to help kick-start any video-based project that uses the company’s generative video model in some way. “Traditional funding mechanisms often overlook new and emerging visions within the larger industry ecosystem,” the company wrote in the blog post.

Specifically, Runway is dedicating $5 million of its own money to award as grants to filmmakers creating “features, shorts, documentaries, experimental projects, music videos,” or some as-yet-unknown format. The awards would also come with up to $2 million in Runway credits.

The announcement post does say that the cash side has “the potential to grow to $10M.” I asked what this means, and Runway Head of Creative Jamie Umpherson said they want to be “as flexible as possible in how we’re approaching the scope of this fund. We are starting with one hundred films but we hope to do more over time.”

As for how $5 million can be equitably and effectively divided 100 ways, when up to $1 million grants are being dangled as possibilities, Umpherson evaded, simply saying that “each project will be assessed on its own particular production needs when it comes to grant considerations.” (You can read the fine print and apply here.) If you’ve got some clout, you might want to gun for one of five “director residency” positions. It’s unclear what the requirements or benefits are here, but it can’t hurt to try.

The good news is that Runway will not itself assert any form of ownership or control over the projects, only requiring that awardees send biweekly production updates and that Runway is allowed to showcase the final result as it sees fit. They will have advisors, like Tribeca film festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal, and will.i.am, who will help select the awardees and maybe even offer some extra support.

The film fund does have an air of “please use our product,” though there’s truth to the assertion that newer, experimental tools are sometimes shunned by more traditional production companies. Sometimes it really does just take a little cash infusion to find that one breakthrough use of a technology, by someone who might not have been able to find funding otherwise.

There is also a legitimate worry that the results will be very uneven. As industry veteran Michael Black put it recently in a discussion of AI tools in filmmaking: “You can give somebody a powerful car, that doesn’t make them a Formula One driver, right? That’s a little bit like what we have now. Maybe some new voice will have an opportunity that they wouldn’t otherwise. But the number of people making really good films is still going to be small.”

In light of that, it is perhaps actually the wisest move to cast the net widely and fund as many as possible. “Spray and pray” is an unkind way to put it, but fundamentally accurate: The hope is that among the 100 films, at least one or two will show that AI-generated video is actually useful and perhaps even groundbreaking.

No doubt some filmmakers will take the shot just to put a couple bucks in the bank, and find a way to fob off Runway with a dream sequence or the like. But if a few dozen creators take the money and take the tech seriously, that’s probably a win in the startup’s books.