Culver City Emerges as Major AI Filmmaking Hub, Generative AI Video Creation Market Forecast to Reach $980 Million by 2030, Utopai Studios Builds Production Intelligence Platform for Film and TV
Culver City is emerging as a hub for AI filmmaking, with AI media companies opening offices near major studios and technology companies. I was born in Culver City, so this is great news. AI on the Lot estimates that companies representing more than $2 billion in venture backing have moved into the city. This week’s roundup also covers the growing generative AI video market, Higgsfield’s revenue claim, Prime Video’s rights to a Turkish AI-generated movie, new AI production tools, an AI-recreated Greta Garbo, China’s support for AI filmmakers, and a major funding round for Brahma AI.
Culver City Emerges as Major AI Filmmaking Hub
Culver City is becoming a center for artificial intelligence filmmaking as startups open offices near major Hollywood studios and recruit creative workers into an industry reshaped by generative tools. Companies including Promise, TrueShort, Native Foreign and PhantomX are expanding in the Los Angeles-area city, using AI for short-form crime programming, commercials and visual effects. They are drawn by Culver City’s concentration of entertainment and technology companies, including Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Apple and TikTok, as well as available office space. AI on the Lot, a Culver City-based networking group, estimates that AI media companies with $2 billion in combined backing have converged on the city. The organization sponsored a job fair at Culver Steps during Los Angeles Tech Week, where AI studios showcased lifelike AI-generated video and sought emerging and displaced creative talent.
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Generative AI Video Creation Market Forecast to Reach $980 Million by 2030
The global market for generative AI video creation is projected to grow from $470 million in 2026 to $980 million by 2030, according to a report by The Business Research Company. The market was valued at $390 million in 2025 and is expected to reach $470 million in 2026. Rising demand for digital video, expanding video marketing, greater access to computing power, early adoption of AI tools in editing workflows, and increased video consumption on social media are driving growth.
The report identifies AI-powered automated editing, generative video creation, real-time video enhancement, cloud-based collaborative production, and personalized video marketing as key trends. It also expects growth from the integration of AI video tools with augmented and virtual reality technologies.
Leading companies listed in the report include Meta Platforms, Vimeo, NVIDIA, Adobe, Kaltura, OpenAI, Canva, Google DeepMind, D-ID, Animoto, Veed, Descript, Synthesia, Runway AI, and Lumen5. The market is segmented by deployment type, application, and end user. Applications include marketing, education, entertainment, and social media, while end users include large enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, and individual creators.
AI Video Startup Higgsfield Says Annualized Revenue Tops $1 Billion
Higgsfield, an AI video startup founded by former Snap executive Alex Mashrabov, said it is on track to generate annualized revenue of more than $1 billion based on current performance. The company calculates its annualized revenue run rate by taking revenue from the latest four weeks and multiplying it by 13. Mashrabov said demand from direct-to-consumer businesses is driving the growth. Revenue under contract from business customers has increased tenfold since June as more companies adopt AI-generated video for advertising, according to Mashrabov.
Higgsfield’s growth reflects the expanding use of generative video tools by brands and marketers seeking to produce advertising content at lower cost and greater speed. The company has not disclosed total revenue, profitability, or customer numbers. The announcement adds to a series of large revenue and funding claims across the AI video sector, where startups are competing to provide tools for video generation, editing, advertising and enterprise content production.
Prime Video Takes Global Rights to Turkish AI-Generated Movie ‘Çukur: Vartolu’
Prime Video has acquired global rights to Çukur: Vartolu, an AI-generated Turkish movie and spin-off from Ay Yapim’s hit series Çukur, known internationally as The Pit. The film was produced by Ay Yapim through its Singapore-based AI studio, AI Yapim. In August, the studio released Castle Walls, an AI-generated historical drama, on Prime Video in what the company described as the first show made end-to-end with AI to premiere on a major global streamer. Çukur: Vartolu extends that production approach from an original story to an established franchise.
The original Çukur has aired in 105 countries since its 2017 premiere, according to Ay Yapim, and its official YouTube channel has surpassed 6.4 billion cumulative views. The film follows Vartolu Sadettin, the illegitimate son of the Koçovalı family. After losing his mother and grandfather, Salih grows up on the streets waiting for his father to find him. When hope gives way to revenge, he becomes Vartolu. The story moves between his childhood in Doğubeyazıt, eastern Türkiye, and a later confrontation in Istanbul. Every frame was generated with AI, including the characters’ faces and settings. Actors performed the scenes, and AI generated the characters over their movement, timing, and expression. All dialogue was recorded by human voice actors.
Utopai Studios Builds Production Intelligence Platform for Film and Television
Utopai Studios has introduced PAI, a production intelligence platform, and Utopai X, a video generation model, as part of an effort to build AI tools around professional film and television production. The company describes PAI as a shared production environment in which a screenplay can be broken into scenes and shots while characters, locations, objects, and visual references remain connected to the project. AI agents called Production Assistants use that context to help filmmakers plan shots, develop ideas, and create iterations. Filmmakers decide what to create, keep, or change. Utopai X operates within PAI, allowing filmmakers to generate footage, compare takes, and move selected material into an editing timeline and post-production systems. The company said the model is designed to handle reflections, caustics, world understanding, and spatial consistency.
Utopai X ranked №2 globally on Artificial Analysis’ Text-to-Video Leaderboard With Audio, with an Elo score of 1,150. It trails №1-ranked Wan 3.0 by nine points and is the highest-ranked model from a U.S.-based company on the leaderboard. Artificial Analysis determines rankings through blind human-preference testing. Utopai Studios, valued at $1 billion, says it is the world’s largest independent AI-native film and television studio.
It is using the technology on The Most Serious Fart, an upcoming animated feature written and directed by Mike Bender. The company said real productions provide proprietary data and expert feedback that improve its models, agents, and workflows. It also plans to work with strategic partners to bring production intelligence into established professional workflows.
Dan Hartley and Chris Bird Launch CineMe AI Platform for Filmmakers
British writer-director-producer Dan Hartley and former Amazon Prime UK managing director Chris Bird have launched CineMe, an AI-powered visual development platform for filmmakers. CineMe is designed to help creators build a visual world from script to screen. The company said the tool will allow collaboration among producers, directors, production designers, cinematographers, location teams, costume designers and visual effects artists, while simplifying how ideas are shared.
The platform is in beta and has a series of confidential, high-profile productions on board, according to CineMe. Hartley said the platform would give the next generation of filmmakers access to affordable tools for developing, producing and distributing films. Bird said his experience at Amazon showed how new technologies can reduce costs, improve decision-making and increase efficiency. He said CineMe is positioned to help creators bring their visions to screen more easily. The founders also announced the CineMe Future Fund, which will allocate 5% of the company to a charitable trust. The fund is intended to provide enterprise-grade artificial intelligence to the screen-based creative industries workforce.
AI-Recreated Greta Garbo Appears in Swedish Ball-Bearing Advert
An AI-generated version of Hollywood star Greta Garbo appears in a 99-second advertisement for Swedish ball-bearing maker SKF, in what is believed to be the first use of her likeness in moving images since her death. The digital Garbo opens the advert by saying, “Are we rolling?” and later says, “One of my first films was for SKF, and now I’m back for my last.” Garbo appeared in a 1921 film promoting Swedish industries abroad, including SKF. SKF said AI was used to recreate the Swedish-American actor. The likeness was created using several AI models, including Seedream and Google Nano Banana Pro.
The creators did not upload photographs or video of Garbo to the models because those materials are protected by copyright. Instead, her appearance was recreated from written descriptions of details including her eye color and hairstyle. A live actor performed the role, and the AI-generated image of Garbo was placed over her performance. Her voice was recreated using a recording from one of her early films.
Craig Ricefield, one of three relatives who manage Garbo’s estate, said he was “stunned” by the result and did not rule out using a digital version of the actor in future films. The estate controls rights to her name, voice, image and public use.
China’s Local Governments Compete to Attract AI Filmmakers and Studios
Local governments across China are offering subsidies, discounted office space, housing assistance and computing support to attract AI filmmakers, studios and startups. Shanghai introduced measures in May to accelerate AI-powered microdrama production, offering computing power and cloud-based AI models to cut costs and support overseas distribution. Beijing has created a 260 million yuan fund for audiovisual technology, while its Huairou district offers vouchers to reduce computing costs for producers of AI short dramas. Shenzhen is offering technical support for video production, visual effects and content generation, along with subsidized rent.
The support has helped drive down production costs. According to state broadcaster CCTV, the cost of producing an AI short drama fell from 5,000 yuan, or about $747, per minute in the first half of 2026 to just a few hundred yuan by mid-year. The result is a rapidly developing industry of AI filmmakers, studios and streaming platforms seeking an early lead in production techniques and distribution.
Streaming company iQIYI has said it is going “all-in” on AI and is subsidizing some creators whose AI-generated work appears on its platform. Data firm DataEye said 221,900 new AI shows launched on Douyin, ByteDance’s Chinese TikTok, during the first half of 2026. Only 1,055 surpassed 100 million views. China’s National Film Administration has approved Sanxingdui: Future Memories, a 90-minute science-fiction film, for theatrical release. It is expected to become the first AI film from a major Chinese studio to receive a public-screening license in the country.
Indian AI Firm Brahma AI Raises $150 Million at $2 Billion Valuation
Brahma AI, an Indian startup developing audiovisual artificial intelligence tools for businesses, has raised $150 million from Multiples Alternate Asset Management at a $2 billion valuation. Prime Focus, which owns Brahma AI through its U.K.-based subsidiary DNEG, said investors expressed interest in an additional $100 million. Prime Focus will retain a 66% stake in Brahma AI after the funding round.
Brahma AI uses technology developed across DNEG, Prime Focus and Metaphysic, a company Brahma acquired in February 2025. DNEG is the visual-effects and animation company behind productions including the Dune films and The Odyssey. Metaphysic builds tools for real-time generative media and digital likenesses. The company plans to sell that technology to enterprises and content creators in media and entertainment, sports, health care, and advertising.
Its customers include Warner Bros., the NBA, and Mayo Clinic. Brahma AI describes its platform as model-agnostic, allowing customers to use different AI models within the same system. The company plans to launch interactive digital humans that replicate a person’s likeness and persona for customer service, training and branded experiences. Founder and Chief Executive Prabhu Narasimhan said the company aims to build a platform that helps enterprises manage, understand, create and transform audiovisual assets.
