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Can AI help real people make better movies and TV shows? Rather than ask ChatGPT that question, I spent some time diving into this challenge with Tobias Queisser, the CEO of Cinelytic, which bills itself as “the only end-to-end, self-service data, analytics and predictive intelligence platform in the entertainment industry.” Their objective in the content ecosystem isn’t to replace creative artists but to facilitate a more sustainable business environment for those artists to succeed.
I am no less nervous about the double-edged behemoth of AI than anyone else. I’m a lawyer by training and work for a company that provides auditing, tax, and strategic advisory consulting. All of those professions are at an existential crossroads in part due to AI. I’m a professor – anyone figured out how to police AI in that environment? I have a daughter who is a graphic designer and illustrator and regularly shares her frustrations about the misuse of copyrighted materials and poor transparency around AI. And by the way, I write for Forbes, don’t I? Needless to say, I tread carefully in any cross pollination of AI and creative endeavors.
Naturally, there will be many a raised eyebrow that AI here to save movies and TV – it certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA among others. The assumption is that any infusion of AI into a creative business would produce a homogenization of the content and the entire approach to making and marketing movies. But as Queisser pointed out to me, it has been humans not machines that have flooded theaters and home screens with sequels, franchise pictures and look-alike episodic TV. Queisser noted that: “Human leadership is afraid to take risks. When you look at ‘comps’ for guidance, it encourages you to do the same thing. AI forecasting actually provides a better ability to forecast the likelihood of success of original ‘new recipe’ content [that doesn’t have easy comps]
. This is greatly beneficial for investors in [and creators] of original content.”
The health of the creative film and TV business has been a driving force for Queisser since the founding of Cinelytic nearly 10 years ago. As he told me: “We noted that only 3% of independent films broke even. We asked why do so many of these films lose money? There was – and is – a disconnect between the concept phase of a project and the project actually hitting the market. ‘Build it and they will come’ doesn’t work.”
Without trying to tell anyone how to produce a better work of film or TV, Cinelytic’s focus has been on helping clients enhance the likelihood of success when their work gets to market. This is not about leveraging Generative AI to write scripts. As the company notes on its website: “Cinelytic supports studios and independent content companies to make faster and better informed greenlight, acquisition, and release decisions.” Since its inception the company has expanded its suite of products through organic growth as well as a series of strategic acquisitions.
At its heart, the company is a predictive forecasting tool. Its core platform since the company was formed now includes capabilities to help creative enterprises evaluate the relative economic value of talent, with a foundation of over 118,000 titles and over 550,000 talent profiles. Much like an agency looking to optimize its client marketing campaigns, studios can access tools to enhance their choices around distribution platforms, territories, and release schedules. The company claims that its AI-powered Athena predictive analytics tool delivers an 85% forecasting accuracy.
Cinelytic also operates a direct online marketplace for film buyers and sellers called RightsTrade which it acquired in 2022. To the point of Queisser’s initial focus on the challenging environment for independent films, RightsTrade seeks to reduce the friction for global buying, selling and distribution of the longtail of films that often get lost in the mega studio shuffle. And Cinelytic’s data helps both sides in matching their respective marketplace needs.
The company launched it Callaia product in fall of 2024, and that tool uses AI to create script “coverage” – summaries of submitted scripts. You can imagine this isn’t the most popular application among young assistants and wannabe executives that produce these summaries. But this is all about productivity according to Queisser and creating coverage in literally a minute permits an agent, studio, or independent producer to digest far more film or TV product than they otherwise would be able to. It still takes humans to make greenlight decisions, but for independent creators, it enhances the chance of getting through the maze of content in the system.
The company made its most recent acquisition just this spring, acquiring Jumpcut Media, providing Cinelytic with its ScriptSense product. ScriptSense is a content management tool leveraging AI to help content buyers and sellers manage a large volume of owned, licensed, and evaluated film and TV scripts, books and treatments.
It’s never easy to make inroads in a well-established, often hidebound industry like entertainment. As Queisser noted with euphemistic understatement: “The business side has traditionally not been very good about integrating new technology.” But he has observed that “once users see and use [these products] the reaction is incredibly positive.” ScriptSense is already used today by over 400 studios and agencies, and Cinelytic’s core platform and other products are making inroads with clients such as Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate. AI isn’t going anywhere – the question is where and how can we use it to facilitate rather than inhibit creativity?
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