We may be approaching the day when a $200M Pixar-quality movie, which typically takes four years to make, will be created in six months for $20K (aka, 0.01% of the budget and less than 10% of the time.) I recently interviewed Josh Liss, co-founder and CEO of DreamFlare.AI, regarding the innovation we’re seeing in content creation as a result of Generative AI. DreamFlare, which launches this spring, is an entertainment platform that is exclusively focused on Generative AI content. As the GenAI creator toolkit evolves and the number of GenAI creators grows, DreamFlare.AI aims to be the platform of choice for sharing and consuming GenAI content.
Rapidly Evolving GenAI Creator Toolkit
There are creative professionals and there are creative hobbyists. On the professional end, this Pixar-esque video was made using GenAI tools at an expense and time spent that effectively round-to-zero, when compared to creating an actual Pixar short film; imagine what will be created as the tools continue to improve and creators pursue this full-time. In the past year, GenAI tools, such as OpenAI’s Sora, Runway, HeyGen, ElevenLabs, Midjourney, Dall·E, and others have changed the ways in which we can create and alter images, audio, and video. Investors have taken notice; ElevenLabs recently raised at a >$1B valuation, while Runway raised at ~$1.5B in the summer. Simply put, the tools provided by the above companies allow any creative hobbyist to become a creative professional, or a creative professional to continue to create professionally, but much more efficiently.
Disruption of a $200B+ Industry?
More than $200B is spent annually on making and acquiring new feature films and TV programming. In the coming decade, we expect GenAI to allow for either a reduction in content production spend or, more likely, significantly more content production at a similar rate of spend (as if we don’t already have too much content to catch up on!). We believe those that are positioned to capture the most value from changes in this space will be GenAI tool providers, creators, and creator platforms.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) or IA (Intelligence Augmentation)?
GenAI is democratizing professional quality content creation, which will have a dramatic impact on Hollywood, but one thing we don’t expect to change is that humans will be the creative spark behind our content for many decades to come, if not forever. As Josh mentions in our interview below, what GenAI tools provide today is less AI (artificial intelligence) and more IA (intelligence augmentation). Said differently, GenAI tools can alter the ways in which content is created, but the kernel of creativity starts with us.
Interview With Josh Liss – Co-Founder and CEO of DreamFlare
My recent interview with DreamFlare.AI co-founder and CEO, Josh Liss, is below. Along with Josh, I am highly confident that the way in which professional quality content is created will change dramatically in the next decade. The question most relevant to DreamFlare is whether the platforms on which we consume content will change along with it…
Deepwater (DW): Can you share a brief summary of what DreamFlare is and your vision for the company?
Josh Liss (JL): Absolutely. To start us off, there are two major shifts that Generative AI is causing in the entertainment economy. First, Generative AI technology has revolutionized the process of making content. It has created a completely new content format. It isn’t content that you make with a camera, you make this content using AI software. Second, GenAI has created a completely new creator ecosystem and a new class of creators, the Generative AI creator.
Now for us as consumers of content, what’s special about what’s made with Generative AI, is that we will be able to experience this new format in ways that we’ve never seen before. GenAI content is more immersive and experiential than video, this is only possible with GenAI content, because of how it’s made.
DreamFlare.AI is an entertainment platform built specifically for the GenAI content format, and we are focused exclusively on the premium end of this content. As a user of DreamFlare, your favorite ‘shows’ will be on our platform, the same for your favorite ‘books,’ and more. And, how you as a user can engage with them, will be different than anything you can do today.
DW: Creators have fueled the growth of, and become highly loyal to, major platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch. Why is a new platform like DreamFlare needed for AI creators?
JL: We get this question often and it’s completely reasonable. We’ve found the following analogy helps open people up to realizing that Generative AI is a new mode for creating, and that new platforms arise when there’s a new mode:
Imagine you bought a new TV, but that this TV is only capable of playing the radio – the old media format – what’s the point of using that TV?
Now imagine that all the TV’s in the world could only ever play the radio and not show picture. If I were an aspiring creator of TV shows, I would have no incentive to create for the TV format. This is where we are today with content made using Generative AI and existing platforms.
The platforms you mentioned were built for content made using cameras, the technology of the last 100 years. DreamFlare is built for Generative AI content, the next format.
We have around 40% of the top GenAI creators in the world ready to go on DreamFlare when we launch in Spring. This is because GenAI creators’ needs are real and unmet. We’re building a platform for their format and allowing them to monetize in the ways that fit their business. Considering this, and the fact that creators typically maintain a presence across several of the platforms you mentioned, we feel good that there’s room for DreamFlare.AI
DW: How do you create virality around something like DreamFlare when, to function properly, you need balance between content and viewers?
JL: The headline here is that the best generative AI creators in the world (and I don’t mean that hyperbolically – literally the top 3 creators in the world among others) are developing exclusive entertainment just for our platform. It’s groundbreaking. It’s immersive. It’s fun. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, and it will only exist on DreamFlare.AI
Now to speak more specifically to our go-to-market, first, we are a supply-driven content marketplace, so we need to make sure that we are delivering exceptional value to our content suppliers, while building great relationships with them that grow over time. We’ve spent the last eight months talking to Generative AI creators to learn about their workflow, their needs, and build relationships.
Second, we’re building a revenue sharing model that is made for GenAI creators. Existing platforms have the disadvantage of having to work for the entire legacy-creator ecosystem. We get to be more focused on the specific needs of GenAI creators.
Third, on the demand side, we’re going to leverage the network effects of our creators. They already have millions of followers across other platforms and they’re having a very difficult time monetizing their followers on those platforms. Our creators will be bringing their millions of fans to DreamFlare.AI to build deeper connections and to monetize their work.
And honestly, it’s a big help to have a Hollywood producer as a Co-Founder. We have a pretty clear sense of which entertainment genres and communities are about to be revolutionized by GenAI; we’ll be starting with those markets, which represent a +$400B TAM.
DW: Do the recent Hollywood strikes, which were partially catalyzed by concerns around AI, add legitimacy to the notion that ‘AI + human’ content creation is coming in a big way?
JL: I’m really glad you asked this. If you put me on that picket line and gave me the choice of being a writer or a studio executive, I would choose the writer 100 out of 100 times.
The ability to create ultra high-quality content is being democratized with Generative AI, and the very capital-intensive infrastructure of a studio is becoming less valuable and necessary.
For example, creating one Pixar movie costs about $200m and takes four years. Today with GenAI, a team of eight expertly skilled creators could create eight Pixar-quality movies, with less than $80K, in that same timeframe.
Combine these tools with distribution platforms built for this medium, like DreamFlare.AI, and you can understand the industry’s concern.
DW: Will the human always be the kernel of creativity, regardless of how AI is used to implement and amplify that creativity? Or will AI eventually be able to generate its own initial creative spark?
JL: Unequivocally, DreamFlare is focused on celebrating and promoting the human creator. They are what makes any of this possible and we at DreamFlare believe that the majority of consumers will be fans of human creators, not lines of code.
And the term ‘artificial intelligence’ is frankly wrong here, it’s a misnomer for what exists today. Let’s be clear, AI is software. It’s incredible software, but until AGI exists, it’s just software. It should be called something closer to IA, intelligence augmentation — it takes what human creators can do and helps to elevate it, and we want to elevate them.
DW: You referred to DreamFlare as an entertainment platform, what does that mean? What should we expect from DreamFlare?
Let me add one piece to that, DreamFlare is an entertainment platform that is exclusively focused on Generative AI content. This is a huge differentiator for us and our users.
Content made using Generative AI is different than anything we’ve ever known. There are misconceptions today about AI content because the majority of what’s in the market is fluff that has been made by amateurs. While it is indeed cool that you and I are now capable of making an image of a green cow, on the moon, riding a T-Rex, ultimately no one cares about that, and that’s not what DreamFlare is focused on.
We only work with the best GenAI creators in the world, they are storytellers and creatives. What these creators are capable of building is mind-blowing and because it’s created with Generative AI, the consumer experience with their content can be superior to what we have with video. GenAI content is more immersive. We’re not showing our hand yet on how we’re accomplishing this with DreamFlare.AI, but the very positive response to the DreamFlare platform, from the world’s best GenAI creators, has us feeling excited about the future of entertainment.
DW: Who are the creators of this content? And what trends do you see coming with these creators that we should be keeping our eye on?
Eighteen months ago, the number of people creating in this area was less than two million – today it’s over 30 million and growing rapidly. The majority of these creators are GenZ, internationally dispersed, and male, but there’s no super majority in any demographic, so we’re seeing variety in the categories where content is being produced.
As for the high end of creators, which is where DreamFlare is focused, six months ago they were mostly individuals who worked in the arts, film, or design, but what’s been very exciting for us is seeing more creators who don’t have a professional creative background and are producing premium-level content.
Part of this shift is due to user growth at the top of the funnel, but it’s also happening because the tools to create GenAI content are getting much easier to use, and the quality of the output is skyrocketing. So, the barriers to entry are getting lower, the quality per time spent is increasing, and DreamFlare is raising the ROI for that time spent by building a platform that incentivizes premium-quality creation.
DW: What other big picture shifts do you see this new technology causing in the market? What does it look like in 5 years?
It’s a great question; I think we have to start looking at this as something greater than a new technology – it is a completely new method for how people communicate with each other. What the printing press did to text, radio to sound, cameras to what we see, Generative AI is having the same impact, but at the level of human imagination. Now, if we can think of it, we have the tools to make it.
So we’re talking about a new capability for how people can create and share information, and every industry where communicating information is critical, will be impacted. In the immediate, I’d have my eyes on advertising, starting with digital ads, then evolving into mass media. I’m also seeing some incredible ideas that will transform education. For example, we’ll soon have immersive experiences where instead of reading about a historical figure, students will get to interview their AI-likeness.
The future is truly ahead of us here. You could say we’re in the top of the first inning, but in reality, we haven’t sung the National Anthem yet.
About DreamFlare
Co-Founders Josh Liss and Rob Bralver. Josh was most recently at Google, leading GTM for a consumer platform used by half a billion people. He’s been a C-level leader at multiple startups, working across consumer tech and AI. Rob brings a wealth of Hollywood experience, having run DJ Moby’s production company, directed and produced several feature-length films with A-List casts, while also guiding major studio financing strategy at Media Capital Technologies. The leadership team is rounded out with engineering leaders who come from Google and Meta.