Google and Sundance Are Betting Millions That Ben Affleck Is Right About AI
A new multi-million dollar initiative aims to train 100,000 filmmakers on AI tools, before the technology trains itself on them.
While some of your friends and colleagues in Hollywood are quietly freaking out about the impending arrival of AI filmmaking on the big screen, others are leaning into inexorable evolution by educating themselves, both intellectually and strategically. Actor and director Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, Argo) went viral in the last few days for his comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast that framed AI—in the same way I have frequently framed it here—as a tool to be wielded rather than a dark, amorphous creature creeping up behind human filmmakers for the kill.
But thinking differently about AI in moviemaking is just the beginning. Once veteran and aspiring filmmakers reset their artistic Overton Window, there remains the job of executing on that vision by actually engaging these new AI tools. That is the focus of a new multi-million dollar investment from Google into training the filmmakers who participate in the Sundance Institute’s AI Literacy Initiative.
Part of Google’s $75 million AI Opportunity Fund, the money directed toward Sundance is designed to support roughly 100,000 filmmakers as they also work with New York-based The Gotham and Los Angeles-based Film Independent to facilitate AI training courses, events, specialized Google AI courses, and dedicated filmmaker workshops. The initial investment in this specific effort is $2 million, a small but meaningful boost for those filmmakers who may be frozen in place, unable to map their way into AI as it evolves weekly and new AI tools change the landscape every couple of months. Those looking to apply to take part in the program can contact the Sundance Collab website.
“Whether you are a curious artist who wants to harness the potential of these [AI] tools or a concerned citizen wanting to push back against the worst possibilities, a strong AI literacy will be necessary to meaningfully engage,” said Oscar winner Daniel Kwan (Everything Everywhere All at Once), a Sundance Institute Lab Fellow, in a statement. “This will require not only a strong technical education, but also a deeply contextual and ethical understanding of this technology and the many ways it will intersect with all aspects of our lives…This is why I’m excited that Sundance Institute is spearheading this AI Literacy Initiative.”
And just in case there are any concerns that this might be Big Tech’s AI capture of the creative community, rest assured, one new organization that I’ve mentioned here before will be standing guard to work with Sundance to uphold human artistic agency within the framework of the initiative. The Creators Coalition on AI (CCAI), co-founded by actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, Looper), Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange Is the New Black), writer David Goyer (Batman: The Dark Knight, Foundation), and other Hollywood insiders, was recently formed specifically to help provide the industry with guidance on how best to allow AI to be used as a tool and not a replacement in the business of film and TV. CCAI’s presence within the Google/Sundance effort lends a lot of credibility to its intent from an artist trust perspective.
The AI-focused filmmaker initiative launches just ahead of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off this Thursday, Jan. 22, in Park City, Utah.
Along with the usual menu of groundbreaking independent films debuting at the event are two AI documentaries that may be worth checking out. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, co-directed by Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher, is a documentary featuring expert interviews, home videos, and animations exploring the current conversations around AI. The festival will also host Ghost in the Machine, directed by Valerie Veatch, who guides viewers through a series of conversations with sociologists, journalists, and historians as she attempts to unpack what AI means to human society at this point in our evolution.