Three New AI Platforms For Cinematic AI Productions

Forbes

11 hours ago

Three new AI filmmaking platforms, Electric Sheep, Arcana Labs, and MovieFlo.AI, have entered the market with a shared focus: improving the production pipeline for synthetic video. Of the roughly 30 AI video generation tools I am tracking, only Runway and LTX Studio support a full production workflow of AI generated videos without exporting to additional software.
DANA POINT, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: Cristóbal Valenzuela, Co-Founder and CEO, Runway speaks ... More onstage during Vox Media's 2023 Code Conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel on September 26, 2023 in Dana Point, California. (Photo byfor Vox Media)
Traditional AI workflows often involve juggling multiple tools, from prompt-based image generators to standalone animation models, audio editors, and upscalers. Moving a shot from concept to finished video frequently requires exporting assets, coordinating between applications, and managing version control manually. This slows production and makes collaboration difficult.
Each of the new platforms addresses this problem in a different way, but they share one characteristic: they consolidate functions into a single, web-based interface that mirrors the logic of existing production environments.
Electric Sheep: Metadata and Precision
Electric Sheep was founded in 2023 by a team with complementary backgrounds: Gary Palmer, a veteran of the Hollywood VFX industry; Richie Murray, a product strategist with experience launching new technologies; and Jake Laver, a fintech engineer who has spent the last three years building AI video web applications. Drawing on their experiences, they designed the platform to support real-time iteration and shot management. 'Anyone with filmmaking experience knows the bottleneck is not creativity, it's execution,' Palmer said in an interview. 'We've built a system that removes the friction.'
AI helps created detailed metadata for each shot.
The platform allows users to begin with a prompt, script, image or video. Integrated tools, including Runway, Luma, Kling, and ChatGPT, can be used inside the interface without leaving the timeline. Scenes can be edited by text command. For example, a user might prompt: 'Replace the background with a night cityscape,' and Electric Sheep will make the change based on stored metadata. These annotations track shot type, asset source, and other variables across the timeline, which is critical to copyright protection.
Toronto-based creative studio Shy Kids is an early Electric Sheep user. 'They're building something we actually needed,' said co-founder Patrick Cederberg. 'It reduces repetitive tasks and gets us back into the creative process.'
Founders of Electric Sheep (L-R): Jake Laver, Gary Palmer, Richie Murray
Electric Sheep says it's received funding from former Lucasfilm technologists and support from the UK government.
Arcana Labs: A Studio Tool That Became a Product
Arcana Labs is based in Los Angeles and led by Jonathan Yunger, a veteran of Millennium Media. The platform was originally developed as an internal production tool. 'We needed something to help us organize pre-production and image generation,' said Yunger. 'Eventually we realized we had built a usable product.'
British Columbia , Canada - 30 May 2025; Jonathan Yunger, Actor, Producer, Co-founder & CEO, Arcana ... More Labs, on centre stage during day three of Web Summit Vancouver 2025 at Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo By Sam Barnes/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Arcana does not produce its own models. Instead, it connects with public tools like Veo, Luma, Runway, Kling, and Pika through a unified interface. Its strength lies in integrating storyboard tools, LoRA training modules, and a customizable animation pipeline.
Arcana's first release, Echo Hunter, is a 30-minute sci-fi thriller created entirely with generative tools. AI filmmaker Kavan the Kid directed the project and stars Breckin Meyer and Taylor John Smith. Although the film appears live-action, every frame is synthetic. Voice and facial performances were captured under SAG-AFTRA contracts.
'It's like having every AI video tool in a single dashboard,' Kavan told me. 'You can generate a test shot with four different video models and pick the one that works best. That saves time and increases control.'
Arcana's modular system includes tools for inpainting, facial capture, and consistent asset management. Yunger described the interface as 'built to match the way movies are actually made.'
MovieFlo.AI: Built for Agencies
MovieFlo was founded by Mike Levine, a videogame and VFX veteran with experience at LucasFilm and HappyGiant. Like the other two new platforms MovieFlo began as a tool for AI film production, but they are now targeting marketing teams and creative agencies, which Levine says is their sweet spot. One of the MovieFlo's strongest and most unique features are its version control and collaboration features. Importantly Movieflo includes an annotation feature, a must-have others still lack.
'As AI models improve and costs come down, AI tools like MovieFlo have the power to democratize movie making on a consumer level, but the real demand right now is coming from enterprise,' Levine said. 'Agencies want to produce short-form content quickly and test variations. We're helping them do that inside one system.'
MovieFlo supports ideation, scriptwriting, character modeling, shot generation, and editing. It is designed to accommodate multiple aesthetics, including photorealism, anime, and stylized 3D. Users can maintain consistency across campaigns and format outputs for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Levine says MovieFlo is entering a private alpha this week with interest from several studios and agencies who have signed up and are eager to use it. 'Early feedback has proven to us MovieFlo can solve real problems for studios and agencies, increasing productivity and creativity, and lowering costs.'
Market Leaders Runway and LTX Studio
LTX Studio, from Lightricks, is an end-to-end AI video workflow tool tailored for professional users. It allows users to move from script or concept through storyboarding, character generation, scene visualization, and multi‑shot editing in a single browser-based timeline. As their CEO Zeev Farbman explained during an open-beta preview earlier this year, the platform supports shot-to-shot continuity and consistent facial animation across sequences, features he identified as 'two of the most significant,' alongside integrated music and voice-over generation. The system also incorporates timeline trimming, keyframe camera motion control, and exportable shot metadata for later editing.
Toronto , Canada - 21 June 2022; Zeev Farbman, Co-founder & CEO, Lightricks, on Creatiff Stage ... More during day one of Collision 2022 at Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada. (Photo By Lukas Schulze/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images)
Farbman said the goal is to make AI video creation feel as direct and iterative as traditional editing: 'It gives you unprecedented control. You can adjust camera angles, add or remove objects, maintain character consistency, and refine each shot with detailed prompts—all without leaving the timeline.'
Industry leader Runway remains one of the most fully featured platforms in this category. Its Gen-1 through Gen-4 models support motion tracking, inpainting, image-to-video synthesis, and collaborative editing. However, it lacks tools for voice integration, character asset tracking, or shot metadata. This makes it difficult to use on long-form projects.
Runway has raised a total of $308 million in its latest Series D funding round, led by General Atlantic with participation from SoftBank, Nvidia, Fidelity, and Baillie Gifford. That round, announced in early April 2025, values the company at over $3 billion. In September 2024, Runway entered into a first-of-its-kind deal with Lionsgate (behind franchises like John Wick and The Hunger Games). Under this agreement, Runway gained licensed access to Lionsgate's content library of over 20,000 titles to train custom AI video models.
The Incumbents Are Vulnerable
Krea AI approaches the workflow depth of Runway and LTX. It now includes a browser-based timeline, prompt keyframes, and multi-model support, making it a viable option for short-form creators who need scene-to-scene control without leaving the platform. Hailuo AI and InVideo AI stand out in specific areas; Hailuo for its motion realism and camera work; InVideo for ease of use and rapid content generation but both lack the asset continuity, audio integration, and editability needed for longer-form or narrative work. Pika remains a fast, flexible tool for generating clips but does not offer a full production workflow.
Filmmaker Ellenor Argyropoulos, a director and expert at Cinematic AI, worked with Michael Bay on his 'History of Protection' Super Bowl commercial. In an email, she told me she doesn't think LTX and Runway are full workflow solutions in practice. Not yet. 'The incumbents are vulnerable,' she wrote. 'When artists, editors, or studios hit roadblocks, the only solution is kit bashing clunky multi-tool workflows. The new players (Electric Sheep, Arcana, MovieFlo) don't exist despite the friction, they exist because of it.'
Veo 3 and Copyright
In addition to LTX Studio, all three of the new platforms, Electric Sheep, Arcana Labs, and MovieFlo, support Google DeepMind's Veo 3 video model. Veo 3 produces longer clips than earlier models and maintains greater visual coherence across scenes. One reason creators are choosing Veo over tools like Midjourney or Stable Diffusion is its legal framework.
Veo 3's terms of service include indemnification for users who follow the platform's rules. This has become a deciding factor for studios and agencies who are concerned about copyright risk when using AI-generated content commercially.
Levine described Veo integration as 'a critical piece' for making MovieFlo viable in professional environments.
Infrastructure For AI Video Models
These new platforms do not compete on visual quality. They use the same public models available to anyone. Their value comes from integration, version control, metadata handling, and timeline editing. All three new AI platforms reduce the overhead associated with AI content creation. 'You still have to build your shots,' said Yunger. 'That part doesn't go away. But now it doesn't take a team of ten to do it.'
For professionals working with synthetic media, the ability to coordinate assets, test outputs, and finalize edits in one place may prove more important than the next breakthrough AI model.