Generative AI has moved from curiosity to core infrastructure in creative production. In two short years, technological advancements have enabled a shift from basic image synthesis to text-to-video models that can generate full cinematic sequences. The implications for the $250 billion filmed entertainment industry and broader $1 trillion creative economy are profound.
Lessons from history: the search for the next Pixar
Every era of entertainment has been shaped by a technological breakthrough: sound and colour redefined cinematic language, CGI unlocked new visual grammars in the 1990s, and streaming reshaped distribution and the economics of what gets made. AI represents the next such inflection point – one that fundamentally reconfigures the cost and speed of production, and reshapes the balance between creator, studio, and audience.
The shift meets an unprecedented demand curve. Short-form content now accounts for the vast majority of global internet traffic, yet consumer demand for emotional depth and cinematic storytelling prevails. In this new paradigm, what stands out above the noise is cinematic quality delivered at digital cadence.
If each tooling revolution creates a new kind of studio, Pixar is the canonical example. Pixar built processes and a culture where technology and story pushed each other forward: “technology inspires art and art challenges technology”. They paired a pioneering toolset with world-class storytellers, institutionalised taste so quality did not depend on one person, and built a brand global audiences could trust. That mix of tooling, process, taste, and brand mattered more than any single piece of software.
We see AI-native studios as this era’s analogue: companies that fuse storytelling and technology and redesign the process so creative decisions, iteration loops, and production economics all benefit will transform the space. We believe there is a category taking shape around this idea, where the breakout winners will look less like tools vendors and more like modern studios defined by taste, speed, and consistently high quality of output.
Elevating creative voices and unlocking a new production curve
Today’s studio economics are dominated by people and time intensive pre- and post-production, long iteration cycles, and hard schedule constraints such as shoot days and reshoots. AI-assisted workflows open a new frontier that enables creatives to do more with the same resources and to match quality with cadence. Faster look development, previs, and storyboarding, synthetic environments where appropriate, and digital IP catalogues have the potential to elevate the craft of storytelling at a higher speed and lower cost.
What could define the winners in this space?
We believe that the companies that define this category will:
Marry taste with technology: View AI as a creative catalyst, not an end in itself. Institutionalise judgement so quality scales at the company-level, not the individual.
Own distinctive workflows: Build proprietary pipelines and orchestration that keep cost per minute falling while raising the creative ceiling.
High velocity data-driven decision making: Use rapid iteration and data-driven analysis to test formats, worlds, and audience engagement. Double-down where the audience signal is strongest.
Attract and compound top talent: Become a magnet for directors, editors, and AI-native creators through brand, mentorship, and access to cutting-edge workflows.
Build durable franchises and distribution advantages: Evolve from project work to partnerships and worlds that compound, while forging strong relationships with streamers and platforms.
Operate credibly and respectfully across Tech x Hollywood: Navigate guild expectations, licensing norms, and evolving legal frameworks with a creator-first posture.
Why we invested in Wonder Studios
We believe Wonder is one of a handful of companies globally positioned to define this category. Founded by Justin Hackney and Xavier Collins, Wonder is an AI-native entertainment studio that sits at the intersection of Hollywood craft and novel technology. There are three pillars to Wonder’s business model: high-profile commercial work for brands and artists, IP partnerships with content creators, and original content production. Underpinning all three pillars is Wonder’s proprietary tech engine, community-driven approach and mission to empower both established directors and emerging creators to tell their most ambitious stories.
Justin sits at the cutting edge of AI and film, with creative experience from ElevenLabs, a global community of 200+ leading creatives that now underpins the Wonder app, and 10+ years of experience in the traditional film industry. Xavier brings operational excellence from scaling complex consumer marketplaces. Together, they form a rare combination of vision and execution ability.
The bigger picture
AI’s role in entertainment, in particular around copyright, training data, and labour dynamics, will be debated, scrutinised, and regulated. That scrutiny is necessary. But the direction of travel is clear: AI will expand, not replace human creativity and authorship. It will give more people access to the tools and resources to tell stories that matter.
For Atomico, this investment builds on our broader thesis in AI and Entertainment: generative models and AI-assisted workflows will unlock new creative economies across film, advertising, interactive media, and gaming, by compressing production costs and multiplying storytelling capacity. Wonder stands at that intersection – a studio that marries code and craft.
As history shows, when technology and creativity evolve together, the result is not less human art, but more of it.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source atomico.com ’
