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\n\tObsidian<\/a>, launching this week with Imagine Entertainment<\/a> as a key partner, is an AI-powered studio start-up. But its founders say that\u2019s not the full picture: Their venture, they say, is focused on using technology to empower creatives to make their entertainment and advertising productions more efficient \u2014 and ultimately pack an even bigger emotional punch.<\/p>\n \n\tThe company was incorporated in January 2025 by Wes Walker, a commercial director who hails from Texas, and Louis Gheysens, a Belgian native who is CEO of global creative studio Gang Group. The two have been working together for almost two years to start up the company. \u201cAI gives us a chance to imagine beyond the limits of production,\u201d says Walker. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to build new worlds and bring audiences closer to stories that feel vivid and human.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe co-founders say Obsidian\u2019s approach compresses production cycles from months to weeks while protecting human-led creativity. While both Walker and Gheysens come from the advertising world, they say Obsidian\u2019s approach translates to long-form entertainment productions as well.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe always had high-end cinema in mind,\u201d says Walker. The AI-enabled processes Obsidian is developing are well-suited for commercial campaigns, which typically have much shorter turnaround times, while they also apply to feature films, he says.<\/p>\n \n\tObsidian has a creative partnership with Imagine, the film and TV production company co-founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Together, the companies are exploring how Obsidian\u2019s director-driven units of storyboard artists, CG generalists, editors and AI specialists can serve both Hollywood and global brands. Each unit begins with hand-drawn storyboards and \u201chuman-centric design,\u201d before then moving through AI-enabled iteration and high-end VFX, according to Obsidian. <\/p>\n \n\tThe Imagine partnership with Obsidian extends across development, previsualization, and post-production, including for upcoming feature film and documentary projects.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAt Imagine, we are committed to emotionally resonant, human storytelling and we have already seen the ways AI can be a beneficial tool in that mission,\u201d Justin Wilkes, president of Imagine Entertainment, said in a statement. \u201cObsidian\u2019s artist-led approach is exactly the kind of collaboration we stand behind to amplify human creativity and we\u2019re excited to be working with them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTo train its AI workflows, Obsidian uses storyboards and custom datasets developed with veteran industry artists including Marc Vena (\u201cLogan,\u201d \u201cPassengers,\u201d \u201cWar for the Planet of the Apes\u201d) and Tani Kunitake (\u201cBlack Panther,\u201d \u201cThe Matrix,\u201d \u201cFight Club,\u201d \u201cStar Wars: The Last Jedi\u201d). The company\u2019s patent-pending technologies include DigitalForge, a live team-based production system that can bring AI and CGI directly on set to let artists collaborate with directors and brand partners in real time.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe artist sits at the center of everything we do,\u201d says Walker. \u201cTechnology alone doesn\u2019t move people \u2014 emotion does. It\u2019s the artist using the tools, not the tools themselves, that makes the image feel real, the spirit tangible, and the connection with the audience unmistakable.\u201d While Obsidian develops its own AI models, Walker says the company is able to work with all commercially released AI tools and VFX platforms, <\/p>\n \n\tGheysens says Hollywood filmmakers and global brands both face the same challenge: to produce more stories on tighter budgets. Obisidian\u2019s DigitalForge model \u201cwas designed for exactly that, scaling production efficiently while keeping creative integrity intact,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \n\tIn addition to Imagine, Obsidian has worked with Disney\u2019s ESPN<\/a> to create previsualizations for ad campaigns, which has let the sports programmer conduct A\/B testing on creative that\u2019s more than just a script, according to Walker. Obsidian also has collaborated with brands including Louis Vuitton, Longchamp, Crayola, Aramco, Amazon and the NBA on films and marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n