JUMP//CUT Begins

I left Adobe to build a new kind of AI Film Studio to create genre-defining stories, reinvent how they’re made, and open source the software studio we make to the world for free.

Slide 1 of my first speech as Founder of JUMP//CUT at UTA next week where I’m giving a keynote speech about how casting characters works in an AI Film Studio.

Since I’ve left Adobe, I’ve been overwhelmed by the support by so many people - so first up, I just want to say thank you. It has given me the inspiration, the energy, and the gumption to do something that has made me shit Twinkies five times in my life.

- I’m going to start my sixth company.

So… what exactly am I going to do?

Here we go!

Well here it is in a nutshell.

• I’m building an AI-first film studio named JUMP//CUT.

• The intent is to create, finance, produce, and distribute genre-defining television series and films in the vein of Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, E.T. and Star Wars. Think the next Disney for film and television.

• At first we will license the shows and films we create to the existing streaming services, but the long term vision is to build our own content network as well. Think Netflix with a different production pipeline.

• To accomplish our goals, we’re building a professional-grade AI film studio platform from scratch in partnership with the leading SOTA foundation models that allows small teams to take a story from idea to final delivery, end to end. Think what Pixar did with RenderMan, but for the modern AI era.

• And for those that want to join a movement, we will open source that studio and make it free for anyone who wants to create. We will also allow open source contributors to build plugins and modules on top of the platform. Think the kind of flagship creative tools companies like Adobe have built, reimagined for the AI era, but free and open source.

• And for those that love fan fiction - For each flagship television series or film that we create, we will open source the IP and freely allow aspiring AI filmmakers to make fan fiction. Think fan fiction as it’s already done, but legal, supported, and promoted.

• And for those aspiring filmmakers who use our free studio software and want to create their own stories, we become your first funding and your first stop to distribute your television series and your films. Think Y Combinator, but for AI Filmmakers.

So if you are an aspiring AI film maker, an editor, a writer, a sound engineer, a VFX artist, a cinematographer, or a director and want to learn AI, help build something new, something bold, and something worthwhile, reach out.

And if you are a software engineer, designer, or orchestrator of agents and you want to be part of the team that builds the next open source AI RenderMan and make it free, reach out.

And if you are an open source contributor and you want to build your own modules and plugins on top of our platform, reach out.

I’m at steve.e.newcomb@gmail.com.

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Open source and open book

And it’s early days. As in, this is day one.

First up, I’m sharing this news early because I want to do something a bit different than I have done in my past five companies - I want to build this company and this community in public, together, and invite anyone who’s interested to be part of creating it from the beginning with me.

My intent is that this will be a community as much as it is a company.

So I’m going to to do a few things:

1. Writing - I’ll be documenting on this Substack a weekly behind the scenes newsletter update on everything I’m doing - so we can see this thing come to life and everyone can get a glimpse into what it will take to create this company and this community.

2. Sharing - I’m going to be launching a Youtube channel where we’ll be sharing the test cases that we are going through as we put the AI Studio, Claude, and Synthetic Audiences to the test. Our intent is to test every possible filmmaking case so we know we can get to final cut - and then share that knowledge out.

3. Speaking - I’ll be speaking at events to share the inside scoop on exactly what we are doing as we do it - including announcing which television series are under development and how it’s going. First up, I’m giving a talk at UTA on April 16th at the MovieLabs event - and I’ll be posting a Substack article that shares that speech with you in full detail.

It begins with Mission

Second up, how you build a company is just as important as what you build. So a few things I’d like to say.

The DNA of a company starts at the top, with the founder, and with values, principles, and mission. So this starts with me and it starts with culture.

So on this - which is day one - I wanted to share the set of things that have set my direction => the things that are coming from my heart:

1. I want to prioritize the artist within me.

2. I want to prioritize culture and creating a great place to work.

3. I want to create a place where people can work and live anywhere.

4. I want a place who pays the people who actually do the work the most.

5. I want a place where ART, and MEANING, and IMPACT sits on the throne.

It scales with Vision

And here’s my business thesis - the tectonic shifts that can only now occur because of the advent of generative AI => the things that come from my mind:

Generative AI models paired with a free and open source AI Studio software enables us to ride a wave of paradigm shifts that all benefit story tellers.

1. Instead of selling the ideas in the early stages and then getting re-hired as contractors to your own vision - Artists themselves can fund the entire production of their vision - and then own the IP and license it, not sell it, to distributors. I think JUMP//CUT can be a catalyst here. This creates something that has never before existed, the ability for artists to make money like founders.

2. With AI, we can iterate and test our ideas, our scenes, our marks so many times with new AI synthetic audiences, that we can know with confidence that our shows and films will succeed - as we make them. This let’s us create something that has never been possible before in Hollywood - predictability and product market fit.

3. We will, and can, treat each show or film - like it’s own startup => with a small team, seeking product market fit, and then exiting and enjoying the fruits of their labor. Like Y-Combinator for film and television.

4. Instead of only 2% of shows being completed and then licensed, the market will flip, where 98% of shows are completed on their own dime, and licensed to streaming services. A paradigm shift in favor of art and artists.

5. There is a world where there is a new content platform, full of small teams of people that have produced magic - all with free, open sourced software that is shared by all. Where money is made from people subscribing to content they love and software is free to all.

It grows with Community

And so in the same way Pixar built RenderMan and helped revolutionize the film industry, my ambition is to do the same in the modern era, but with a twist. To use AI not just to change how television shows and films are made, but to use it as a catalyst for cultural and systemic change - in favor of art and artists.

And in doing this, we intend to build an end-to-end, professional-grade AI film studio.

• An end-to-end system for modern filmmaking. A platform that allows a small team to develop, produce, edit, score, and finish a full series or film from start to finish. From first idea, to scene generation, to editing, to sound, to final delivery.

• Built and proven through real work. We will use it ourselves. Every day. On every project. To push it, refine it, and make it better through actual production.

• Open sourced to the world. As we succeed, we will make it free and available to every aspiring filmmaker, so no one has to pay for creative software ever again.

This is Day One. But I hope it’s one that inspires you to join the movement to make creative software free, to make creativity open to everyone, and to create a world where art and artists are protected, supported, treated like the founders they are.

Please share this article with anyone you think would join.
Every like, comment, and moment of support helps in the early days.

In kindness, hope, and joy,
Steve