Staircase Studios AI, founded by veteran producer Pouya Shahbazian, is hoping to revolutionize the entertainment industry by integrating advanced artificial intelligence into film, television, and gaming production. The studio plans to deliver near-major-studio-quality content at budgets under $500,000, aiming to produce over 30 projects in the next three to four years.
Central to Staircase’s approach is its proprietary AI workflow, ForwardMotion, developed in collaboration with Head of AI Filmmaking, Brett Stuart. This technology streamlines the filmmaking process, allowing for high-quality productions at a fraction of traditional costs.
The studio boasts a robust leadership and advisory team. Kenneth Lerer, co-founder of The Huffington Post and managing director emeritus of Lerer Hippeau, joins as partner and lead investor. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, known for producing the “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” franchises, serves as an advisor. Additional investors include Aryeh Bourkoff, CEO of LionTree; Robert Pittman; Tad Haley of Rafiki Ventures; and New York-based venture capital firm Red Sea Ventures.
Staircase Studios AI’s inaugural project, “The Woman with Red Hair,” is currently in production. Directed by Brett Stuart and based on Michael Schatz’s 2016 Black List script, the film tells the true story of Johanna “Hannie” Schaft, a Dutch resistance fighter during World War II. The cast features newcomer Maya-Nika Bewley, Leander Vyvey (“Vikings: Valhalla”), Angus Castle-Doughty (“Shadow and Bone”), and Geoffrey Breton (“The Crown”). The production benefits from original character designs by Oscar-nominee Teddy Newton, a former Pixar artist known for “The Incredibles,” and art from Emmy Award-winning animator Alfred Gimeno, recognized for his work on “Kung Fu Panda” and “Tiny Toon Adventures.”
In pre-production is “Every Living Creature,” a fully animated adventure thriller directed by three-time Emmy Award winner Bernie Su. Adapted by J.R. Arellano from a Truly*Adventurous article, the film is inspired by the true story of three individuals who risked their lives to rescue animals stranded on the Caribbean island of Montserrat following a volcanic eruption in 1997.
The studio’s ambitious slate includes:
•“Wild Night,” based on a novel by New York Times bestselling author Patrick Lee, described as “Die Hard” in a zoo, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura attached as producer.
•“Between the Dog and the Wolf,” written and to be directed by Matthew Sand, known for “Deepwater Horizon,” combining elements of “Heat” and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
•“Fully Wrecked,” an action-comedy by Josh Feldman and Scott Wolman, featuring an R-rated talking car from the ’80s teaming up with a rookie cop.
•“Sundown,” by Nick Hurwitch, focusing on a family confined to a nocturnal lifestyle due to daylight-roaming monsters, as their son begins to question the monsters’ existence.
•An untitled procedural television series from showrunner Gabe Rotter (“The X-Files”), creator of the upcoming Netflix series “The Beast in Me,” starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys.
•A television adaptation of Mark Svartz’s graphic novel, “I Hate You Kelly Donahue,” pitched as “The Office” meets “American Psycho.”
On the gaming front, Staircase is partnering with Mother Games, an AI gaming tech company, to leverage its Womb suite of foundational AI tools for new game creation.
Shahbazian’s vision for Staircase Studios AI is to address inefficiencies in traditional studio systems by ethically integrating AI with underutilized creative assets. This approach aims to empower talented artists to produce the kinds of films the industry desires but often hesitates to greenlight due to risk factors.
Staircase Studios AI represents a bold step toward a future where technology and creativity converge, offering a new model for high-quality, cost-effective content production.
