‘Divergent’ Producer Pouya Shahbazian Reveals Investors, First Productions for His Staircase Studios AI

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina “Divergent” franchise producer Pouya Shahbazian has revealed the investors and the first productions planned for his recently-founded Staircase Studios AI, a film, television, and gaming studio centered on an AI workflow.

The venture aims to produce more than 30 projects in the next 3-4 years at budgets under $500,000. The key members of the team include partner and lead investor Kenneth Lerer, who co-founded The Huffington Post and is managing director emeritus of the venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau.

Additional investors are Aryeh Bourkoff, CEO of Liontree; Robert Pittman; Tad Haley of Rafiki Ventures; and venture capital firm Red Sea Ventures.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (“Transformers”) is an advisor to Staircase Studios. “After packaging and selling 150 projects into the studio system over the past 15 years, I’ve borne witness to far too much inefficiency to continue the status quo,” said Shahbazian, Staircase’s CEO. “The past year, I’ve dedicated myself to pairing ethical AI usage with our industry’s most underutilized assets–overlooked stories waiting to be produced from fantastic writers and directors.