While artificial intelligence has been one of the biggest points of contention in the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Newen Studios in France has taken a deep dive into AI to deliver daily soaps, as well as sourcing talent and pitching projects in its own metaverse space.
During Mipcom, Newen’s head of innovation, Marianne Carpentier, launched the second edition of the banner’s Meta Pitch Contest. Supported by the Creative Europe Programme, the event will see creators pitch their series via an avatar in Newen’s Metaverse space to a jury of international producers, distributors, acquisition executives and media professionals. The two finalists will then be invited to Series Mania in Lille for an in-person finale, where they will compete for an audience award. The winner will receive development support.
“Since we created our metaverse in May 2022, we’ve done many things and this Meta Pitch Contest is one of our highlights,” Carpentier tells Variety. After an inaugural edition limited to European entrants, the event is being expanded to global entrants, who will pitch their series projects with trailers using AI-powered tools.
“The great thing about this meta pitch competition is that it breaks boundaries by allowing people everywhere to pitch their ideas through an avatar and feel free of any kind of constraints to do so wherever they are,” says Carpentier, adding that Newen will benefit from “access to cool trailers and marketing materials using AI for shows before they’re even produced”.
The winner of last year’s competition, “Hello”, comes from Lithuanian creators and is currently being produced by Aux Singuliers, a French production label owned by Newen Studios. Carpentier described it as a feel-good animated series whose story is told from the perspective of a “little robot vacuum cleaner” who forms a special bond with the daughter of the family he lives with. “This is the first time Newen Studios has developed a project like this and we have already found a director for it,” she says.
As well as pitching, Newen has used its metaverse space to host masterclasses with well-known actors as part of its year-long programme for drama students in underprivileged areas of southern France.
The metaverse is a pure post-COVID product that Newen devised to allow its producers to meet, present and even sell their projects using their avatars.
The TF1-owned company has also used AI in some of France’s best-known daily soaps, “Demain nous appartient” and “Plus belle la vie”, both produced by Newen Studios.
The company has developed an in-house AI tool called Cinetwork, which can process scripts and create a database of actors and key crew members. “These series have a lot of production constraints and these tools save us a lot of time by analysing the scripts and creating shooting schedules based on the availability of the actors,” says Carpentier. Although some crew members resisted the idea of being assisted by an AI tool, she says they eventually realised it freed up some time for them to work more on the creative aspect of their respective jobs.
The bottom line, says Carpentier, is that Newen isn’t using AI to cut jobs, but in a “smart way to expand opportunities, ideas and optimise time”.
“Like everything in life, there’s a downside to AI – but the more I play with it, the more I realise how useful it is for people in this industry,” says Carpentier. “We should call it augmented intelligence rather than artificial intelligence.”
