Amazon Greenlights Three Animated Series Created With AI
Jorge R. Gutierrez is a surprising name among the GenAI Creators' Fund producers.
Amazon MGM Studios
Amazon is apparently expanding its presence in animation with a new initiative, the GenAI Creators' Fund, launched by Amazon Web Services and Amazon MGM Studios. The fund's first greenlit projects are Cupcake & Friends from BuzzFeed Studios, Love, Diana Music Hunters from Albie Hecht, a former Nickelodeon executive, and Punky Duck from Jorge R. Gutierrez, the creator of The Book of Life, Maya and the Three, and El Tigre.
All three series are expected to premiere on Prime Video. Works from this fund will use the Project Nara platform, which is an Amazon MGM Studios' "purpose-built AI production platform for cinematic storytelling, built on AWS." It's described as a "collaborative production workspace where creative teams can generate video, make edits, provide feedback, and track progress in real-time".
Amazon MGM Studios
Gutierrez is known for his strong support for human-made animation and craft, making his involvement pretty unexpected and a topic of online conversation. What some have pointed out is that he has previously been critical of AI.
It's no secret that the TV animation landscape is currently under significant pressure, with the rise of streaming, economic challenges, and shorter audience attention spans making it increasingly difficult for projects to get greenlit. At the same time, this situation also raises the question of whether big artists like Gutierrez could, intentionally or not, help normalize and legitimize this technology.
Cartoon Brew asked Gutierrez about the decision, and he essentially confirmed he wanted the chance to work on an original project:
"It's a big experiment for me, and I will be as cautious as possible with AI. Artists driving tech, and not the other way around, is my goal. I've been developing things at most legacy studios for years, and Punky Duck, to my complete surprise, went to greenlight in two months from my first pitch. Cautiously optimistic of what we can accomplish with the support of Amazon MGM Studios. Taking a chance on an original feels like a miracle these days."
However, Loryn Brantz, creator of Cuppy, the star of The Good Advice Cupcake series, has called out BuzzFeed for this partnership with Amazon:
"They repeatedly assured me in good faith that they would never do anything with Cuppy without my input, yet offered me no legal options, insisting that I would never need them. The news that this character, who is based on my own personality and whom I created as a microphone to spread love and positivity, has been taken and turned into a soulless AI puppet feels like having my intestines pulled out of my body."
Amazon MGM Studios
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