A24 Recruits Adobe’s Scott Belsky

Independent film and TV studio A24 has hired Scott Belsky, Adobe’s chief strategy officer and executive VP of design & emerging products, in a newly-created role to head technology and innovation projects.

The Big Picture: Every major Hollywood studio and production company is shoring up its tech capabilities, as AI and machine learning gear up to revolutionize content creation. A24, which prides itself on being an artist-friendly studio, is likely hoping that Belsky can fuel innovation while protecting creativity and copyright.

Behind the Scenes: Scott Belsky — who already counts a storied career at Adobe, the founding of creative-job platform Behance, and advisory roles at Uber and Pinterest on his resume — begins his entertainment career in March.

• He’s been named a partner at the NYC-based studio and will work on undisclosed projects that “deepen A24’s commitment to filmmakers by providing tools and resources to support their creative vision,” per THR.
• Belsky will also remain an advisor at Adobe and is already discussing working on projects with the company.
• The exec has some experience with the tech side of filmmaking, considering that Adobe Creative Cloud is extensively used for various post-production tasks.
• Additionally, Belsky played a crucial part in launching Adobe’s suite of generative AI tools called “Firefly.”

Closing Thoughts: A24 was at the center of headlines this month after it was revealed that its Oscar contender, The Brutalist, used AI to refine the Hungarian accent of stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. According to new guidance by the Copyright Office, there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with this, so that’s sure to open the floodgates on using the powerful tech to tweak, enhance, and optimize many aspects of production and post-production — which could save indie studio A24 a lot of money in realizing ambitious visions.