Hollywood studios have started asking film schools to supply graduates who can already operate AI video tools instead of retraining in-house teams, Semafor reported on Thursday. The shift was summed up by Runway chief executive Cristóbal Valenzuela with the studios' question about finding people who already know the software. It coincides with wider adoption: Netflix said generative AI was used in about 300 titles this year. For business, the signal is that AI video competence is moving from experiment to hiring criterion.
Runway courses from NYU to Harvard
Runway, a developer of tools for generating and editing video, has helped form that supply channel. Its first university course, created with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, was announced in December 2024 and started in January 2025 at the Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center. USC's School of Cinematic Arts runs a graduate filmmaking course built around Runway tools, according to the company. Semafor added that courses using Runway are also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, MIT and Harvard, as well as at universities in Europe and Latin America.
Google and OpenAI are building parallel routes into production. In September 2025, Google Labs introduced Flow Sessions, which gives selected filmmakers access to its Flow AI filmmaking tool together with mentoring and training. OpenAI partnered with Tribeca Studios on a year-long programme that funded independent filmmakers to produce short films with its tools, with premieres scheduled for the 2026 Tribeca Festival. Google also deepened its studio ties in June with a $75m investment in A24 and an AI filmmaking research partnership between A24 and Google DeepMind.
The demand for ready-trained graduates tracks production use. Netflix said it applied generative AI in about 300 titles this year and has asked all staff to build AI fluency. That combination of tool deployment and a fluency mandate explains why studios prefer to hire for existing skill rather than teach from zero. Filmmaker Brad Tangonan, a Flow Sessions participant, told Semafor that knowledge of such tools will become a condition for staying in the industry.
What AI fluency means for media firms
For content businesses, the practical effect is a change in hiring and contracting. Larger studios and streamers can set AI-tool proficiency as a baseline for junior roles and freelance crews, shortening onboarding for effects-heavy work. Smaller production companies and corporate video teams gain access to the same graduate pool and to programme formats that combine software access with mentoring. The difference is scale: large buyers can absorb new workflows across 300-title slates, while small firms can use one or two AI-capable hires to handle editing, previz and versioning without expanding headcount.
The shift also raises selection issues that are not resolved by a diploma line. Course names do not guarantee equal depth in prompting, editing control, rights clearance and output quality, and tools such as Runway and Flow evolve faster than curricula. Employers still need to test portfolios for consistency across shots, check how candidates document sources and approvals, and clarify who owns AI-assisted material under current studio and distributor rules. The news by itself does not mean that traditional craft skills have lost value, only that they are now expected alongside software fluency.
The marker to watch is the 2026 Tribeca Festival, where OpenAI-backed shorts are due to premiere, alongside further disclosure on how many productions use generative AI and under what credits. If festival-selected work and studio slates continue to list AI-assisted production as routine, hiring requirements will harden. If not, university AI courses will remain an optional track rather than an entry standard.
