As generative artificial intelligence reshapes Hollywood production, an online training academy is emerging as a key reskilling hub for film and advertising professionals seeking to adapt.
Curious Refuge, founded in 2020, has enrolled about 10,000 students in AI-powered filmmaking courses since expanding its curriculum in 2023, according to the company. Roughly 95% of current students work in entertainment or advertising.
Among them is Michael Eng, a veteran visual-effects artist in Los Angeles who turned to machine learning training after being sidelined during a production slowdown. “I jumped in,” Eng said, describing his decision to embrace AI tools as the industry evolves.
The school offers pre-recorded online courses in AI-assisted documentary filmmaking, narrative production and advertising, with instruction available in 11 languages across 170 countries. Weekly virtual office hours and community forums supplement coursework.
The program was acquired last year by AI entertainment startup Promise, which is backed by media investor Peter Chernin’s North Road and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Executives say the academy serves as a talent pipeline as competition intensifies for AI-skilled creatives.
The rapid rise of generative AI has sparked both opportunity and anxiety across Hollywood. A 2024 study commissioned by industry groups projected that nearly 120,000 jobs in film, television and animation could be consolidated, replaced or eliminated due to generative AI.
At the same time, talent agency WME and other industry players argue that AI could lower production barriers and create new storytelling formats.
Education is now “the single biggest opportunity in AI,” said Yves Bergquist of the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center, citing the speed and complexity of technological change.
For workers like Eng, the transition has already yielded results. He said he began securing AI-related projects soon after completing coursework and is now teaching AI filmmaking himself.
