EXCLUSIVE: AI is in the eye of the storm in LA right now amid the writers’ strike and is also a talking point at the Cannes Film Festival due to the de-aging of Harrison Ford for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.
We can reveal an interesting development in the Cannes market with news that generative AI firm Flawless, co-founded by filmmaker Scott Mann (Fall), is partnering with U.S. seller and distributor XYZ Films (Run Rabbit Run) and UK producer Tea Shop Productions (47 Meters Down) to acquire rights to foreign-language films, converting them to English for distribution in English-speaking territories.
The plan is for Flawless’ TrueSync technology to create lip-synced versions of acquired titles, and XYZ will distribute them. The idea is to offer an alternative to subtitles and out-of-sync dubs. The company will also distribute the original versions alongside.
The TrueSync tech was used in recent breakout hit Fall to paper over more than 30 F bombs that impacted the film’s initial rating. The tech helped propel the $3M-budgeted pic to six times that at the box office. The clip below gives an idea of how the tech can be used to seamlessly dub, too.
The partnership has launched with the acquisition of Victor Danell’s UFO Sweden, the sci-fi adventure film that earned three nominations at Sweden’s 2023 Guldbagge Awards.
The group tells us it plans to acquire a number of “high-potential” titles during the Cannes Film Festival — where Flawless execs will be showcasing the brand’s different technology — and intends to release its initial slate of translated films in Q4, 2023.
James Emanuel Shapiro, EVP of U.S. Distribution for XYZ Films, Ryan Black, Head of Acquisitions for Flawless, and James Harris of Tea Shop will lead acquisitions for the new venture.
Peter Ahlén, Sales Manager at REinvent International Sales which represents UFO Sweden, negotiated the Flawless acquisition.
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