ElevenLabs, the buzzy synthetic voice startup, is teaming up with Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle and creative studio Wonder for an upcoming series of “Black Mirror”-style short films, made using GenAI tools.
Tech companies have been cosying up to Hollywood in recent months. Oscar-winning director Darren Aronofsky recently announced a partnership with Google’s DeepMind to produce AI-assisted short films. Meanwhile indie production house A24 has brought on Adobe executive Scott Belsky to lead on tech projects.
The four-part series, launching on YouTube and Vimeo in July 2025, is the brainchild of London-based Wonder, which uses AI to make films and recently raised funds from angels from OpenAI, ElevenLabs and DeepMind. Each 10-minute episode will be directed by a different filmmaker and will explore ideas like consciousness and simulation.
ElevenLabs has been brought on as an executive producer alongside three other generative media platforms: Spain-based Freepik, US-based Fal.ai and Beijing-based Kling AI, each contributing tools and assistance to the filmmakers.
Boyle — whose credits include Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire — has mentored the creators involved. Additional filmmaking support has come from Danny Perkins, creator of the Paddington films, and Jon Goldman, who developed a series of video games based on The Walking Dead franchise.
“We’re trying to build bridges between the traditional and the new,” Wonder’s cofounder and chief creative officer Justin Hackney tells Sifted, “to really support indie filmmakers and people who just want to create cool stuff.”
How were the films made?
As the project started coming together at the start of the year, Wonder met with filmmakers before reaching out to tech companies interested in showcasing their tools in March.
Wonder’s cofounder and CEO Xavier Collins compares the approach to the traditional film financing model — except instead of studios or investors stumping up the cash, it’s tech companies providing filmmaking resources.
Most of the episodes will feature real-life actors and directed voice-over talent, but will have GenAI layered on top to enhance visuals, audio or effects.
The majority of the GenAI work was done using Freepik — a platform that brings together a suite of generative image and video tools aimed at studios and developers.
Fal.ai, which is a GenAI platform which requires more technical expertise, was used for “deep visual effects,” while Kling AI allowed the filmmakers to do “more edgy work,” like generating images of blood, says Collins and Hackney.
ElevenLabs’ software will enable the films to be dubbed into multiple languages.
These tools allow Wonder to produce high-quality films at a fraction of the cost of traditional productions, says Collins: “We’re creating this entire series for hundreds of thousands, rather than the millions or tens of millions it would typically cost.”
That being said, Collins say the executive producers are aware that “this may not be the best financial return.” Rather, “they’re doing this for exposure, branding, supporting the creators, getting people using the tools and showing other people how to use the tools.”
ElevenLabs’s cofounder — and Wonder’s angel investor — Mati Stanizewski seems to agree: the series is “showcasing how AI can dramatically expand the creative possibilities for filmmakers globally,” he says.
“All these businesses want to create incredible films,” Collins tells Sifted, “and in order for them to be part of that ecosystem, they have to be accepted by traditional Hollywood.”
The business opportunity
This pilot series — and future ones from Wonder — will be pitched to festivals and distributors with the hope the films can generate revenue through the same channels the traditional film industry relies on, Hackney tells Sifted.
Still, with Hollywood grappling with labour disputes and growing anxiety around automation, collaborations between tech companies and film studios are unlikely to be welcomed by all. “We definitely don’t want to have hubris on that,” said Collins. “This is a really tough, challenging space and there’s people with really legitimate concerns.”
He adds: “Hollywood is facing an existential crisis and it’s not from AI, it’s from the economics of the industry […] independent filmmakers and people in the middle — as well as the big streamers — could really benefit from technology that flips the economics of production.
“It’s not about ‘how do we replace people?’ It’s about ‘how do we improve a workflow? How do we unlock a scene that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do?’” Collins says.
Hackney adds: “I would love to say at least one of the filmmakers that went through the anthology went on to become the next Spielberg.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/danny-boyle-ai-film-series-wonder/
