When OpenAI gave a handful of filmmakers early access to its Sora video model in early 2024, then-UTA agent Dante DeSario found a way into the circle: he posed as an OpenAI representative to gather their details. Those relationships became the seed of Collage, a management firm for AI-native studios that DeSario has launched this week with veteran media investor Michael Lambert.
Collage’s pitch to Hollywood is a curated bridge. On one side are legacy studios that need trusted AI production partners; on the other are AI-native shops building work with generative video, real-time 3D and hybrid pipelines. The firm signs and vets those suppliers so buyers do not have to start from scratch.
What the firm actually does
The roster includes Asteria, the AI studio run by Bryn Mooser; DEFECT, a real-time 3D animation studio; Matriarch, an AI-native and hybrid production company; and Secret Level, the AI-native studio behind the Coca-Cola ads. Collage’s services go beyond introductions:
- Breaking down scripts scene by scene to recommend generative AI, hybrid or traditional approaches
- Providing technical partnerships, business development tools and back-office infrastructure
- Negotiating better terms for shared resources such as office space and computing power
- Selectively investing in companies within its network
“My hope is to be truly the bridge between Hollywood legacy media as it exists and these new types of artists and companies,” DeSario said. “We want to continue to have these artists focus on what they do best, while letting Collage help alleviate the non-creative burden of running and growing a business.”
Why it matters now
The launch lands as studios publicly embrace more generative AI workflows even as parts of the creative community push back. DeSario says many Hollywood players are savvier than they admit, with some publicly attacking the technology while quietly using it. He positions generative AI as “a creative amplifier” that lowers cost and widens access, not as a replacement for filmmakers.
“Fundamentally, it’s a creative amplifier,” he said. “It helps us get back to the Barry Diller model of singles and doubles.” For media planners and entertainment marketers, that means AI-native production is moving from experiment to managed supplier network.
Collage has closed its seed funding round. Founding investors are Black Bear and Fundamental Films, with additional backers and senior advisors including Dennis Miller, Blue Deer Media, GOAL Ventures, AGC Studios, Roy Lee, Marty Bowen, Todd Lieberman, Todd Garner, Barry Porter, George Huber, Max Michael and Ric Roman Waugh.
For the entertainment business, the signal is practical: as AI studios multiply, the bottleneck is not capability but trust, procurement and operations. Curated intermediaries like Collage are trying to solve exactly that.
Source: TheWrap
