New Management Firm Collage Launches for AI Studios
The firm aims to connect AI-native film studios with Hollywood resources and back-office tools starting in late 2026.
Updated on Oct. 23, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Founders Dante DeSario and Michael Lambert have launched Collage, a new management firm dedicated to supporting AI-native film studios. The company, which closed a seed funding round in October 2026, aims to provide back-office infrastructure and business development services to its clients.
Why it matters
Collage attempts to bridge the gap between traditional Hollywood studios and emerging AI-native production houses. By aggregating resources, the firm seeks to offload business overhead so creative teams can focus on production development.
Collage utilizes a portfolio aggregation model to negotiate for computing power and office space at scale. It further identifies specific AI technologies for use in scripts on a scene-by-scene basis to streamline the production pipeline.
The players
Dante DeSario
Co-founder of Collage who spent two years prior to the firm's launch engaging with traditional Hollywood studios on AI adoption.
Michael Lambert
Co-founder of Collage focused on providing business development and operational infrastructure to AI-native studios.
Black Bear
A founding investor in Collage that operates in the film and media production financing sector.
Fundamental Films
A founding investor in Collage known for its involvement in international film production and distribution.
The details
Collage functions as a bridge between technical studios and established Hollywood institutions. It provides its clients, including Asteria, DEFECT, Matriarch, and Secret Level, with business infrastructure tools to manage non-creative burdens. The firm plans to selectively invest in the studios within its network as they continue to integrate generative AI tools into their workflows.
Timeline
Collage launched and closed a seed funding round in October 2026.
Dante DeSario spent two years educating Hollywood players on AI integration from 2024 to 2026.
The Tech Race
Collage enters a competitive landscape defined by the increasing integration of generative AI in Hollywood film production. The firm's model follows early industry experiments with tools like Sora to formalize the business side of AI-native filmmaking.
For film production studios, Collage offers a consolidated path to access computing power and operational resources typically reserved for larger entities. These business tools will likely impact the production pace of AI-native studios starting in late 2026.
The takeaway
Collage intends to bridge the gap between traditional media finance and AI-native creative studios. Watch for the firm's future investment announcements and the scale of the client list as it seeks to expand its footprint in Hollywood.
Further reading
Explore the evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence to see how automated tools are shaping creative industries.
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Do you believe the integration of AI tools will improve the future of the film industry?
