In February 2021, when I founded The Squad, I wasn’t trying to build a movement.
I just wanted to create a better future for filmmakers.
A future where we didn’t have to beg.
Didn’t have to sign away our life’s work. [Shout out Taylor Swift!]
Didn’t have to wait for someone else’s permission to make something extraordinary.
That vision became Film3, a movement, which we developed it into a business model.
Over the past four years, The Squad has been building, testing and proving the Film3 business model in the wild [Julie Pacino, Miguel Faus, David Bianchi, The Coders Room].
While no one has yet run all eight pillars simultaneously, creators like Miguel Faus (Calladita), David Bianchi (RZR), and collectives like the Coders Room have each deployed major pieces of the system:
Funding via tokenized presales and NFTs
Ownership maintained by the creators
Community building as the studio
Distribution through emerging Web3 platforms like Bingeable, Gala and DCP+
These case studies aren’t partial attempts they are real-world proofs. We built a new system from the ground up, one that redefined how films are funded, how IP is owned, and how stories are shared. We didn’t just dream it. We built it. And we’ve been writing the new IP playbook ever since.
But there was still one bottleneck.
One last gate between creator and creation: Production.
The Bottleneck: Production
Even after we cracked funding.
Even after creators reclaimed ownership of their IP.
Even after we established direct-to-community distribution channels...
Production remained the most confusing piece of the puzzle.
The most expensive.
The most time-consuming.
The most reliant on legacy systems we were trying to evolve beyond.
It didn’t matter if you owned your story if you couldn’t afford to make it…
Traditional production often meant heavy crews, long post timelines, costly VFX, expensive equipment, and locked doors unless you had access, money, or both. It was the last stronghold of the old model. Until now.
GenAI: The Final Unlock
GenAI didn’t just disrupt traditional workflows.
It obliterated the old production gate.
With the rise of GenAI tools, text-to-video, image-to-video, image generation, AI voice, music scoring, dubbing, real-time animation, and automated editing, the studio now lives on your laptop.
The creator no longer needs to ask permission.
They just build.
This wasn’t just democratization.
This was acceleration.
This was scale.
This was liberation.
The Film3 Business Model: Now Fully Activated
We’ve always said Film3 was a revolution for cinema.
A full-stack system. A creator-led, community-powered revolution.
The Film3 business model as I have articulated rests on 8 pillars:
Self-Sovereignty
Creator-Led Communities as Studios
IP Ownership
Equity, Fair Compensation, and Sustainability
Direct-to-Consumer Marketing and Distribution
Transparent and Secure Transactions
Community Engagement
Profit Sharing
We built this framework to challenge Hollywood’s exploitative structures and replace them with something fairer, smarter, and more aligned with today’s creators and audiences.
But for all its innovation, there was still a mechanical limitation:
How do you make world-class content without world-class budgets?
That’s the question GenAI answered.
That’s the missing piece.
A Note on Proof
We’ve already seen the early indicators.
Projects using GenAI workflows are cutting production costs by more than 80%.
Entire story-worlds are being built in weeks, not years.
Tools like Runway, Kling, and Veo are just the beginning.
For example, ECHO HUNTER marks a historic milestone in cinema: the first GenAI film approved by SAG-AFTRA and featuring a fully unionized cast. Directed by Kavan Cardoza (aka Kavan the Kid) and produced by Arcana Labs in collaboration with Phantom X, this 22-minute sci-fi thriller showcases performances by Breckin Meyer, Taylor John Smith, and Danielle Bisutti. Utilizing Arcana AI, the film seamlessly blends human performances with AI-generated visuals, demonstrating how high-quality films can be produced affordably and efficiently. ECHO HUNTER exemplifies the potential of AI to empower independent creators, offering a glimpse into the future of filmmaking where technology enhances human creativity without replacing it. Don’t miss my excellent conversation with Kavan on the Film3 OG SquadPod.
And while I can’t speak yet about what I’ve been building for years, what’s clear is this:
Film3 empowered creators. GenAI supercharged them.
The model is now complete.
No More Waiting. No More Permission.
The era of creator-led, AI-native studios is here.
Not as a trend.
Not as a theory.
But as an undeniable system shift.
What Film3 started, GenAI supercharged.
This is the full-stack evolution of storytelling.
IP created, owned, produced, and distributed without compromise.
The studio system had a hundred-year head start.
With The Squad, Film3 caught up in four.
And now we’re cooking.