It’s now been years that AI and Hollywood creatives have been set in two opposing camps—the big studios, which are trying to push the new tech and make production more ‘efficient,’ and the writers, actors, and directors on the other side, trying all they can to push AI away. In between the two, though, there are executives who side with artists on fair compensation and filmmakers like David S. Goyer, who are embracing the tech in surprising ways. Goyer is well-known for his work on superhero movies, most notably the Dark Knight trilogy, Batman vs. Superman, and the TV series Foundation.
Now, the latest project of the master of fiction aims to bring the future to Hollywood, blending AI and blockchain and inviting every creator to join, contribute, and earn in a fan-driven sci-fi universe, Emergence.
A true innovative approach to AI, which strays off the path of replacing human artists to create and neither shuts down the opportunity it brings. Nothing comes easy, though, as the challenges are as large as the universe Goyer promises to build.
What Exactly Is Emergence?
‘In a distant corner of the universe, civilizations in a young galaxy discover RELICS of immense power—objects so advanced their creators are akin to GODS. The relics propel species to the stars, unlocking untold power—but these ‘gifts’ also corrupt minds, plunging the galaxy into strife.’
Introducing Emergence: Built to be Built Upon
Introducing Emergence:Built to be Built Upon A few lines from the world bible of Emergence give away glimpses of an epic franchise with multiple characters and an entire world bible built upon generations.
If you thought the same, then you are right. Emerge is a franchise, but unlike a traditional one built by the writer, it is built by fans and creators who contribute their ideas, vote to decide the best, and collectively contribute to the story. It’s fair to say Goyer flipped the script on AI in Hollywood with his take on it.
“It’s very different from how you’d create a film universe now. It’s freeing, and it’s different. In some of the other cases, you’re trying to engineer something that’s pre-existing. But (Emergence is) built to be built from the ground up,” said Goyer for Forbes, who only kickstarted the 25-page world bible and now left free rein to others.
Goyer found the perfect medium to channel his frustration with Hollywood for how it stifles innovation in the boardroom with Incention, the company that provides AI tools and a blockchain rewards system for those whose imagination is poured into the story, in proportion to their contribution. As is the storyline, how it will all turn out, and the mechanics behind the project are still relatively unknown.
Goyer Is Not Alone
Other directors, writers, and producers are slowly incorporating AI into their work. Perhaps they are not trying to innovate in a grandiose way, like Goyer, but are still vocal about their ‘approval’ of the tech.
Dave Clark, Alex Patrasku, Peter Jackson, and James Cameron are among the directors who are using AI in their movies. Certainly not to replace humans, but to achieve a result that would take weeks of work and an enormous budget in just minutes. Voice and face replicas of dead actors and historical figures, recovering old footage, and even ‘simple’ tasks like compensating for low lighting and removing background noise would not be possible with AI.
Can some of these be fixed without it? Indeed so, yet reshooting a scene is often impossible, especially for the indie filmmaker.
What Do Fans Have to Say?
The very company Goyer is collaborating with has a board member in Lionsgate Studios CEO Jon Feltheimer, who is well known for investing in AI startups in the past. One might suspect Incention is another attempt by Exec to cut costs, and it’s precisely what many fans are expressing: a betrayal on Goyer’s part. Reminiscent of the major backlash celebrities received with NFTs just a few years back, it was to be expected.
Debating on whether Goyer is the hero or villain of this story is an answer everyone will soon get if the project truly comes to success, unlike the previous attempts to use blockchain as a creative tool. One thing is certain: success here would mean much more than any of Goyer’s successful franchises.
The Alchemist Dream: Marrying Blockchain and AI
Are the objects found in space in the universe’s story built by future humans, demons, or gods? That’s for the creators to tell. Likewise, is this initiative similar to what a DAO is for crypto, a tech company that aims to create the ‘proper’ way of using AI in storytelling? It could be both, yet it’s still too early to tell.
Sticking to sci-fi, merging AI and blockchain is the alchemist’s dream of creators and tech companies, akin to uniting quantum physics and gravity for physicists—a topic so complex that it deserves a full report by the European Investment Bank. Incention’s CEO, Chase Rosenblatt, stated that they are neither an AI nor a blockchain technology but are driven to use both to build an endless playground rooted in real IP, which takes us to an interesting point.
The Impact We are Hoping For: The New Hollywood IP Model
It all comes down to IP and to whom it is attributed. When it comes to the recent Hollywood Writers Protest, the entire issue lies with AI ‘creating’ by borrowing old scripts and not crediting anyone. The result: some has to be credited. Celebrated as a big win, it might only be a temporary fix to a bigger issue. Provenance is going to matter as much as creativity. In the wider generative ecosystem, the mere existence of an AI nude generator shows how quickly style-transfer models can bypass consent and licensing.
If Emergence is serious about blending AI and blockchain, the same rails that meter contributor rewards could also enforce “do-not-synthesize” constraints at the prompt layer, blocking NSFW transformations of protected characters, tying every output to a rights token, and writing attempted misuse to an auditable log. In other words, compensation logic and content safety can ride the same infrastructure.
That reframes AI as policy-enforcing middleware rather than a shortcut to replace artists. Writers define allowed scenes, actors set likeness boundaries, and the pipeline refuses requests that breach those terms even when the model could technically comply. If Incention lands this balance, Emergence stops being a headline about automation and becomes a working blueprint for IP where fan authorship, safety, and attribution can actually coexist.
Goyer believes Hollywood needs a new model for creating and refreshing IP, and perhaps the entire system needs revisiting – could it be that the tech could be used as a layer deeper than simply designating who to credit or generating the story? It’s too soon to draw any conclusion, but history taught us that there’s controversy in every revolutionary idea; emergence seems to lie perfectly somewhere in the realm between the two words. Perhaps the biggest lesson here is to take a shot at experimenting with new technology, rather than focusing solely on the resistance to change. And possibly, why not, apply for an Emergence passport and give a go at shaping Goyer’s universe.
Also read: How AI Generators are Revolutionizing the Tech World?
