The Option

Former UTA film agent Dante DeSario and media investor Michael Lambert have launched Collage, a management company representing AI-native production studios. With a seed round backed by Black Bear, Fundamental Films, AGC Studios, Roy Lee, Marty Bowen, Todd Garner, and others, Collage is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer between Hollywood's traditional buyers and the fragmented AI production market. For agents, producers, and studio executives, this launch signals that the entertainment industry's AI adoption phase has moved from anxiety to active deal-making — and that a new...

Show Notes

Former UTA film agent Dante DeSario and media investor Michael Lambert have launched Collage, a management company representing AI-native production studios. With a seed round backed by Black Bear, Fundamental Films, AGC Studios, Roy Lee, Marty Bowen, Todd Garner, and others, Collage is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer between Hollywood's traditional buyers and the fragmented AI production market. For agents, producers, and studio executives, this launch signals that the entertainment industry's AI adoption phase has moved from anxiety to active deal-making — and that a new category of representation is forming around it.

Key Takeaways:

  • Collage has closed a seed funding round with Black Bear and Fundamental Films as lead investors; no dollar figure was disclosed.
  • Advisors and investors include Roy Lee, Marty Bowen, Todd Lieberman, Todd Garner, AGC Studios, and Ric Roman Waugh — established Hollywood producers, not just tech-side money.
  • The launch roster includes 8 AI-native studios, among them Native Foreign (creator of OpenAI-backed franchise Critterz) and Lux Meridian (Territory Group's generative arm, with credits on Dune, The Martian, and Guardians of the Galaxy).
  • DeSario's UTA track record includes packaging Jordan Firstman's Club Kid, which sold to A24 for a record high-teens millions — his financing and packaging background is the core credential here.
  • Collage Capital will invest selectively in client companies, either directly or through dedicated investment vehicles, making this part management firm, part fund.
  • Obsidian, a Collage client, is a partnership between Wes Walker and Imagine Entertainment — a traditional Hollywood production house already embedded in the AI-native space.
  • The firm's stated function includes pricing and sizing AI production projects, managing legal and delivery, and sourcing the right production method for each project — services no existing agency or management firm currently provides at scale.

The real signal in the Collage launch isn't the AI angle — it's that experienced Hollywood dealmakers are now building dedicated infrastructure around AI-native studios rather than waiting for studios to figure it out themselves. The first Collage client to land a meaningful distribution deal or branded production contract with a major streamer will mark either the validation of this thesis or the flashpoint for a more serious industry reckoning with AI commercialization. Either way, the category is now represented. That changes the negotiation.

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