While not every movie can be Mr. Lovejoy, robots can now help producers find great films by sorting and scoring scripts based on actors, plot, and endings. Think of it as a robotic replacement for the Hollywood page.
The startup that does this is called Scriptbook and it automatically reads and scores scripts, offering Hollywood fat cats the ability to choose winners over flops. The company is exhibiting in TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield.
“Our only input is a film script. Our machine learning algorithms are capable of automatically reading & analyzing a script, and from there generate financial ofrecasts,” said founder Nadira Azermai. Azermai used her experience in applied economics and an internship on a “huge box office flop” to build the platform.
The system gives an “objective assessment of a film’s commercial value prior to financing, producing and distributing” which basically means we’ll never have to watch another Alice In Wonderland sequel. It assesses the number of male and female characters, the “mood” of the film, and can describe the ending for easy consumption. It also scores the script on potential commercialization.
The company raised a seed round of $1.4 million. They have two film studios on board and they are monetizing later this year. It’s a clever idea and very necessary considering people will keep making Mission: Impossible sequels until a robot makes them stop.