CORE
PRINCIPLES
These four principles guide everything we do at Promise, ensuring that innovation and artistry move forward together.
CHAMPION ORIGINAL STORYTELLING
We collaborate with artists whose vision, story ideas, and unique points of view can move the world.
EMPOWER
ARTISTS
We support emerging and seasoned artists alike, building the filmmaking community of the future.
RESPECT THE
CRAFT
We use GenAI to expand creative frontiers and enhance, not replace, the art of filmmaking.
PROTECT CREATIVE
INTEGRITY
We deliver what we promise, work with integrity, and respect artists’ rights.
OUR STORY.
Promise is an entertainment studio built for the GenAI era, reimagining how visionary artists create film, series, and new forms of storytelling.
Founded by YouTube veterans George Strompolos and Jamie Byrne, and acclaimed AI filmmaker Dave Clark, Promise unites the world’s best GenAI filmmakers, visual effects artists, Hollywood executives, and creator-economy pioneers from Netflix, Imagine, Technicolor, Google, and more. The studio is reimagining how cinematic worlds are conceived and brought to life through hybrid and fully GenAI-driven productions.
At the center of the studio is MUSE, our studio operating system that streamlines the creative process so ideas can move from concept
to screen faster.
Alongside developing original IP, the studio delivers high-end AI visual effects and custom sequences through The Generation Company, its production services arm, and supports the global creative community via Curious Refuge, the world’s largest AI film school serving 170+ countries.
Backed by North Road, Andreessen Horowitz, and Google, Promise is redefining what it means to be a studio in this new era of filmmaking.
Our
Founders.
George Strompolos
CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Strompolos is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and philanthropist known for pioneering the creator economy and empowering artists worldwide.
Jamie Byrne
Co-Founder, President & COO
Byrne has spent his career innovating at the intersection of media, entertainment, and technology, including launching YouTube’s first revenue-sharing program for creators.
Dave Clark
CO-FOUNDER & CCO
Clark is an award-winning filmmaker and GenAI trailblazer, renowned for pushing the boundaries of storytelling and cinematic innovation.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Caleb Ward
Co-Founder & CEO, Curious Refuge
Co-founded the world’s leading AI filmmaking school, training creators and artists from major studios in over 170 countries while pioneering new approaches to storytelling and production.
Shelby Ward
Co-Founder & COO, Curious Refuge
Co-Founded Curious Refuge, the world’s first AI filmmaking school. With a background in animation, motion design, and VFX education, she now leads a global community of filmmakers embracing the future of AI in storytelling.
Tyler Mitchell
Head of Development
A producer, executive and writer whose career has spanned film, television and Broadway, with leadership roles at Imagine Entertainment, Landscape Entertainment, and Impact, where he guided strategy and formed strategic partnerships with Netflix, Netflix DACH, Skydance, Warner Bros. and ScreenAustralia.
Mariana Acuña Acosta
VP, Product
A technologist and product leader who has driven innovation at Technicolor, Glassbox Technologies, Foundry, and leading studios, including Sony, HBO, Columbia Pictures, and Digital Domain, bridging creative and technical disciplines to build next-generation production pipelines and tools.
Michelle Slavich
Chief Marketing Officer
A global marketing and communications leader who has led Google, Netflix, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and tech start-ups through transformative growth, high-stakes product launches, and organizational change.
Nem Perez
Head of The Generation Company
An acclaimed filmmaker and creative technologist whose 20-year career spans leading productions for Disney Parks, Nintendo, Acura, and Atlantic Records. Perez is recognized as a pioneer in using emerging tools to expand what’s possible in visual storytelling.
Robert Nederhorst
Head of Creative Technology
A visual effects supervisor who has led high-profile projects at studios including Lionsgate, Warner Brothers, and Netflix, delivering seamless effects on films and series such as John Wick: Chapter 3, Conjuring 3, Spy Kids 5, and The Last of Us.
Hirsh Hotchandani
Head of Finance & Operations
A seasoned entertainment finance and strategy executive with 15+ years of experience spanning strategic operations, investment banking, M&A, and content strategy, with leadership roles at both Rooster Teeth and Crunchyroll under the Otter Media umbrella of Warner Bros. Discovery.
OUR INVESTORS
OFFLINE VENTURES | KIVU VENTURES | CROSSBEAM VENTURES | SAGA VENTURES