Wonder Studios Wants To Turn AI Short Films Into The Next Big IP

BusinessMediaWonder Studios Wants To Turn AI Short Films Into The Next Big IPByMaureen Kerr,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Maureen Kerr covers AI, media and entertainment economics.Follow AuthorJun 09, 2026, 06:07pm EDTLONDON, ENGLAND: Wonder Studios HQ, East London converted church, June 4, 2026. The private screening of Hal Watmough's AI film, The TrailsCourtesy of Wonder Studios Limited Wonder Studios’ headquarters is a converted church in East London. On June 4, it became a screening room for the second season of Beyond the Loop, its anthology of short films made predominantly with artificial intelligence.I had come to study the tools. For half an hour, watching The Trials, I forgot to.The Trials, a science-fiction short by BAFTA-winning editor Hal Watmough, is built around a grieving girl, the planet’s apex animals and an injured cheetah. It plays less like a technology demonstration than a film trying to prove something larger: that AI can support story, taste, collaboration and a route to market.That is where Wonder’s wager becomes interesting.The company backs creator-led films as proof-of-concept IP, giving filmmakers money, tools, production support and an audience. In return, it takes ownership of the finished short. If the work becomes a feature, series or commercial project, the filmmaker keeps a share of what comes next.If these films were only prompt demos, the contract would be a footnote. But The Trials is a 33-minute film built through writing, editing, concept art, model work, voice direction, sound design, grading and studio notes. The prompt is the least interesting part. The pipeline is the test.From The Edit Suite To AI FilmmakingWatmough walked me through the film in an interview after the screening.MORE FOR YOUHe did not come to AI from software. He came from the edit suite, after years cutting television including the BBC’s The Repair Shop. Editors are trained to make meaning from mate...