• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, Yesterday

Google confirmed a multiyear partnership with Range Media Partners, a talent firm and production company, to launch an initiative driven by its Platforms & Devices team that includes Android.

“We’re working with Range to assist the creative community in integrating cutting-edge technologies and platforms, like XR and AI, into their filmmaking,” the company posted on X.

Range is known for its work on films including "A Complete Unknown" and "Longlegs," according to reports that began on Monday.

Google and Range in April announced a partnership called AI On Screen to commission short films about AI, with the goal of making feature films.

During the next 18 months, Google wrote in a post that, along with Range, it will commission original narratives by visionary filmmakers that explore the complex relationship between humanity and AI.

“We're looking for stories that will deeply resonate on a human level, exploring the emotional and ethical dilemmas that arise when we intertwine our lives with intelligent machines,” Google wrote.

The move comes as Hollywood grapples with higher costs and threat of U.S. tariffs on foreign-made films.

Google could use this partnership to get its creative community on YouTube to adopt emerging tech products and services, like its Immersive View, a feature that allows viewers to see things in 3D. It also could get adopters to use artificial intelligence and some of its other emerging technology.

President Trump is trying to bring Hollywood moviemaking back to the U.S., through incentives. He says too many U.S. moviemakers get tax breaks worldwide, and not enough movies are being made in the U.S. That may be due to resistance from states such as Wyoming.

It’s not for lack of trying. Dave Madison, reporter for the Cowboy State Daily, wrote “Sheridan filmmaker Sen Patrick Higgins tried to help push Wyoming to give incentives for his industry to film more in Wyoming.”

When Wyoming would not open its doors, Higgins went to Montana and lobbied for incentives there. The lobbying worked.

Montana’s legislation creates allocations that will distribute credits to various sectors of the industry, with about 10% to any production company, 10% for independent film productions, 40% for productions using qualified Montana facilities, and 40% for companies domiciled in Montana, Madison writes.