Focal

Active

AI video creation tool for TV shows and movies

Winter 2024Founded 20232 peopleSan Francisco, CA, USA

focalml.com ↗LinkedIn ↗X ↗See on the Idea Map Consumer momentum

About

Focal is an AI video creation tool that allows anyone to create and share TV episodes and movies. We combine existing video, audio, and language models to make this process simple and straightforward. Check out our most recent demo: https://youtu.be/GFaN96OMlb0

From their website

as of Jun 7, 2026focalml.com ↗

SaaSSubscription · Free plan: $0/month with 0 starting credits; Starter: $10/month with 1000 monthly credits; Standard: $30/month with 3900 monthly credits; Pro: $100/month with 15000 monthly credits. All paid plans grant commercial use.

Focal is an AI-powered video creation platform that lets users create TV shows and movies by generating and editing video content, scenes, and characters using AI models. It supports scripting, timeline editing, and access to various AI models for video, images, voices, and sounds, with commercial use allowed on paid plans.

Users can bring a script or idea, have Focal adapt it into a script, edit with commands, and perform timeline editing with traditional tools. The platform provides access to multiple AI models for video, images, and voices, enabling generation and re-use of characters and locations, frame interpolation, and other advanced features. Plans offer monthly credits and access to different model suites, with commercial rights on paid tiers.

Who it’s for: Filmmakers, TV show creators, content studios, independent producers, and creators looking to rapidly prototype or produce AI-generated video content.

Features

script-to-video generation
script adaptation and editing with commands
timeline-based editing tools
access to multiple AI models for video, images, and voices
character and location reuse
frame interpolation and video extension
commercial-use rights on paid plans

Pricing page with multiple paid plans; explicit commercial-use rights on paid tiers; ongoing product features and model integrations mentioned.

Founders · 2

Robert CunninghamFounder

MIT

Building Focal, an AI video creation tool that allows anyone to create and share TV episodes and movies. Previously math and physics at MIT.

LinkedIn ↗X ↗

Felix WangFounder

Stanford

Building Focal, an AI video creation tool that allows anyone to create and share TV episodes and movies. Previously math and CS at Stanford.

LinkedIn ↗X ↗

Launch

Launched on Y Combinator · Mar 2024

View launch post ↗

We take books and screenplays and turn them into movies

Focal is an AI movie studio that builds tools to convert books and screenplays into movies, including adapting text into screenplays, generating video and audio clips, maintaining character consistency, and lip-syncing. They aim to distribute shows on their platform in the future and are seeking introductions to film and TV industry professionals.

From the original launch (Mar 2024) — may be outdated.