Ron Howard’s Obsidian AI

Obsidian operates as a next-generation, AI-focused production studio closely tied to Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s legacy production company, Imagine Entertainment.

Obsidian was co-founded by director Wes Walker and producer Louis Gheysens. It maintains a physical and operational presence out of Imagine Entertainment’s Beverly Hills headquarters.

The studio builds compact, multidisciplinary creative units (typically around 10 to 15 artists and technologists) designed to integrate generative AI tools into long-form narratives, commercials, and documentaries.

Obsidian’s notable work includes partnering with Ron Howard on The Code, an AI-enabled animated documentary feature detailing the experiences of American prisoners of war in Vietnam, utilizing survival drawings made during their captivity.

Executive producers at Obsidian estimate that utilizing these integrated AI pipelines cuts overall production and post-production overhead by roughly 30% to 40%, serving as a test case for how traditional Hollywood outfits can sustainably greenlight mid-budget projects.