Studio Blo launches AI advertising division with global filmmakers to elevate brand storytelling

Mumbai: Artificial intelligence may be writing new rules for advertising, but Studio Blo believes the best stories still need a human director’s touch. Betting that craft will remain the star of the show, the AI-led film studio has launched a premium AI-native advertising division that brings together an international line-up of acclaimed filmmakers.

The new division features a creative collective comprising Rob Kaplan, known for automotive filmmaking, Bollywood director Karan Malhotra, food stylist and filmmaker Saba Gaziyani, UAE-based advertising filmmaker Nizar Sfair, cinematographer and ad filmmaker Chinmay Bokil, and advertising filmmaker Shoba Mohapatra, who has previously collaborated with filmmaker Mani Ratnam.

The filmmakers will work with Studio Blo to develop AI-powered advertising campaigns and branded films that combine cinematic storytelling with emerging artificial intelligence technologies.

The company said the move comes as brands increasingly compete for attention not only with rival products but also with streaming platforms, creators, musicians and influencers in an increasingly crowded content ecosystem.

“Brands today need to entertain audiences, not advertise to them,” said Studio Blo, co-founder and chief executive officer, Dipankar Mukherjee. “They’re competing with OTT platforms, creators, musicians, influencers and every piece of content that appears in a consumer’s feed. AI can help us create faster and at greater scale, but great storytelling still requires vision, emotion and craft. That’s why we’re bringing together some of the industry’s most accomplished filmmakers and giving them tools that allow them to push creative boundaries in entirely new ways. Our philosophy is simple: craft first, technology in service of it.”

The new advertising division will draw on Studio Blo’s proprietary AI capabilities, including celebrity cloning and performance capture technologies, enabling brands to produce campaigns that would traditionally require significantly higher budgets and longer production timelines.

The launch builds on the studio’s growing portfolio of AI-led productions across advertising, entertainment and sport. It is currently co-producing Warlord, an AI-created science fiction series with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

Studio Blo has also delivered AI-powered celebrity cloning campaigns featuring Hardik Pandya and created the Mumbai Indians Women’s Premier League campaign, where AI technology was used to bring together 15 players within a single cinematic narrative.

The studio has collaborated with several prominent filmmakers, including Rajkumar Hirani, Shekhar Kapur, Atlee, Sudhir Mishra, Aryan Khan, Rohit Shetty, Anupam Kher and Karan Malhotra. One of its recent projects was a 10-minute film for the Bajaj Group directed by Rajkumar Hirani, which combined advanced performance capture with AI-powered cloning of multiple public personalities.

Since its inception, Studio Blo has worked with brands including FILA, Gillette, Foot Locker, Roquette, IFF, Hogarth, Dentsu, Wondrlab, Emirates NBD, Nykaa, Mahindra, Aditya Birla Capital, Shemaroo, Mumbai Indians and Bajaj.

With the launch of its new division, Studio Blo is positioning itself at the intersection of filmmaking and artificial intelligence, betting that while AI may accelerate production, memorable brand stories will continue to be driven by creative vision rather than technology alone.