Flick

What do they actually do

Flick runs a web app for making AI‑assisted short films end‑to‑end. Creators work on an infinite canvas of connected nodes (script, characters, shots, assets) with a chat‑like editor to iterate non‑linearly, and the product integrates multiple text/image/video models with style and identity tools to keep characters and lighting consistent across scenes flick.art. The goal is to handle story → shot generation → editing/post in one place rather than stitching separate tools together YC profile.

The site publishes example shorts and remixable canvases in a Studio, and the team is building an invite‑only/residency community; they cite several AI short films produced weekly and four completed shorts with festival awards. Their approach to visual/character coherence draws on a cofounder’s SIGGRAPH work on pipelines for consistency flick.art YC profile SIGGRAPH.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Independent short‑film directors: They want festival‑quality shorts without large crews; traditional shoots are expensive and hard to schedule, and they need to iterate on story, blocking, and looks quickly.
• Film students and residency creators: They struggle to translate scripts into consistent shots and want reproducible, remixable pipelines instead of building everything from scratch.
• Small production teams and freelance commercial directors: They must deliver many iterations fast and currently stitch multiple model tools and editors, leading to wasted time and inconsistent results.
• VFX artists and cinematographers focused on continuity: Generative pipelines often suffer identity/style drift, forcing manual fixes in post; they want tools that enforce character and lighting consistency.
• Creators who learn by remixing others’ workflows: There’s no easy way to import end‑to‑end director workflows (shot lists, assets, lighting), making reproduction and adaptation tedious.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: High‑touch onboarding of filmmakers from the invite‑only/residency list and film‑school contacts; provide free credits and 1:1 sessions to ship a finished short and publish each as a remixable Studio template flick.art YC profile.
• First 50: Run paid/sponsored workshops and semester projects with a few film programs so entire classes produce work on Flick; reward referrals with template access/credits and run monthly remix contests to surface winners into the Studio flick.art YC profile.
• First 100: Sell discounted pilots to freelance directors and small production houses and turn outcomes into case studies; co‑author “pro” continuity templates with VFX/cinematography partners, and demo at regional festivals/residencies to reach evaluators flick.art YC profile SIGGRAPH.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

For context, global movie production & distribution is ~US$130B (2024), VFX is ~US$10.7B, and video‑editing software is ~US$2.29B; estimates for “AI in film” range from ~US$1.8B to smaller niche scopes depending on definition IBISWorld IMARC Straits Research Market.us Dimension MR.

Bottom-up calculation:

Anchor SAM to the categories where Flick is most likely to capture software spend: video‑editing software (~US$2.3B) plus AI‑in‑film tooling (~US$1.8B) ≈ ~US$4.1B today, with optional upside from a small slice of VFX tooling budgets Straits Research Market.us IMARC.

Assumptions:

• Flick competes for software/pipeline budgets, not box office or distribution spend.
• Minimal double‑counting between editing and AI‑tooling categories; VFX contribution limited to tooling share only.
• Early adoption is weighted to indie/small‑studio buyers; enterprise/studio adoption lags due to quality/IP and workflow standards.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Runway: In‑browser AI studio with generative video (e.g., Gen‑4), timeline editing, collaboration, and a production arm; overlaps on browser‑based generation/editing and efforts toward character/world consistency Runway Gen‑4.
• Adobe (Premiere Pro + Firefly): Professional editing suite integrating Firefly/Firefly Video features into Premiere, letting editors mix traditional post with model‑based generation inside the same toolchain Firefly Premiere announcement.
• Descript: Text‑first, collaborative video editor with AI tools (e.g., voice, script‑driven edits); overlaps on script‑to‑edit workflow and team collaboration though not focused on cinematic shot generation Descript Collaboration.
• Pika Labs: Fast browser‑based text‑to‑video for prototyping cinematic clips; overlaps on quick idea‑to‑clip generation for early creators Pika.
• Kaiber: Creator‑focused text/image→video with a Superstudio canvas and timeline for sequencing and effects; competes on multi‑shot generation and end‑to‑end short‑video workflows Kaiber Superstudio.