Promise, An AI Studio Backed By Peter Chernin And Google, Adds Trio Of Senior Executives

EXCLUSIVE: Pedigreed AI studio Promise has added three seasoned executives to its senior ranks.

The new arrivals are Tyler Mitchell, Head of Development; Michelle Slavich, Chief Marketing Officer; and Mariana Acuña Acosta, Vice President of Product. Collectively, they have spent decades working in film, television and the tech sector, with executive stints at companies like Imagine Entertainment, YouTube, Sony ImageWorks, HBO and Netflix.

Earlier this year, Promise landed a strategic investment and partnership with Google’s AI Futures Fund, joined by Michael Ovitz‘s Crossbeam Venture Partners. Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company, already a co-lead investor in Promise, put in additional capital at that time. Andreessen Horowitz is a co-lead investor in Promise, which launched last November.

“Tyler, Michelle, and Mariana bring exceptional experience, creativity, and a shared drive to push boundaries,” said George Strompolos, CEO and co-founder of Promise. “The conversation around AI in entertainment is complex, but the opportunity is extraordinary. These new leaders will help us grow with intention and respect for the craft, shaping an era where GenAI transforms how stories are made.”

In his new role, Mitchell will work with the company’s founders to develop a broad range of projects across genres. He has spent decades in Hollywood working as a producer, writer and creative executive. As EVP of Motion Pictures at Imagine Entertainment, he oversaw a slate of live-action and animated films and a multi-year partnership with Animal Logic and Warner Bros. Among his film, TV and Broadway credits include Lucky Number Slevin, Butterfly Effect, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and The Heart of Rock and Roll.

Mitchell also co-founded Impact with Imagine principals Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. The global platform set out to accelerate the development process and the discovery of new talent, an approach in keeping with with Promise’s mission.

As marketing chief, Slavich will oversee the company’s global marketing, social media, and communications efforts after serving as a strategic advisor to Promise since its launch. The marketing and communications vet has held senior leadership roles at Netflix, Google/YouTube, Warner Bros., and NBCUniversal. She has led campaigns that shaped global fan engagement as well as launching streaming platforms like YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTubeTV, and spearheading a number of film and TV campaigns.

Acuña Acosta will lead the continued development of MUSE ,Promise’s proprietary pipeline software, and scaling the company’s broader technological infrastructure. A technologist and product leader with experience in both creative and technical areas, she previously was SVP of Global Virtual Production and On-Set Services at Technicolor, a role that spanned film, episodic series, animation, and advertising. Earlier in her career, she co-founded Glassbox Technologies, building tools that transformed real-time production workflows, and worked at Sony Imageworks, HBO, Columbia Pictures, and Digital Domain.

The three new execs join other notables on the company’s leadership team, among them filmmaker and co-founder Dave Clark, who is Chief Creative Officer. Rob Nederhorst, Head of Creative Technology, came to Promise after racking up visual effects supervisor credits on films and series including John Wick 3, The Last of Us, and Spy Kids 5.