Edward Saatchi

Edward Saatchi
Born (1985-02-19) 19 February 1985 (age 39)
EducationWestminster School[1]
Alma materWadham College, Oxford[2]
Sorbonne[2]
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder of NationalField and Fable Studio
Parent(s)Maurice Saatchi
Josephine Hart
Websitefable-studio.com

Edward Saatchi (born 19 February 1985) is a British businessman and filmmaker. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of artificial intelligence-powered virtual being company Fable.[3] He was formerly a producer at Oculus Story Studio and the CEO and co-founder of political technology company, NationalField.[4]

Early life and education

Edward Saatchi is the son of Maurice Saatchi and Josephine Hart.[2][5] His father is an Iraqi Jew born in Baghdad while his mother was Irish. He was educated at London's Westminster School[1] and Wadham College in Oxford, where he took a double first in English Studies.[2] He attended the Sorbonne for graduate studies in philosophy and economics, before leaving for the United States to volunteer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[2]

Career

Saatchi was initially rejected in his efforts to join the Obama campaign because of his alien status,[6] but was eventually permitted to participate after personally presenting himself at a campaign office in Iowa.[6] During his tenure with the campaign, he met Aharon Wasserman and Justin Lewis. The three developed an "internal social network" to more easily keep track of campaign data and coordinate communications between managers, staff, and volunteers.[1] The network was rapidly adopted across multiple branches of the campaign and eventually commercialised in its present form as NationalField.[1] He is the company's CEO. In 2011, Saatchi, along with his co-founders, was named in a Forbes's 30 Under 30 list.[7]

In 2014, he was part of the founding team of Oculus Story Studio, the virtual-reality filmmaking division of Oculus VR.[8]

Fable Studio

Main article: Fable Studio

In January 2018, Saatchi co-founded Fable studio with Pete Billington. Its premier title was a virtual reality film titled Wolves in the Walls,[9] based on the Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean children's book of the same name.[10]

Im May 2023, Fable Studio announced an AI project titled "The Simulation", which plans to create a simulated reality of AI-powered characters with the eventual goal of creating an artificial general intelligence.[11] In July 2023 as part of The Simulation project, Fable Studio released a paper describing their tool named AI Showrunner that can create full animated TV episodes.[12][13] In June 2024, Fable Studio announced a streaming service, based on their AI tool and also titled Showrunner, that will allow users to create their own episodes.[14]

Personal life

Saatchi told Forbes in 2014 that he practises Transcendental Meditation, rises before dawn, exercises daily and enjoys films and painting.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Moulds, Josephine (1 October 2011). "Edward Saatchi's private social network aims to make businesses more democratic". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e Urwin, Rosamund (19 October 2011). "Son of Saatchi: Edward, the British Mark Zuckerberg". The Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Fable moves away from VR and towards AI-powered 'virtual beings'". Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  4. ^ Rusli, Evelyn M. (26 January 2015). "Oculus to Make Virtual-Reality Movies". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  5. ^ "How Edward Saatchi's NationalField Can Make Your Workplace A Happy, Productive Hive". fastcompany.com. Fast Company. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. ^ a b "NationalField: Ed Saatchi". Growing Business. 6 December 2011. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  7. ^ Hill, Kashmir (19 December 2011). "30 Under 30: NationalField Thinks Your Business Needs Its Own Social Network". Forbes. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  8. ^ Rusli, Evelyn (26 January 2015). "Oculus to Make Virtual-Reality Movies". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  9. ^ Damiani, Jesse. "Fable's 'Wolves in the Walls' Launched Lucy As A Virtual Being -- And The Implications Are Massive". Forbes. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Wolves in the Walls is the Future of VR Filmmaking". Nerdist. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  11. ^ Kelly, Erron (30 May 2023). "The Simulation by Fable makes everyone Robert Ford". VentureBeat. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  12. ^ Takahashi, Dean (18 July 2023). "Fable unveils Showrunner AI to create South Park-like TV shows with you as the star". VentureBeat.
  13. ^ Hardawar, Devindra (18 July 2023). "AI put me in a 'South Park' episode". Engadget. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  14. ^ Cho, Winston (30 May 2024). "Hollywood Nightmare? New Streaming Service Lets Viewers Create Their Own Shows Using AI". The Hollywood Reporter.
  15. ^ "14 Founders On What Keeps Them Sane". forbes.com. Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.