US script platform Stage 32 has launched a new marketplace that will vet all scripts for AI use and reject them on that basis.
As shared by Stage 32, this new platform is designed to allow screen executives to discover scripts for TV and film that have been fully vetted and confirmed to be free of ‘AI slop.’ Only scripts submitted that earn a high valuation through a human-led appraisal process will be available, to ensure the best of the screen industry is represented.
Stage 32 announces new anti-AI script marketplace – quick links
How Stage 32 works for scriptwriters and executives
Stage 32 is intended to connect executives with high quality scripts and screenwriting talent, with its new marketplace providing a space for exceptional projects free of AI to be discovered. Should a particular script appeal, executives are able to dive more deeply with projects, review credentials, download scripts and materials, and eventually request a meeting with its creators.
Via Deadline, Stage 32 has evaluated around 235,000 projects since its establishment in 2011. Over 4,000 will be part of the company’s new marketplace, with these available for executive members.
While Stage 32’s offering is fairly unusual, it’s worth noting it has helped to kickstart an array of projects in the past, including Neighborhood Watch, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jack Quaid and No Address, starring William Baldwin.
Stage 32 on its anti-AI stance and the rise of slop
Speaking to Deadline, Stage 32 creator Richard Botto (Another Happy Day) confirmed the website has a strict no AI policy as it’s a place for actual creativity.
‘There’s no shortage of great material being written, but producers and executives simply don’t have the time or resources to evaluate everything that’s out there,’ Botto says. ‘As a writer and producer myself, I saw this challenge from both sides. I built Stage 32 to bring the industry closer together, and the Marketplace is the culmination of that vision.’
Botto’s stance is one that’s shared across the creative screen industry, with a variety of recent initiatives highlighting how valued human creativity is over AI slop.
Recently, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation announced its own anti-AI stance, confirming that all pitches with AI would more likely be dismissed instantly, as they roundly showed a lack of care and ingenuity in their creation.
‘‘In a competitive market, where fewer children’s TV series and films are being commissioned, authenticity and distinctiveness are more important than ever,’ the organisation said.
Another major event worth noting is the recent Shot on Shit Film Festival 2026, which had record attendance as film lovers turned up to watch short films creating on small budgets and shot on older or less capable equipment. The audience turned up for lovingly handmade, imperfect creations – and it’s this desire that’s driving plenty of interesting in human-made media over that produced by AI.
In the modern era, where those who misunderstand creativity are beginning to invest in shonky tools to develop derivative, non-creative works, Stage 32’s recent moves are likely to be the first amongst many.
Also on ScreenHub: What local game developers really think about using GenAI artworks as ‘placeholders’
Generative AI is currently being used in AAA video game development worldwide, despite the protests of ethics-conscious audiences and the wishes of developers reportedly forced into using these tools. Nobody seems to want it, and most agree that it’s not particularly useful and can be actively harmful when it comes to creating cohesive gaming experiences.
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