DIFFUSE is a hiring marketplace from Runway that connects AI-native creative talent with the brands, agencies, studios, and production companies looking to hire them. Creatives build profiles and host portfolios on diffuse.runway.com, while companies search and reach out directly to artists, directors, editors, and boutique studios who have built their craft around generative video tools. The launch extends what Runway previously ran as a Talent Network into a full two-sided platform.
Runway, founded in 2018 by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala, and Anastasis Germanidis, is best known for its generative video models used across advertising and film. The timing here reflects what the company is hearing from its enterprise customers, who keep asking where to find people fluent in these tools. Runway's own analysis of more than 1,000 open creative job postings from nearly 400 companies found that roughly 17% mention AI skills or generative tools , with Runway cited as the most-requested video-specific tool in that set.
For founders and operators watching the creative labor market, DIFFUSE is a bet that generative AI is reshaping production org charts rather than hollowing them out. It gives agencies and studios a dedicated channel to source hybrid roles that did not exist two years ago, from AI-focused creative directors to artists running end-to-end generative pipelines, and gives independent creatives a place to be found by the buyers already restructuring around that work.
Comments (12)
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Nadia Bakirova9d ago
So LinkedIn for prompt wranglers. I'm into it, mostly because the current state of hiring 'AI creatives' is just DMing someone whose TikTok went viral.
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Kwame O.9d ago
The launch video opens on a shot that lingers maybe two beats too long before the logo hits. Still better edited than 90% of agency reels I've suffered through this year.
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Rafa Mendes9d ago
First 7 seconds of that video are doing a lot of heavy lifting. Hook is clean, but the CTA at the end feels like it got notes from legal.
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Yuki Tanaka9d ago
An 'AI-native talent' marketplace feels like we skipped three steps. Half these folks were doing graphic design 18 months ago and now they have rate cards.
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Boris Vukovic9d ago
This reminds me of what one of my portfolio folks is building for the music side. Marketplace dynamics for creative AI work are gonna be the sleeper category of the year.
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Priya Raghunathan9d ago
Would love to chat with someone on the DIFFUSE team about what the vetting process actually looks like. Happy to keep it off the record.
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Declan Quill9d ago
Quick one: when a brand hires through DIFFUSE, who owns the model weights and the generated outputs? Asking because I guarantee no one on either side has read the EULA.
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mimi9d ago
Signed up. Onboarding asked me for a portfolio before it asked me what I actually do, which is backwards for a two-sided marketplace. Fix the first-tap flow and this slaps.
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Sven Oskarsson9d ago
Is this basically Behance with extra steps? Genuine question, I'm still figuring out Figma.
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Olufemi A.9d ago
Any API for agencies that want to pipe briefs directly in, or is this strictly a UI play for now? Webhooks on hire-status would be chef's kiss.
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Hank Delacroix9d ago
'AI-native talent' is such a funny phrase. My cousin calls himself that and his main skill is typing 'cinematic, 4k, trending on artstation' really fast.
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Chioma E.9d ago
If any studios on here are looking, I know a Houdini-plus-Runway generalist in Lagos who is absurdly good and currently open. DMs open.
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DIFFUSE is a hiring marketplace from Runway that connects AI-native creative talent with the brands, agencies, studios, and production companies looking to hire them. Creatives build profiles and host portfolios on diffuse.runway.com, while companies search and reach out directly to artists, directors, editors, and boutique studios who have built their craft around generative video tools. The launch extends what Runway previously ran as a Talent Network into a full two-sided platform. Runway, founded in 2018 by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala, and Anastasis Germanidis, is best known for its generative video models used across advertising and film. The timing here reflects what the company is hearing from its enterprise customers, who keep asking where to find people fluent in these tools. Runway's own analysis of more than 1,000 open creative job postings from nearly 400 companies found that roughly 17% mention AI skills or generative tools , with Runway cited as the most-requested video-specific tool in that set. For founders and operators watching the creative labor market, DIFFUSE is a bet that generative AI is reshaping production org charts rather than hollowing them out. It gives agencies and studios a dedicated channel to source hybrid roles that did not exist two years ago, from AI-focused creative directors to artists running end-to-end generative pipelines, and gives independent creatives a place to be found by the buyers already restructuring around that work.
Comments (12)
So LinkedIn for prompt wranglers. I'm into it, mostly because the current state of hiring 'AI creatives' is just DMing someone whose TikTok went viral.
The launch video opens on a shot that lingers maybe two beats too long before the logo hits. Still better edited than 90% of agency reels I've suffered through this year.
First 7 seconds of that video are doing a lot of heavy lifting. Hook is clean, but the CTA at the end feels like it got notes from legal.
An 'AI-native talent' marketplace feels like we skipped three steps. Half these folks were doing graphic design 18 months ago and now they have rate cards.
This reminds me of what one of my portfolio folks is building for the music side. Marketplace dynamics for creative AI work are gonna be the sleeper category of the year.
Would love to chat with someone on the DIFFUSE team about what the vetting process actually looks like. Happy to keep it off the record.
Quick one: when a brand hires through DIFFUSE, who owns the model weights and the generated outputs? Asking because I guarantee no one on either side has read the EULA.
Signed up. Onboarding asked me for a portfolio before it asked me what I actually do, which is backwards for a two-sided marketplace. Fix the first-tap flow and this slaps.
Is this basically Behance with extra steps? Genuine question, I'm still figuring out Figma.
Any API for agencies that want to pipe briefs directly in, or is this strictly a UI play for now? Webhooks on hire-status would be chef's kiss.
'AI-native talent' is such a funny phrase. My cousin calls himself that and his main skill is typing 'cinematic, 4k, trending on artstation' really fast.
If any studios on here are looking, I know a Houdini-plus-Runway generalist in Lagos who is absurdly good and currently open. DMs open.