YouTube Pulls the Plug on Fake AI Movie Trailer Channels Watched by Millions
YouTube has officially shut down two of the biggest channels responsible for the flood of AI-generated fake movie trailers that have racked up millions upon millions of views.
After months of scrutiny and mounting backlash, Screen Culture and KH Studio are gone, marking a major shift in how the platform is handling misleading AI content tied to major film and TV franchises.
Both channels were massive. Combined, Screen Culture and KH Studio pulled in well over 2 million subscribers and more than a billion views. As of now, anyone trying to visit either page is met with a blunt message from YouTube: “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.”
Deadline reports that YouTube terminated the channels for violating its spam and misleading metadata policies. The move comes after a long-running investigation into the rise of fake movie trailers that blend official footage with AI-generated images, often presented in a way that made them look legit.
Screen Culture is based in India, while KH Studio operates out of Georgia, and both were contacted for comment following the shutdowns.
Earlier this year, YouTube had already suspended ads on both channels after it was exposed how fake trailers were overtaking search results and confusing viewers. The channels later regained monetization by labeling their videos as “fan trailer,” “parody,” or “concept trailer.”
That didn’t last, and in recent months, those disclaimers quietly vanished, raising red flags within the fan trailer community and inside YouTube itself.
According to YouTube, reverting back to their old tactics crossed the line. That decision ultimately led to the channels being removed entirely. “The monster was defeated,” one YouTuber told the outlet following the enforcement action.
Screen Culture, in particular, became infamous for how aggressively it gamed YouTube’s algorithm. It was previously revealed that the channel routinely mashed together real studio footage with AI-generated visuals to create trailers that looked official at a glance. Many viewers had no idea they were watching something fake.
Screen Culture founder Nikhil P. Chaudhari openly admitted how the system was exploited. He explained that his team of around a dozen editors focused on speed and volume, pushing out fake trailers as early as possible and constantly tweaking them to stay ahead of the algorithm.
One example involved The Fantastic Four: First Steps. By March, Screen Culture had uploaded 23 different versions of a trailer for the film. Several of those fake trailers ranked higher in YouTube search results than the real one. The same thing happened with other high-profile projects, including HBO’s Harry Potter series and Netflix’s Wednesday.
It was also revealed how the studios responded. Instead of aggressively protecting their copyrighted material, some major players, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony, allegedly asked YouTube to redirect ad revenue from these AI-heavy fake trailers back to the studios themselves. Those companies declined to comment on the report.
Disney content showed up frequently on both channels, and the company appears to be taking a much harder stance. Just last week, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, claiming its AI training models and services infringe on Disney’s copyrighted material on a “massive scale.”
The shutdown of Screen Culture and KH Studio feels like a turning point. AI-generated movie trailers aren’t going away, but YouTube is clearly signaling that misleading viewers for clicks and ad dollars isn’t going to fly anymore.