News

Generative AI makes a lot of IndieWire readers mad. This week, we’re talking about it anyway.

The focus is Curious Refuge, a global AI filmmaking education hub that has ties to every major AI software creator, is paid to train studio film teams, and has students in more than 150 countries. It’s also a test case in how to cover a subject that’s moving so fast, and provoking such strong feelings, that skipping it isn’t an option.

I first met Curious Refuge CEO Caleb Ward inside the lobby of NuArt on Santa Monica Boulevard in March 2024, back when most people saw AI as a baby buzzword. The theater was packed for the premiere of “Our T2 Remake,” a crowdsourced satire of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” stitched together from dozens of AI-generated scenes.

Our headline led with the news: This was not a good movie. I also wrote...

The Reply AI Film Festival – a competitive event aimed at bridging the gap between cinema and AI, and taking place during the Venice Film Festival – has unveiled the selection for its second edition.

The 10 works, produced using new technologies and AI tools, have been selected from 2,500 submissions from 67 countries.

Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness) will chair the jury which will reveal the winners on September 4 in a ceremony at the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido. He is joined on the jury by Rob Minkoff, Caleb and Shelby Ward, Denise Negri, Dave Clark, Charlie Fink, Filippo Rizzante, Caroline Ingeborn, Paolo Moroni and Guillem Martinez Rour among others.

They will hand out four prizes for the Best Use of AI in Filmmaking; the Production Excellence Award, the Lexus Visionary Award, for technological and narrative foresight, and the AI for Good Award, developed with the International Telecommunication Union and honoring stories...

Generative AI filmmaker Dave Clark has tried “every tool under the sun” for making his artificially intelligent movies, most famously for his viral short “Battalion.” But even in the year since he released that video, the technology around Gen-ai has advanced considerably, and he believes that what was considered innovative back then can now be pushed even further.

On Tuesday, Google at its I/O event unveiled Flow, a generative-ai video generation tool powered by Google’s latest AI model, Veo 3. Clark was one of the AI filmmakers who collaborated with Google Labs on the functionality and interface of the new tool such that it was designed with filmmakers and creators in mind. Suffice it to say, he’s impressed by the results.

“My mind is still blown by the level of control,” Clark told IndieWire ahead of the launch of Flow. “This is for me as a filmmaker, this...

Generative AI studio Promise has 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, is adding additional capital, along with returning backer Offline Ventures. Kivu Ventures and Saga Ventures are also part of the new funding round. Notable angel investors in Promise include Emery Wells, founder of Frame.io, and Aaron Levie, founder and CEO of Box.

Andreessen Horowitz is a co-lead investor in Promise, which launched last November.

The Google partnership will enable the company to integrate today’s newest AI technologies into its proprietary technology platform, Muse. Promise, which makes production pipeline and workflow software, will also collaborate with DeepMind researchers and Google’s AI teams to “push the boundaries of AI-driven creative expression,” as a press release put it.

“Promise is one of the...

The AI entertainment studio Promise has secured new investment from a number of high-profile backers, including Google, Michael Ovitz’s Crossbeam Venture Partners, Kivu Ventures and Saga Ventures.

Promise launched last year with backing from Peter Chernin’s North Road and Andreessen Horowitz, and was founded by George Strompolos, who was the CEO and founder of creator-centric software and media company Fullscreen; as well as Jamie Byrne, who most recently led creator partnerships for YouTube; and Dave Clark, a filmmaker who uses AI in his work.

Strompolos serves as CEO of the studio, which seeks to create a new studio model that leans on generative AI tech to help creators develop and launch their own content. North Road was also an investor in the new round.

The addition of Ovitz’s firm underscores the degree to which Hollywood is thinking about how AI will change the way it works, though...

As Promise pulls back the curtain to reveal some of its first projects, it is deepening its pockets by securing a strategic investment. The generative AI-powered studio founded by a trio of innovators — AI artist Dave Clark, longtime digital video operative George Strompolos, and former YouTube Senior Director of Creator Partnerships Jamie Byrne — has announced a capital injection that includes participation from Google’s AI Future Fund.

The size of the investment has not been publicly revealed, but Promise is forging a multi-pronged alliance with Google as it begins previewing its first AI-assisted productions. In addition to the support the startup is getting from the AI Future Fund, it is also integrating some of Google’s AI products into a proprietary workflow platform called Muse.

Promise’s leadership team includes a pair of ex-Googlers. Byrne spent nearly 16 years at YouTube, while Strompolos got six years of experience at the same...

Promise Studios Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Dave Clark hit the Cote D’Azur and showed glimpses of film projects NinjaPunk and Extinction as part of the Cannes Market’s deep focus on AI. The generative AI studio boss also talked about how Promise sees AI meshing with traditional filmmaking.

“I don’t personally forsee generative AI coming in and taking over the entire production process, there’s always going to have to be a human involved creatively,” he said at an invite-only AI event held at the Plages Des Palmes beach-front venue in Cannes.

Promise launched last year with backing from Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company and Vc outfit Andreessen Horowitz. It is run by George Strompolos, former CEO of Fullscreen, former YouTube content executive Jamie Byrne, and Clark.

“I was one of the early ones, experimenting, putting stuff out there, getting a lot of hate, a lot of fear,...

Joan O’Brien, the actress and singer who shared a submarine with Cary Grant in Operation Petticoat and a romantic relationship with Elvis Presley in It Happened at the World’s Fair, has died. She was 89.

O’Brien’s death was confirmed Wednesday by her daughter, Melissa, in a brief phone call with The Hollywood Reporter. She did not wish to provide any details.

A onetime contract player at MGM, O’Brien also appeared alongside John Wayne in The Alamo (1960) and The Comancheros (1961) and starred in four films released in 1962: It’s Only Money, Six Black Horses, We Joined the Navy and Samar, opposite Jerry Lewis, Audie Murphy, Kenneth More and George Montgomery, respectively.

After making her big-screen debut as the girlfriend of Dean Jones’ overzealous law student in the drama Handle With Care (1958), O’Brien played the embarrassingly clumsy Second Lieutenant Dolores Crandall in the World War II comedy Operation Petticoat (1959), directed by Blake Edwards.

Loyola Marymount University will host its inaugural Innovators Film Festival, offering panel discussions and experiential installations centered around AI.

The free festival, hosted by Lmu’s School of Film and Television, will include screenings of student short films as well as panels and workshops made up of industry professionals who will speak about topics like the ethical use of AI in entertainment. Reid AI, an avatar based on LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, will provide the opening keynote. Ben Relles and Parth Patil, who contributed to developing the avatar, will moderate.

Notable festival participants will include Ed Ulbrich, Metaphysic’s chief content officer, president of production; Sydney Bright, Webtoon’s head of global animation; Holly Willis, chair of media arts & practice division at USC School of Cinematic Arts and co-director of AI for Media & Storytelling and Dave Clark, Promise’s co-founder and chief creative officer.

Carolyn Giardina, Variety‘s senior entertainment technology and crafts editor,...

It was fitting that the acquisition of generative AI tech company Metaphysic by Dneg Group’s Brahma AI arm was announced on Tuesday, as a large part of the annual Hpa Tech Retreat – which was held this week in Palm Springs – was largely dedicated to AI and this deal underscored several of the predicted trends, including convergence.

“Convergence is one of the main things that we will see in 2025,” I2A2 president and CEO Renard Jenkins forecasted, while showing a slide with a lengthy list of just some of the AI startups that are targeting the media and entertainment space. “That can be good and bad, because if your favorite tool gets purchased by someone who intends to maybe keep it under wraps or they fully don’t understand its value, then all of a sudden you’ve got to learn something new. That changes your workflow, what happens in your development,...

Promise is out to show the creative potential of generative AI models, and it has revealed the first class of filmmakers who will bring that vision to the masses. The studio co-founded by George Strompolos, Jamie Byrne, and Dave Clark has shared profiles of the “groundbreaking Gen AI talent” it will work with moving forward.

Details about Promise’s first development deals are available via the studio’s website, where a message from Byrne restates the mission at hand. “At Promise, we are welcoming into the studio some of the most innovative Gen AI artists and directors from around the globe—creators who have already drawn audiences in with their ability to craft original stories, create breathtaking visuals, and build immersive worlds,” Byrne wrote. “As Gen AI directors and artists-in-residence, they’ll incubate bold ideas, develop groundbreaking IP, and explore the limitless potential of AI-enabled storytelling to produce films, series,...

In November, a new type of content studio, Promise, was launched. Backed by high-profile investors, including producer Peter Chernin, Promise announced at its outset that it aimed to produce film and TV series by incorporating generative artificial intelligence tools into its production workflow, partly by utilizing its proprietary software Muse.

The company has promoted itself as being creator-led, looking to put filmmakers at the center of its projects rather than replacing them, with part of its strategy being to streamline the future collaborations between traditional Hollywood creators and top Gen AI artists.

That sounds good — or, to AI-skeptics, like a less scary version of a Gen AI future — but like all things surrounding a new technology that we are told will completely disrupt how films and TV are made, it’s hard to envision what a future-facing content studio like Promise would look like or even how it would operate.

The tech companies behind AI continue to promise filmmakers the ability to do more with less. Historically, that’s a pitch that has been a draw to indie filmmakers. Dating back to the advent of sync sound 16mm film cameras in the 1960s, digital video in the late 1990s, and the inexpensive Dslr cameras in the 2000s, independent and non-fiction filmmakers were at the forefront of experimenting with new technologies to find ways to tell stories, many of which premiered at Sundance. But when it comes to AI, many of those at the 2025 edition of the festival are highly skeptical it can be a tool used to make personal films, while the ethical issues surrounding it make it a virtual non-starter for many.

This question of “How Filmmakers Can Ethically and Artistically Use AI” was the topic of a panel at the IndieWire Sundance studio, presented by Dropbox. Filmmaker and Asteria founder Bryn Mooser,...

The Variety & Adobe The Future of AI Filmmaking panel at the Sundance Film Festival featured a conversation by film executives about how AI is currently being used in entertainment as well as how it will shape the industry going forward.

The panel, moderated by Variety’s executive editor Brent Lang, featured Meagan Keane, director of product marketing at Adobe Pro Video, Dave Clark, The Promise co-founder and chief creative officer, writer and director Paul Trillo, who is also a partner at Asteria, Jason Zada, founder of Secret Level, and Angela Russo-Otstot, Agbo chief creative officer.

Keane explained the two different types of AI that make up this industry conversation: assistive AI and generative AI. The company is considering how AI can expedite filmmakers’ and artists’ workflow. “At Adobe, we’re still thinking about generative in ways of like, how do we remove pain points? How do we help sort of...

Promise is a new entertainment studio that wants to use generative AI to reimagine Hollywood productions, and its founding team includes two executives with long careers in the digital media space. George Strompolos and Jamie Byrne — both of whom worked in creator-facing roles at YouTube — are joining forces with genAI artist Dave Clark to launch an intriguing gamble that has the backing of major venture capital firms.

The three Promise co-founders announced their new venture in an open letter published on LinkedIn. They explained that their plan is to “produce original films, series, and new formats” by working with artists who employ generative AI as a powerful creativity tool. Clark, an experienced director of commercials and short films, is one of those artists.

“Technology has always been fuel for creativity. We saw that happen firsthand in the earliest days of YouTube, as the democratization of distribution enabled a new class of creators to flourish.

Former YouTube content executive Jamie Byrne is teaming up with independent filmmaker Dave Clark and Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos to launch Promise, a new studio that will allow artists to produce original series and films and explore other formats using generative AI.

“We are investing in a new class of Gen AI talent who blend traditional filmmaking chops with cutting-edge technical expertise, setting a new standard for high-quality storytelling enabled by AI,” Strompolos, who serves as Promise’s CEO, said in a statement. “We believe this is a transformational moment in entertainment and a studio must be built from the ground up — around the artists, the tech, and a new workflow — in order to unlock its full potential.”

Promise, which is backed by investments from Andreesen Horowtiz and Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company, is developing a first-of-its-kind production workflow with a software product known as Muse, which will...

Promise, a generative AI studio led by three notable tech and industry figures, has launched with backing from Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

The startup intends to make films and series as well as exploring new formats. The company said in a launch announcement that it is “actively engaging with leading Gen AI artists, Hollywood talent, and rights-holders to develop a multi-year lineup of category-defining films and series.”

Promise’s founders are George Strompolos, former CEO of Fullscreen (a streaming video outfit also backed by Chernin); former YouTube content executive Jamie Byrne; and Dave Clark, a recognized specialist in generative AI.

The launch announcement comes at the end of an eventful year of AI ventures across Hollywood. After regarding the technology with suspicion in 2023, with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA both making the issue a central part of their negotiations with the AMPTP,...

A new Hollywood entertainment studio wants to put generative artificial intelligence at the heart of all its projects, and it has backing from a pair of major power players in the business: The North Road Company and Andreessen Horowitz.

The new studio, Promise, is being led by George Strompolos, who was the CEO and founder of creator-centric software and media company Fullscreen; as well as Jamie Byrne, who most recently led creator partnerships for YouTube; and Dave Clark, a filmmaker who uses AI in his work.

Strompolos will be CEO, with Byrne serving as president and COO, and Clark as chief creative officer.

Peter Chernin’s North Road and a16z partner Andrew Chen led the investment round, giving the studio cash but also the resources of Hollywood and Silicon Valley heavy hitters. Chernin’s Tcg previously invested in Fullscreen.

Promise is launching during a disruptive moment for the entertainment industry,...

In September, Lionsgate announced a partnership with AI company Runway to build internal models based on its library of films and TV shows for pre-vis and storyboarding. However, panelists at IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit believe AI capabilities will aid filmmakers in pitching their stories and selling their projects.

“It’s not this idea of replacing, it’s this idea of augmenting us as filmmakers and giving us a superpower to really show our vision,” said filmmaker and futurist Dave Clark on the panel titled “How Filmmakers Are — and Aren’t — Using AI.”

The panel touched on how AI is being used in post-production, in animation, for smaller films or documentaries, how filmmakers thinking about using “clean models” for data, and whether audiences will ever transcend the uncanny valley effects of AI creations.

However, AI can already be used as a pre-vis tool by all filmmakers.

“I think we’re there today,...

How is AI going to affect me as a filmmaker?

That’s the question that’s roiled Hollywood for more than the past year. IndieWire aims to give a clear-eyed view of what creatives can expect from AI in our “How Filmmakers Are — and Aren’t — Using AI” panel at our Future of Filmmaking Summit in Los Angeles on November 2.

Purchase Early Bird Discount Tickets for the Future of Filmmaking Summit

This panel will look beyond the money, the controversy, and the hype to discuss the ideas and products most likely to be meaningful for you. AI guru Dave Clark and Erik Weaver, Director, Adaptive Production at Etc, will unpack this hot topic, exploring how AI tools are already reshaping the creative process, from scriptwriting to post-production, and what the future holds for filmmakers looking to leverage this technology in practical and innovative ways.

Also joining the panel will be Brian Solomon,...

Horror films still offer a path to profitability on low budgets that no other genre can claim, which is why even the most squeamish filmmakers should celebrate the remarkable box-office success demonstrated by Damien Leone’s gory saga of the depraved Art the Clown. The “Terrifier” franchise began in 2016 with a $35,000 budget — but the series quickly developed a passionate following for its stomach-churning practical effects and the instantly iconic villain. Eight years later and “Terrifier 3” became the #1 movie in America with a $27 million opening weekend.

Much of the credit goes to Cineverse, the distributor that has steadily expanded the series’ reach. Anyone who wants to learn from the “Terrifier 3” phenomenon won’t want to miss IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit on November 2. On their panel “Turning Low-Budget Horror Into Box-Office Hits,” Cineverse executive director of acquisitions Brandon Hill and Chief Content Officer Yolanda Macias will join IndieWire...

“Show, don’t tell” is always great advice to filmmakers, but it usually refers to just what’s onscreen. It’s good advice for filmmakers during the pitching stage as well, as producers are looking for ever more details about the projects they’ll be investing in. Visualizing your film or TV project as much as you can in advance, giving as close an approximation as possible to what will be onscreen, has never been more important. And IndieWire has you covered with our “Pitch Your Project: Why Producers Now Expect More” panel at the Future of Filmmaking Summit in Los Angeles November 2.

Purchase Early Bird Discount Tickets for the Future of Filmmaking Summit

You’ll get a free six-month subscription to Canva with your ticket. Canva has quickly become the premier design software to use for creating concept art, posters, and social media graphics for film and TV projects.

Who’s my audience? That’s one of the biggest questions any filmmaker can ask themselves, especially at this moment when it’s never been harder simply to reach an audience. Luckily, the heads of Kino, a bold startup interactive cinema, are set to join IndieWire at the Future of Filmmaking Summit in Los Angeles on November 2.

Purchase Early Bird Discount Tickets for the Future of Filmmaking Summit

Kino’s Austin Worrell, Brit MacRae, and Daril Fannin will discuss with an IndieWire editor how their platform enables unique interactivity: Audiences can interact directly with filmmakers making their streaming premieres on Kino, to get a glimpse behind the scenes of the filmmaking process, the director’s creative inspirations, and more. Think of this as a “TikTok for film” experience.

A recent example of one of Kino’s digital premieres is for “The Secret Art of Human Flight,” H.P. Mendoza’s film starring Grant Rosenmeyer,...

If the film and TV industry has one truth, it’s this: There is no single path to success. Pixar director Mike Jones is proof of that, and he’ll be sharing insights into his journey— and what you can expect from your own — at IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit taking place in Los Angeles November 2.

Purchase Tickets for the Future of Filmmaking Summit

Jones has had an inspiring and unique journey in the film world. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he started as a film journalist after graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the mid ’90s, serving as managing editor for Filmmaker Magazine and executive editor of IndieWire. His first screenplay was produced in 2001 when he was 30: “EvenHand” was a small indie that played at SXSW, Tribeca, and AFI Fest. But as so many writers have realized, getting one film produced...

Performance capture is one of the most exciting new tools available to filmmakers this century. But, if you’re an up and coming cinematic storyteller, how can you use it in your own filmmaking? IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit, taking place in Los Angeles on November 2 has you covered.

We are honored to welcome the team behind this year’s blockbuster smash, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” for a dynamic panel about the ins-and-outs of performance capture. At the heart of the conversation will be how they used these innovative tools to elicit profound emotion, to create deep connections between the film’s characters and the audience. Roger Ebert always said movies are an empathy machine: The performance capture artistry in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” showed how true that is.

In attendance from the film will be director Wes Ball, visual effects supervisor Erik Winquist,...

Getting your film seen is the biggest challenge for up-and-coming indie filmmakers in an industry landscape that’s changing faster than ever before. “How to Get Your Film Seen: New Takes on Audience, Funding, and Buyers” will provide a fresh look at a classic challenge at IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit, taking place in Los Angeles on November 2.

This will include groundbreaking research from Keri Putnam’s Independent Film Audience & Landscape Study; the surprising resources of branded content from Brian Newman, principal at Sub-Genre Films; and Fast distribution insights from Sam Harowitz, senior VP, content acquisition and partnerships, Tubi.

Purchase Early Bird Discount Tickets for the Future of Filmmaking Summit

Putnam, who created her study as a Shorenstein Center fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, spent 11 years as the CEO and executive director of the Sundance Institute. As the president of production at Miramax Films, she oversaw the production...

With his latest film, the Palme d’Or winning and critically acclaimed comedy “Anora,” indie filmmaker Sean Baker is aiming to upend the notion that only superhero movies or action sequels are worthy of being seen on a big screen with a large audience.

“What I miss,” Baker said in a recent interview with the Associated Press, “where are the mature film for adults that had human stories, that didn’t have explosions or didn’t have to have superheroes or were horror-based? Where are those?”

In listing examples, Baker acknowledged the Oscar-winning 1979 marital drama “Kramer vs. Kramer,” as well as the work of Jonathan Demme and Robert Altman, both of whom were filmmakers focused on rich characters over explosions and gun fights.

“Where are they these days?” Baker said. “They don’t exist, unfortunately, or they’re very few and far between. And it’s like, let’s get...

Where is the industry going?

IndieWire will explore that question with its inaugural Future of Filmmaking Summit, scheduled for Saturday, November 2 in Los Angeles. Join top industry professionals in conversation with IndieWire editors — and a keynote chat with Sean Baker — to learn more about what may be next for emerging and established filmmakers in a shifting and uncertain landscape. Panelists will include president of FilmLA Paul Audley, former Sundance Institute CEO Keri Putnam, Sub-Genre founder Brian Newman, AI guru Dave Clark and Erik Weaver, director of adaptive production at Etc. We’ll also have a panel with the heads of Kino, Austin Worrell, Brit MacRae and Daril Fannin. And there will be a special presentation from Reby Silverman, senior manager of global partnerships with Canva.

Each attendee will also receive a six-month trial of Canva.

(Other panelists to be announced soon.)

And now you can sign up for an Early...

Where is the industry going?

IndieWire is set to explore that question by launching its inaugural Future of Filmmaking Summit, scheduled for Saturday, November 2 in Los Angeles. Join top industry professionals in conversation with IndieWire editors to learn more about what may be next for both emerging and established filmmakers in what we all know is one of the more shifting, uncertain landscapes for creatives in recent memory — maybe ever.

Purchase Early Bird Discount Tickets Here — For a Limited Time, Only $125

Bonus – every attendee will receive a 6-month trial of Canva Pro — the online visual communications and collaboration platform to design stunning, professional pitch decks, treatments, films posters and more that capture the attention of producers and executives. With premium features at your fingertips, you’ll be able to perfect your pitch and bring your next big project to life.

IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit will be packed with...

At a conference on film and artificial intelligence over the weekend in South Korea’s Bucheon, it was difficult to know whether the new technology was being embraced, normalized or underestimated.

Bucheon, a high-rise city on the outskirts of Seoul, has long harbored both high-tech and cultural industry aspirations. The city turned a WWII bunker into a digital art hub and boasts a comic book museum, a Webtoon convergence center and two film festivals as well as a Philharmonic Orchestra founded in the analog-era.

This year, its long-running Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) launched a competition for AI-produced short films, co-hosted a conference on the topic and operated a hands-on AI workshop. The embrace of AI felt like a brave response to every mature film festival’s fear of becoming stale.

The Bucheon conference’s impressive lineup of speakers included: Caleb Ward, CEO of Curious Ridge; directors Dave Clark,...

Exclusive: TCLtv+, the streaming service of the Chinese electronics group, is launching a new, AI-focused accelerator for film and television creatives.

The shorts program, called Tcl Film Machine, offers development, financial and production support to working creatives, looking to enhance and elevate their films using AI tools. It will start with five entrants this year. Grants begin at $25,000 but could increase significantly based on talent and project.

“With explosive growth in AI, there is an urgent need for creatives who know how to apply AI tools to enrich their storytelling. At present, the industry offers limited pathways for professionals to further enhance their expertise,” said the streamer, which recently launched a production studio that will support the projects. It said a global production team of animators, VFX experts and AI engineers, customizing the latest AI tech, will help producers, writers, and actors in the program create premium content.

Filmmaker Dave Clark,...

Bucheon International Film Festival (Bifan) has launched its first competition dedicated to AI filmmaking and revealed 15 titles from the US, Asia and Europe that will compete.

The selected films, chosen from 114 submissions, will screen as part of a dedicated section at the upcoming festival, which runs June 7-14 in Bucheon City, South Korea.

They include Hansl Von Kwon’s One More Pumpkin, which won the grand prize and audience award at the inaugural AI Film Festival in Dubai in February; Another by US-based filmmaker Dave Clark; and Kiss/Crash by UK-based artist Adam Cole, which won an audience award at SXSW.

Going all-in on its exploration of the role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) has unveiled a 15-title AI Film competition.

The films will compete for jury-selected and audience awards and cash prizes of up to KRW1.5 million.

“We were able to see the new creative possibilities of AI filmmaking. We hope that creators who have difficulty accessing capital for big productions will gain creative freedom from production costs through AI,” said BiFan festival director Shin Chul.

Festival selectors said that they chose the lineup from 114 films submitted, based on narrative, artistry, originality and the use of AI technology in text (screenplay), audio, and video.

“The diverse styles of the selected works, ranging from feature films to video art, showcase the current state of development of the generative AI video technology in the creative field. The potential and possibilities that AI technology can bring to young creators,...

Outside, the rain was relentless; inside the lobby of Los Angeles’ NuArt Theater, so was the cheer. At a sold-out March 6 premiere for the crowdsource-funded “Our T2 Remake,” a full-length parody of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” produced entirely with AI tools, the energy recalled Sundance circa 1995.

Among the supporters were Caleb Ward, co-founder of AI filmmaking education platform Curious Refuge and creator of last year’s viral AI short “Star Wars by Wes Anderson;” Dave Clark, who created another viral AI video with his Adidas spec and whose short film “Another” would precede the feature; Nem Perez, founder of AI storyboarding mobile app Storyblocker Studios and the director of “T2 Remake”; and Jeremy Boxer, the former Vimeo creative director who now runs consultancy Boxer and is the cofounder of community group Friends With AI.

With the audience seated, ready to applaud the AI creations, hosts Perez and executive producer Sway Molina...

Hollywood has already been toying with generative AI video tools for film and TV production, but with varying results and an existential threat to workers in visual effects and other postproduction work especially.

So the promise and peril of Sora, Sam Altman’s newly-unveiled text-to-video technology from OpenAI that claims to create highly detailed visual scenes from simple text prompts dominated a discussion on AI and worldbuilding in film and TV at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday.

Dave Clark, a Los Angeles director and early-adopter of AI tools represented by Secret Level, argued, rather than feel threatened, creators need to embrace AI technologies for content never yet imagined or realized. “This is game changing with what we’re dealing with. You shouldn’t fear your job. You should fear the person who uses these tools,” Clark argued.

The Sora system can seemingly produce videos of complex scenes with multiple characters,...

Bruce Springsteen took to his SiriusXM E Street Radio show From My Home To Yours, where he reconnected with some old friends and revealed his Mount Rushmore of rock bands.

In the podcast series’ 30th episode, Springsteen spoke with veteran musicians from the Freehold, New Jersey scene, including Mike Wilson, Mike Domanski, and Donnie Powell, members of the mid-’60s Freehold band the Legends, and Craig Caprioni, singer for the Rogues, Springsteen’s very first band.

At one point Springsteen posed the question, “After The Beatles, second favorite band? And we can’t count The Rolling Stones.”

After a short deliberation, Springsteen shared his list of favorite bands, saying, “It’s Beatles, Stones, Animals, that’s how my playlist goes, you know. But any Dave Clark 5 fans?” He later praised DC5 for making “great records” before segueing to the band’s 1964 single “Any Way You Want It.” Listen to the clip below.

Energy, enthusiasm and star power electrified the 2023 Children’s Cancer Fund “Light It Up” Gala, presented by Flexport, on Friday, April 21, at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas.

Honorary Chairs Troy Aikman and Dak Prescott teamed up with Flexport CEO Dave Clark alongside pediatric cancer patients, survivors, and their families, for a night of fashion, a live auction and dinner and dancing. The evening and its generous donors raised more than $2 million to support pediatric cancer research and treatment programs at Children’s Health and Ut Southwestern. Heather Randall and Blake Stephenson chaired the gala.

The 2023 Children’s Cancer Fund “Light It Up” Gala started with a VIP reception and silent auction, followed by dinner and an inspirational fashion show that featured pediatric cancer patients modeling their bravery and fashions provided by Dillard’s. Reigning Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Dak Prescott, made his debut as honorary co-chair alongside Troy Aikman,...

Rolling Stone‘s interview series King for a Day features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and singers who had the difficult job of fronting major rock bands after the departure of an iconic vocalist. Some of them stayed in their bands for years, while others lasted just a few months. In the end, however, they all found out that replacement singers can themselves be replaced. This edition features former Four Seasons singer Gerry Polci.

By the mid-Seventies, the once-unstoppable Four Seasons seemed like they were heading into oblivion.

The White House went on the attack against Tucker Carlson over his segments that downplayed the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that they “agree with Capitol Police and the wide range of bipartisan lawmakers … who have condemned this false depiction of the unprecedented violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law which costs police officers their lives.”

Jean-Pierre also called into question Carlson’s credibility, saying that they agree with Fox’s “own attorneys and executives who have repeatedly stressed in multiple courts of law that Tucker Carlson is not credible when it comes to this issue.”

She cited a 2020 NPR report, “You Literally Can’t Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say His Lawyers.” The was a report on Fox News attorneys’ defense of Carlson against a slander claim. In ruling in favor of the network,...

In Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel Daisy Jones & the Six, an oral history of a fictional Seventies rock band that imploded at the height of its fame, we get conflicting accounts of how the band became known as the Six before the troubled Daisy joined as the seventh member. The surviving musicians disagree on specifics, but all concur that it had to do with there being six people in the group at the time.

In Amazon Prime’s adaptation, the pre-Daisy incarnation of the band has one fewer member.

Exclusive: NCIS: Los Angeles co-star Eric Christian Olsen’s Cloud Nine Productions (Woke) has sold four projects, two comedies and two dramas, at CBS.

The network is developing Family Insurance, a single-camera Latinx family workplace comedy co-written, executive produced and starring Al Madrigal; Mixed Signals, a single-camera romantic comedy from writer Liz Thompson inspired by her life, crime drama Peculiar from Js Mayank (The Fame Game) and Jeffrey Leiber (Lost), and an untitled legal drama. CBS Studios, where Olsen’s Cloud Nine is under a deal, is the studio for all four projects, which Olsen executive produces alongside John Will, with Anna Volain Jones as co-executive producer, for Cloud Nine.

Co-written and executive produced by Madrigal and Ryan Walls, who also have deals at CBS Studios, as well as Adam Lowitt, Family Insurance is a Latinx family workplace comedy revolving around Al Fuentes (Madrigal) who after separating from his...

Exclusive: Lionsgate has acquired worldwide rights to Scrambled, written by and starring Leah McKendrick, who makes her feature directorial debut on the comedy, which just wrapped filming.

Produced by Jonathan Levine and Gillian Bohrer’s Megamix, along with Brett Haley and Amanda Mortimer, and executive producer Mariah Owen, the film stars McKendrick as Nellie Robinson, a broke, single 34-year-old, fresh off a breakup, who faces down an existential crisis when she decides to freeze her eggs. McKendrick wrote the script following her own egg-retrieval experience last year.

The ensemble cast includes Ego Nwodim, Andrew Santino (Dave), Clancy Brown, Laura Cerón, Adam Rodriguez, Yvonne Strahovski (Handmaid’s Tale), June Diane Raphael, Noah Silver (Tyrant), and Sterling Sulieman (Station 19). The cast also includes Max Adler, Mimi Kennedy, Camille Mana, and Matt Pascua.

Catch US If You Can is available to buy now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. To celebrate the release, we have a copy of the film on Blu-ray plus three more pop-music star vehicles courtesy of Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics range including Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday (1963) and David Essex in That’LL Be The Day (1973) and Stardust (1974).

Legendary British director John Boorman made his feature film debut with this cult musical comedy starring 60s pop sensation Dave Clark alongside The Dave Clark Five Band. Inspired by the huge success of The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”, in the film the Five have been hired to appear in an ad campaign but during the filming of a TV commercial Steve (Dave Clark) absconds with the face of the campaign (Dinah played by Barbara Ferris) and they embark on a magical mystery tour across the country.

Please note: This competition is open...

Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features guitarist Shane Fontayne.

Bruce Springsteen just happened to be in the market for a new guitarist when he tuned in to Saturday Night Live on December 28th,...

Dave Clark, a 21-year veteran of Amazon, has been elevated to CEO of Worldwide Consumer. He succeeds Jeff Wilke, who plans to retire in the first quarter of 2021.

The tech giant revealed the news Friday in a brief SEC filing.

Clark, who was named SVP of Worldwide Operations in 2013, has spearheaded the company’s operational response to Covid-19. Initially staggered by the intense demand of homebound customers around the world, Amazon’s systems quickly reached holiday-season levels of activity at a time of year that is typically sedate.

Amazon added hundreds of thousands of workers and a fleet of delivery vehicles, among an array of other pandemic measures, and has seen its financial results surge. Investors have made the company’s stock one of the biggest winners of 2020, sending it up 80%.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, is by far the most public figure in the company’s top...

When the news was released that Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson came down with coronavirus while shooting a film in Australia, it drove home that anyone, even one of our national treasures, wasn’t immuned to this horrible and rapidly spreading disease. One might presume that the celebrity couple had the option not to reveal that they had been hospitalized in isolation and were being treated abroad. But instead, they shared their diagnosis with the world.

They are now self-isolating at home and, of course, Hollywood’s Everyman is openly talking about his experience dealing with enforced solitude.

View this post on Instagram

Hey folks. Good News: One week after testing Positive, in self-isolation, the symptoms are much the same. No fever but the blahs. Folding the laundry and doing the dishes leads to a nap on the couch. Bad news: My wife @ritawilson has won 6 straight hands...

[Note: The following review contains spoilers for “Better Call Saul” Season 5, Episode 6, “Wexler v. Goodman.”]

Refusing to take no for an answer is just one of the many double-edged swords on “Better Call Saul.” You could argue that the show’s existence (and frequent excellence) is a continuous rebuttal to all those who argued that the very idea of the show was a mistake. In a way, many of the characters on the show have stuck around precisely because they refuse to be bowed by whatever system is trying to restrain them.

More from IndieWire'My Brilliant Friend' Review: Episode 2 Queries a Woman's Place in the Social Order'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Season 10 Review: A Reenergized Larry David Delivers Big When It Counts

Gus’ ongoing defiance of the Salamancas means that both his squeaky clean chicken establishment and his murky reserve remain impenetrable to outside forces. Mike trudges forward in whatever direction he can convince himself has value. Nacho...

This Better Call Saul review contains spoilers.

Better Call Saul Season 5 Episode 6

“Emotion like that, you can’t fake it.”

“No, you can’t.”

Without trust, a relationship can’t survive. You can try to talk through issues, make concessions and commitments, and even demonstrate through action your willingness to change, but without the trust that the intention will hold, it’s all meaningless. Kim knows this the hard way. We see in a flashback in the “Wexler v. Goodman” cold open that Kim has experience being in a co-dependent relationship where she couldn’t trust the other person. Kim knew there would be difficulties being in a committed relationship with Jimmy McGill; she had no clue what she was in for once Saul Goodman entered the picture. Instead of being in on the con, she’s being conned right alongside everyone else, and even Jimmy can’t admit it will be the last time.

Update [1:15 p.m. Et]: Amazon responded to Oliver’s segment, claiming the HBO program declined the company’s invitation to tour one of its facilities.

“As a fan of the show, I enjoy watching John make an entertaining case for the failings of companies … But he is wrong on Amazon. Industry-leading $15 minimum wage and comprehensive benefits are just one of many programs we offer,” said Amazon executive Dave Clark in a statement. “We are proud of the safe, quality work environment in our facilities … But unlike over 100,000 other people this year, John...

HMV

Being a staff member at HMV takes commitment. Commitment to watching a lot of films, playing a lot of video games and listening to a lot of music. In short, it’s the perfect kind of commitment and makes it seem like a dream job to most retail workers.

While you love every second of it though, it’s not without its pitfalls and problems. Some days the fine line between being a super-professional retail employee and the laid back Empire Records layabout that most of your customers expect is a very difficult one to walk, but you power through because you’re a juggernaut of dedication to the cause.

Without you, who would give the public the recommendations they need to ensure that they can make the most of water cooler time at work? You’re a bastion of consumer culture in everything from movies to t-shirts and your word is law.