Trends in AI Filmmaking

Hybrid filmmaking with AI is rapidly emerging as a new way to realize ambitious projects. Critics argue it takes work away from creatives. Proponents counter that many of these films would never have been greenlit through traditional means. Glass half full, or half empty? Case in point, four hybrid AI projects now in the works: ₿ Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi, Dir. Doug Liman Billed as Hollywood's first big-budget AI-generated movie, this Doug Liman thriller stars Gal Gadot, Pete Davidson, and Casey Affleck across roughly 200 locations from Antarctica to Las Vegas. It was shot in 20 days on a soundstage with blank walls and basic lighting, with every set generated during a 30-week AI-driven post-production process. The result: a $70M budget for a film originally estimated at $300M. Produced by Ryan Kavanaugh and VFX studio ACME AI&FX, the production is notably transparent about its human footprint: 107 cast, 100 shoot crew, 54 non-shoot crew, plus 55 "AI artists" in post. 📝 The Old Stories: Moses, Dir. Jon Erwin AI video startup Luma has teamed with faith-and-family studio Wonder Project to launch Innovative Dreams, a new production company built around hybrid AI filmmaking. Their debut, The Old Stories: Moses, stars Ben Kingsley and lands on Amazon's Prime Video in spring 2026. The production combines Luma Agents (text, image, video, audio AI tools) with performance capture and LED wall virtual production, placing real actors inside photorealistic, AI-generated environments rendered in real time on the wall. Led by Luma CEO Amit Jain, director Jon Erwin, and former Netflix exec Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten, Innovative Dreams plans to work across genres. ☁️Heaven, Dir. Alex Proyas Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot, Dark City) is back after a decade away with Heaven, a dark satire about a desperate bureaucrat who escapes his crumbling life by entering a technologically perfected afterlife, only to find paradise is a carefully constructed illusion with terrifying consequences. Produced by Ex Machina Studios with Marco Weber (Igby Goes Down), Martin Weisz, and Pluto TV co-founder Tom Ryan, the film leverages Ex Machina's proprietary AI to enable expansive world-building at indie budgets. K5 International is pre-selling at the 2026 Cannes market. 🔥Paradise Lost, Dir. Roger Avary Oscar-winning Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary is adapting Milton's Paradise Lost, covering the cosmic war in heaven, Lucifer's fall, and the seduction of Adam and Eve. A previous big-studio attempt with Alex Proyas and Bradley Cooper at Warner Bros. never reached production. This is the second AI-powered project on this list from Ex Machina Studios, with Marco Weber and Kirk Petruccelli (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) producing and K5 International handling sales. Ex Machina's generative AI is what makes the scope viable at an indie scale. #virtualproduction #LEDwalls #AI #cinematography #hybridfilmaking

Over the past three years, my team has been focused on building and deploying professional solutions in entertainment and gaming. What we’re seeing now is a clear shift: top-tier conceptual designers and VFX artists are actively integrating generative tools into production, and not just for novelty, but as part of their core creative process. These are professionals with refined aesthetic judgment, using AI not to replace their instincts, but to extend them. Once they master prompting, their creative output accelerates, resulting in visually sophisticated, emotionally resonant, and production-ready outcomes. That is the real differentiator. Audiences don’t care whether content is AI-generated. They care whether it’s well-crafted, intentional, and creatively strong. Content volume is exploding, but that doesn’t mean quality is rising with it. Instead, audiences are becoming more selective, redistributing their time, attention, and spending towards content that actually resonates. This shift won’t look the same everywhere. Cultural context and regional preferences will shape entirely different content economies, which signals that in the world of AI-powered content, the fight for global attention is only just beginning, and traditional film and studios are beginning to develop their own in-house AI solutions, which could trigger a wave of investment and acquisitions in this space. For companies building in this space, I see several competitive advantages that will separate those who succeed in using AI to elevate creative workflows and those who don’t. 1. Proprietary Data. 2. Pipeline Integration: A good example I often refer to is Frame.io, which is widely used in the entertainment industry. However, it’s not optimized for AI workflows. The opportunity lies in building tools that are. 3. Domain-Specific Models: Fine-tuned, entertainment-optimized models (e.g., video-to-video, animation, etc.) will outperform general-purpose models in speed, control, and quality. 4. Humanities and Science: The strongest companies will blend technical depth with creative intuition. The long-term advantage will be won by teams that understand both the tech stack and good taste. 5. Historical Restoration: One of the more powerful dimensions of AI video generation, especially in film, is how we use technology to restore what’s been buried by time, memory, and bias. When used intentionally, these tools can surface voices that were erased, correct historical omissions, and bring authentic stories back to the audience. We have the power to use AI to change the way stories are told, and I can't wait to see what's next in this landscape.

🎥 AI Video in 2025: The Shift Has Already Happened. Here are some of my experiments in Sora. Video has always been powerful—but for the longest time, it’s been bound by constraints. Time. Budget. Production complexity. Now, those barriers are vanishing. In 2024, several prominent brands ventured into AI-generated video content, showcasing both the potential and challenges . Coca-Cola released an AI-generated Christmas advertisement, reimagining their classic 1995 "Holidays Are Coming" campaign. Toys "R" Us embraced AI to craft a nostalgic brand film detailing the origin story of its founder, Charles Lazarus. Collaborating with creative agency Native Foreign, they utilised OpenAI's Sora to produce a 66-second video that blended historical elements with imaginative visuals. 🔥 Video is Becoming a Two-Way Medium Videos that could adapt and interact. Soon, audiences won’t just watch—they’ll navigate, choose, and engage inside the frame. 📹 One Campaign, Infinite Variations AI will make it possible to generate a unique video for every viewer—changing tone, visuals, and language dynamically. A single ad could exist in a thousand personalised versions. 🎬 The End of Production as We Know It? The need for studios, cameras, and crews could fade out? AI tools like Runway, Veo 2, and Movie Gen are crafting high-quality, story-driven video without a single frame of original footage. 👥 Brand Presence Without Physical Presence AI-generated avatars aren’t a novelty. They will be handling customer engagement, hosting product explainers, and delivering training content—without fatigue, time zones, or scheduling conflicts. The Challenge: Creativity vs. Control Right now, AI video tools are powerful ideation engines—generating impressive results from simple text prompts. But that’s also the limitation. They provide speed, but not precision. For AI-generated video to truly become a filmmaker’s tool rather than just an assistant, we need more granular control—frame-by-frame editing, scene manipulation, and narrative structuring. Expect 2025 to bring features that bridge the gap between automation and artistry. 🛠 Tools to Check Out—and Tools to Watch in 2025 > Sora - From OpenAI and used in the video below. > Runway – Leading the way in AI-generated cinematic content. > Pika – Excels in real-time video transformation. > Luma Labs – Specialises in AI-generated lighting and cinematics. > Veo 2 (Google) & Movie Gen (Meta) > Comment below for other tools you have tried or see breaking through in 2025. > Emerging startups – Expect new names to shake up the space in 2025, bringing faster, more powerful video-generation capabilities. 🚀 The Real Question: Are You Adapting? This shift isn’t on the horizon—it’s already here. The challenge for Marketers isn’t whether to use AI-driven video. It’s how quickly they’ll figure out what to do with it. 📌 What’s your take? Which of these shifts excites you? What’s still a challenge?

🎬 AI Is Here. Cannes Made That Loud and Clear. 🌴 🇫🇷 Back on American soil after Cannes and one takeaway is undeniable: AI isn’t on the sidelines anymore, it’s on the main stage. It’s the main topic of conversation and honestly, the most memorable part of this years’ festival. Flawless AI made global headlines with the Swedish film “Watch the Skies”, the first fully AI-”dubbed” international feature headed to U.S. theaters. Originally in Swedish, the film is now entirely in fluent English, using the original actors’ voices, digitally altered for mouth-sync and tone. It’s SAG-compliant. And it’s playing on 100 AMC screens. That’s not theoretical. It is happening now. You can go today in Burbank. The tech was so “flawless”, I completely forgot it was AI dubbed and got swept up in an original, fresh and captivating story. For us, this isn’t just about technology. It’s about opportunity. One where AI can help filmmakers and give American production companies incentives to invest in original storytelling. For decades, incredible performances have gone unseen outside of non-English speaking countries. Not because of lack of talent, but because of language barriers and the friction of subtitles. Flawless’ approach is shifting that dynamic. These Swedish actors are about to be seen and heard across North America, without losing the soul of their performances. This not only gives these films a new platform, but also creates a new level of competition for American studios. When every film market is equally accessible, this may shift the balance of predominantly franchise films, existing IP and remakes on remakes. Flawless is proving that AI can be used ethically and applied in a pro-consumer fashion. Soon, we won’t be limited to films that were able to secure a giant budget or elusive greenlight. The only limiting factor will be a filmmaker’s imagination. Which can be scary for entrenched creatives, but a huge opportunity for those without the means to tell their stories.   Beyond Flawless, we saw tools that let you generate a scene, gamify a narrative, and build characters before a script is even written from Pickford AI. Prompting their actions in real time and changing the story as you please. Storytelling is changing. Distribution is changing. And so are audience expectations. In this next era, those who embrace both artistry and innovation will be the ones shaping the future. We’re excited and staying curious.

I went to film school in South Africa. No money. Super 16. You told stories with what you could physically reach. That was the education. So when i read two stories this week around AI in Film Schools, and the amazing work done on The House of David and The Old Stories: Moses,they felt naturally connected to me. Film schools are moving. University of Southern California is building a whole institute around actors working alongside AI. NYU Tisch Film & TV did a deal with Runway giving students open access to their tools. Chapman University went further and unlocked $40k in grants to students who build AI into their projects. They even brought in AI-generated actress, Tilly Norwood, to guest lecture.  (Via Future Party — link in comments.) Wonder Project and Luma announced Innovative Dreams over on Deadline. A whole new production company built around what they're calling Realtime Hybrid Filmmaking. Performance capture, virtual production, generative AI across the whole pipeline. Their first project stars Ben Kingsley. Director Jon Erwin says the whole point is to give more time and focus back to human performance. (Via Deadline — link in comments.) A Chapman student wrote in their school paper that they weren't sure if this was genuine creative motivation or shock value designed to start a conversation. Honestly? Probably both. And that's fine. The question I keep coming back to is simpler than the debate usually gets. What does a filmmaker look like who grew up with these tools as part of the language? Not as disruption. Not as controversy. Just as part of how you make things. Because that person is currently sitting in a film school right now. Would love to hear from anyone in education or early in their career on your take.

This one will probably look bigger in hindsight than it does right now. NYU Tisch is rolling out access to Runway's AI tools for students in select programs. Not the whole film school yet. But honestly, that's kind of the point. The headline isn't "AI is coming for filmmakers." It's that serious creative institutions are starting to treat AI literacy the same way they treat knowing how to light a shot or cut a scene. As a skill. A fluency. That's a different conversation than we were having even a year ago. Nobody's really debating anymore whether working artists will bump into these tools. They will. The more honest question is whether schools step up and actually teach students how to use them thoughtfully and ethically in ways that doesn't sand down the human instincts that make a film worth caring about. What caught my attention was the framing Tisch used. Not a mandate. Not a eulogy for traditional craft. Just here's another way of working. That framing matters more than people might realize. Film schools once handed students a camera and a copy of Final Cut. Some of them are now adding generative tools to that list. You can have feelings about it — plenty of people do — but it's a real shift in how the next wave of filmmakers gets shaped. The field is quietly moving past "should AI even be here?" and into something harder: how do you teach this stuff responsibly without producing creators who've lost their taste, their standards, their own voice? That's a much thornier problem. And a much more interesting one. #AI #Filmmaking #HigherEducation #Media #CreativeTechnology

Saudi Arabia wants to become the future hub of AI-driven entertainment. They’re shifting the country away from being defined only by oil and are now investing billions into a full creative-tech ecosystem. And part of that strategy is their $900 million investment into a Hollywood AI firm, Luma AI, which is building the next generation of tools for video generation, 3D imaging, and virtual production. Luma AI is exactly where Hollywood and Silicon Valley meet: cinematic visuals × advanced tech × new production pipelines. And yes — every time I say Hollywood is starting to think like Silicon Valley, I get flooded with comments (just like when the Paramount–Skydance post went viral). But it’s the reality: Money and innovation are shifting toward AI-powered content. For filmmakers, creators, and producers, this is the moment to pay attention. • Funding is no longer limited to the traditional Hollywood system. • Tools are evolving at the speed of tech. • Global investors with massive capital are entering entertainment. • Distribution is becoming more creator-driven and self-distributed than ever. The map is expanding — and the next wave of opportunity belongs to those who understand both entertainment and technology.

Generative AI is transforming entertainment — and creativity itself. J.P. Morgan’s latest Eye on the Market report captures a massive shift underway. 1. Structural Shift: From Distribution to Creation. The last decade disrupted how we watch content. This decade is disrupting how we create it. - Hollywood produced around 15,000 hours of TV and film in 2023. - YouTube creators uploaded 300 million hours — nearly 20,000 times more. - If just 0.01% of that user-generated content matches Hollywood quality, it doubles total professional output. 2. Democratization of Creativity High-quality production is no longer limited to studios. AI tools like Sora, Runway, and Pika allow anyone to create at a professional level. - Creator-generated video now represents about 25% of all U.S. screen time. - Independent musicians account for 29% of Spotify streams, up from 13% in 2017. - Platforms built entirely on user-generated work, like Roblox, continue to grow rapidly. 3. Open Source Is Closing the Gap The most interesting development: open models are catching up fast. Open-Sora 2.0 achieves near–Sora-level quality at roughly 10% of the training cost. - AI systems are learning real-world physics, improving realism and motion with every iteration. - World-class content creation is becoming accessible to anyone, anywhere. 4. The New Advantage Legacy studios may cut 5–10% of costs through AI-assisted production, but the real shift is toward creators who can make, publish, and monetize faster than ever before. At Picsart, we’re building for that world — empowering millions of creators and businesses to turn imagination into content, and content into connection. The moat isn’t content anymore. It’s creativity at scale.

Who in Hollywood Should — and Should Not — Embrace AI? AI is transforming the entertainment business faster than any new technology since the arrival of streaming. But not everyone should jump in — and for some, it could be dangerous. Here’s my take as a film producer on who should — and who shouldn’t — embrace AI in Hollywood 👇 10 Who Should Embrace AI Independent Filmmakers — to level the playing field with affordable editing, VFX, and marketing tools. Screenwriters — to brainstorm, outline, or polish pitches and treatments faster. Editors & Post Supervisors — AI cleanup tools save time and money in color, sound, and compositing. Casting Directors — data analytics can help forecast actor-market value and audience affinity. Distributors / Sales Agents — AI predicts pre-sales, release windows, and marketing ROI. Social Media & Marketing Teams — smarter, faster, A/B-tested ads, trailers, and posts. Documentary Researchers — AI can transcribe, tag, and uncover patterns across hours of footage. Talent Managers / Agents — AI-powered CRMs can match clients to projects with precision. Streaming Platforms — personalized recommendations driven by audience behavior. Music Supervisors / Indie Composers — for creating customizable royalty-free temp scores. 10 Who Should Not (At Least Not Yet) Actors — risk losing control of likeness and residual rights to deepfake misuse. Writers — complete dependence on AI means losing authentic voice and legal clarity. Voice Actors — cloning tech threatens consent and ownership without strong contracts. Critics & Journalists — authenticity and human perspective can’t be automated. Casting Decision-Makers — charisma can’t be reduced to data. Production Designers — AI concept art may look great, but it can plagiarize. Educators — students need mentorship, not shortcuts. Documentarians — sensitive human stories require empathy, not algorithms. Guilds & Unions — automation in policy risks eroding human oversight and ethics. Producers Who Forget Collaboration — AI enhances process, but never replaces creative chemistry. 💬 Final Thought: AI is a powerful tool — but it’s just that, a tool. In the end, stories are still made by people, not prompts. Question: 👉 Who do you think should — or shouldn’t — be using AI in our industry? Let’s start a real conversation. #ArtificialIntelligence #Hollywood #Filmmaking #EntertainmentIndustry #WritersStrike #Producers #Storytelling #FilmMarketing #AIinHollywood #IndieFilm #Distribution #LongitudeEntertainment #StevenLongi