Latest news with #CristobalValenzuela
The Mainichi
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
Film festival showcases what artificial intelligence can do on the big screen
NEW YORK (AP) -- Artificial intelligence 's use in movie making is exploding. And a young film festival, now in its junior year, is showcasing what this technology can do on screen today. The annual AI Film Festival organized by Runway, a company that specializes in AI-generated video, kicked off in New York Thursday night with ten short films from around the world making their debut on the big screen. "Three years ago, this was such a crazy idea," Runway CEO Cristobal Valenzuela told the crowd. "Today, millions of people are making billions of videos using tools we only dreamed of." The film festival itself has grown significantly since its 2023 debut. About 300 people submitted films when it first began, Valenzuela said, compared to about 6,000 submissions received this year. The one and half-hour lineup stretched across a range of creative styles and ambitious themes -- with Jacob Adler's " Total Pixel Space " taking home the festival's top prize. The 9-minute and 28-second film questions how many possible images -- real or not -- exist in the digital space, and uses math to calculate a colossal number. A stunning series of images, ranging from the familiar life moments to those that completely bend reality, gives viewers a glimpse of what's out there. Meanwhile, Andrew Salter's "Jailbird," which snagged second place, chronicles a chicken's journey -- from the bird's perspective -- to a human prison in the United Kingdom to take part in a joint-rehabilitation program. And "One," a futuristic story by Ricardo Villavicencio and Edward Saatchi about interplanetary travel followed in third place. The 10 films shown were finalists selected from thousands submitted to Runway's AI Film Festival this year. The shorts will also be shown at screenings held in Los Angeles and Paris next week. How AI is used and executed is a factor judges evaluate when determining festival winners. But not every film entered was made entirely using AI. While submission criteria requires each movie include the use of AI-generated video, there's no set threshold, meaning some films can take a more "mixed media" approach -- such as combining live shots of actors or real-life images and sounds with AI-generated elements. "We're trying to encourage people to explore and experiment with it," Valenzuela said in an interview prior to Thursday's screening. Creating a coherent film using generative AI is no easy feat. It can take a long list of directions and numerous, detailed prompts to get even a short scene to make sense and look consistent. Still, the scope of what this kind of technology can do has grown significantly since Runway's first AI Film Festival in 2023 -- and Valenzuela says that's reflected in today's submissions. While there are still limits, AI-generated video is becoming more and more life-like and realistic. Runway encourages the use of its own AI tools for films entered into its festival, but creators are also allowed to turn to other resources and tools as they put together the films -- and across the industry, tools that use AI to create videos spanning from text, image and/or audio prompts have rapidly improved over recent years, while becoming increasingly available. "The way (this technology) has lived within film and media culture, and pop culture, has really accelerated," said Joshua Glick, an associate professor of film and electronic arts at Bard College. He adds that Runway's film fest, which is among a handful of showcases aimed at spotlighting AI's creative capabilities, arrives as companies in this space are searching for heightened "legitimacy and recognition" for the tools they are creating -- with aims to cement partnerships in Hollywood as a result. AI's presence in Hollywood is already far-reaching, and perhaps more expansive than many moviegoers realize. Beyond "headline-grabbing" (and at times controversial) applications that big-budget films have done to "de-age" actors or create eye-catching stunts, Glick notes, this technology is often incorporated in an array of post-production editing, digital touch-ups and additional behind-the-scenes work like sorting footage. Industry executives repeatedly point to how AI can improve efficiency in the movie making process -- allowing creatives to perform a task that once took hours, for example, in a matter of minutes -- and foster further innovation. Still, AI's rapid growth and adoption has also heightened anxieties around the burgeoning technology -- notably its implications for workers. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees -- which represents behind-the-scenes entertainment workers in the U.S. and Canada -- has "long embraced new technologies that enhance storytelling," Vanessa Holtgrewe, IATSE's international vice president, said in an emailed statement. "But we've also been clear: AI must not be used to undermine workers' rights or livelihoods." IATSE and other unions have continued to meet with major studios and establish provisions in efforts to provide guardrails around the use of AI. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has also been vocal about AI protections for its members, a key sticking point in recent labor actions. For Runway's AI Film Festival, Valenzuela hopes screening films that incorporate AI-generated video can showcase what's possible -- and how he says this technology can help, not hurt, creatives in the work they do today. "It's natural to fear change ... (But) it's important to understand what you can do with it," Valenzuela said. Even filmmaking, he adds, was born "because of scientific breakthroughs that at the time were very uncomfortable for many people."
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Film festival showcases what artificial intelligence can do on the big screen
Artificial intelligence 's use in movie making is exploding. And a young film festival, now in its junior year, is showcasing what this technology can do on screen today. The annual AI Film Festival organised by Runway, a company that specialises in AI-generated video , kicked off in New York Thursday night with ten short films from around the world making their debut on the big screen. "Three years ago, this was such a crazy idea," Runway CEO Cristobal Valenzuela told the crowd. "Today, millions of people are making billions of videos using tools we only dreamed of." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Die überraschende Ursache für Gedächtnisverlust Neuro Boost Mehr erfahren Undo The film festival itself has grown significantly since its 2023 debut. About 300 people submitted films when it first began, Valenzuela said, compared to about 6,000 submissions received this year. The one-and-a-half-hour lineup stretched across a range of creative styles and ambitious themes — with Jacob Adler's " Total Pixel Space " taking home the festival's top prize. The 9-minute and 28-second film questions how many possible images - real or not - exist in the digital space, and uses math to calculate a colossal number. A stunning series of images, ranging from the familiar life moments to those that completely bend reality, gives viewers a glimpse of what's out there. Live Events Meanwhile, Andrew Salter's "Jailbird," which snagged second place, chronicles a chicken's journey - from the bird's perspective - to a human prison in the United Kingdom to take part in a joint-rehabilitation program. And "One," a futuristic story by Ricardo Villavicencio and Edward Saatchi about interplanetary travel followed in third place. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories The 10 films shown were finalists selected from thousands submitted to Runway's AI Film Festival this year. The shorts will also be shown at screenings held in Los Angeles and Paris next week. How AI is used and executed is a factor judges evaluate when determining festival winners. But not every film entered was made entirely using AI. While submission criteria requires each movie to include the use of AI-generated video, there's no set threshold, meaning some films can take a more "mixed media" approach — such as combining live shots of actors or real-life images and sounds with AI-generated elements. "We're trying to encourage people to explore and experiment with it," Valenzuela said in an interview prior to Thursday's screening. Creating a coherent film using generative AI is no easy feat. It can take a long list of directions and numerous, detailed prompts to get even a short scene to make sense and look consistent. Still, the scope of what this kind of technology can do has grown significantly since Runway's first AI Film Festival in 2023 — and Valenzuela says that's reflected in today's submissions. While there are still limits, AI-generated video is becoming more and more life-like and realistic. Runway encourages the use of its own AI tools for films entered into its festival, but creators are also allowed to turn to other resources and tools as they put together the films - and across the industry, tools that use AI to create videos spanning from text, image and/or audio prompts have rapidly improved over recent years, while becoming increasingly available. "The way (this technology) has lived within film and media culture, and pop culture, has really accelerated," said Joshua Glick, an associate professor of film and electronic arts at Bard College. He adds that Runway's film fest, which is among a handful of showcases aimed at spotlighting AI's creative capabilities, arrives as companies in this space are searching for heightened "legitimacy and recognition" for the tools they are creating — with aims to cement partnerships in Hollywood as a result. AI's presence in Hollywood is already far-reaching, and perhaps more expansive than many moviegoers realise. Beyond "headline-grabbing" (and at times controversial) applications that big-budget films have done to "de-age" actors or create eye-catching stunts, Glick notes, this technology is often incorporated in an array of post-production editing, digital touch-ups and additional behind-the-scenes work like sorting footage. Industry executives repeatedly point to how AI can improve efficiency in the movie making process — allowing creatives to perform a task that once took hours, for example, in a matter of minutes - and foster further innovation. Still, AI's rapid growth and adoption has also heightened anxieties around the burgeoning technology — notably its implications for workers. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees - which represents behind-the-scenes entertainment workers in the U.S. and Canada - has "long embraced new technologies that enhance storytelling," Vanessa Holtgrewe, IATSE's international vice president, said in an emailed statement. "But we've also been clear: AI must not be used to undermine workers' rights or livelihoods." IATSE and other unions have continued to meet with major studios and establish provisions in efforts to provide guardrails around the use of AI. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has also been vocal about AI protections for its members, a key sticking point in recent labour actions. For Runway's AI Film Festival, Valenzuela hopes screening films that incorporate AI-generated video can showcase what's possible — and how he says this technology can help, not hurt, creatives in the work they do today. "It's natural to fear change ... (But) it's important to understand what you can do with it," Valenzuela said. Even filmmaking, he adds, was born "because of scientific breakthroughs that at the time were very uncomfortable for many people."
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Runway AI's Gen-4: How Can AI Montage Go Beyond Absurdity
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 09: (L-R) Jane Rosenthal and Cristobal Valenzuela speak onstage during the ... More 2024 AI Film Festival New York Panel at Metrograph on May 09, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by) The recent release of Runway AI's Gen-4 has ignited both excitement and existential questions about the future of cinema and media in general. With the company now valued at 3 billion following a $308 million funding round led by the private equity firm General Atlantic and backed by industry heavyweights like Nvidia and SoftBank, AI's march into Hollywood appears unstoppable. The film industry, alongside all creative sectors, from digital marketing to social media, stands at a technological crossroad. As artificial intelligence begins to reshape every aspect of visual storytelling and change the landscape of entertainment and digital commerce, we must assess its potentials and pitfalls. Major production companies are rapidly adopting AI video tools. Fabula, the acclaimed studio behind Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman and biopic Spencer, just announced a partnership with Runway AI to integrate AI across its production pipeline. Lionsgate signed a deal with Runway last fall to explore AI-powered filmmaking. Experimental directors like Harmony Korine have already debuted AI-assisted film at Venice last year. The broad applications of AI videos are already impressive, from pre-visualizing scenes for Amazon's House of David to creating advertisement for Puma. Yet beneath these flashy demonstrations lies a more fundamental question: can AI-generated content evolve beyond technical spectacle to deliver truly meaningful stories? Runway's Gen-4 represents significant progress in several areas: character consistency, scene coherence, and visual fidelity. An example Runway AI releases show two main characters stay consistent across different shots ranging from walking, running, petting a cow, lighting up a match, and maintain fidelity of the look of a steppe in gloomy weather. Yet these technical improvements don't address the core challenge: AI excels at generating individual moments but struggles with coherent and sustained storytelling. While it can create a stunning shot of giraffes and lions roam in the New York City, can it make audiences care about a city turned into a zoo? AI videos risk repeating the early mistakes of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), prioritizing visual gimmicks over in-depth messages. As barriers to creative production and film making disappear, we may face a flood of visually polished but emotionally hollow contents, derivative works optimized for algorithmic efficiency, or compelling synthetic media that lacks human touch. While AI videos can wow first-time viewers, can they make audiences want to watch them more? Can AI films ever produce classic pieces that draw generations of movie-goers? Current multi modal AI technologies center on innovations in film, media, and video games. A recent project spearheaded by researchers from Nvidia, Stanford and UCSD uses Test-Time-Training layers in machine learning models to generate 60-seconds animations of Tom and Jerry. To achieve this, the team trained the model on 81 cartoon footages between 1940 and 1948, which add up to about 7 hours. The model generates and connects multiple 3-second segments, each guided by storyboard annotating plots, settings, and camera movements. The technique highlights significant potential to scale video productions and animation series creations. A poster for Joseph Barbera and William Hanna's 1950 cartoon 'The Framed Cat'. (Photo by Movie ... More Poster) But the technology also reveal critical flaws that persist among AI video generators such as Sora, Kling, Runway, Pika, etc. One limitation is continuity error. For example, rooms, landscapes, and lighting shift unnaturally between 3-second segments. Physics defiance is another problem. For instance, in the earlier mentioned Tom and Jerry AI videos, Jerry's cheese float or morph into different sizes and textures at segment boundaries. Another issue is narrative disjointedness. As the segmentation of content is necessary for algorithms to effectively learn the contents, understand the prompt, and accurately generate videos, AI models struggle to show logical scene progression. These traces of what I call AI montage also appear in Runway AI's videos, the elephants walking across the Time Square is abruptly followed by a scene of a cheetah running across a bridge. One is set in cloudy weather while the next in a sunny day. The changes do not push the storyline forward nor do they convey any logic. The absurd, the fragmented, and the incongruous, are what AI video generators currently good at producing. For now, AI struggles to replicate the coherence of even a 5-minute cartoon, let alone a feature film. AI-generated videos show strength as a medium for critiquing both itself and the societies that produce it. Director Jia Zhangke's recent AI film made using Kling AI imagines a future run by robotic caretakers. The film provokes audiences to reflect on the crisis of aging populations, societal neglect, and the erosion of empathy in an era of breakneck competition, capitalism, and exploding automated technologies. Jia's film show robot companions taking the elderly for a walk or helping them harvest crops, in lieu of real sons and daughters. Such a theme is grounded in societal challenges today. The film critiques the substitution of human connection with automated machines and transactional relationships, and raises the concern over relentless stress and long hours in workplaces. Just as Charlie Chaplin used industrialization-era tools to critique industrialization in Modern Times, today's filmmakers can use AI to critique the conditions of its own existence. Consider how synthetic news anchors might expose media manipulation, or endlessly combinable streaming content could comment on algorithmic culture. Just like science fictions that critique environmental disasters, human greed, and inequality, the most compelling AI films will likely be those that embrace their own artificiality to engage with real social problems. Rather than fearing obsolescence, filmmakers might focus more intensely on what machines cannot replicate: the nuance of human emotions, complexities of human nature, the weight of lived experience, and the cultural resonance of authentic storytelling. History suggests that film and media have always adapted to technological upheaval, from silent to sound, black-and-white to color, celluloid to digital, each time emerging with new creative possibilities. The question is no longer whether AI will change filmmaking, but how filmmakers will harness it to tell stories that matter.
