Unbelievable! We Attended an AI-Produced Movies Gala & You Won’t Believe What We Saw!

Vice President of the San Francisco Film Commission, Jack Song, has attended numerous Hollywood movie openings, yet this was a unique experience — a grand event led by tech aficionados where they showcased short films produced using artificial intelligence.

Sporting a black jacket and a green shirt, Song stood at the back, observing the audience’s reactions grow into applause within the San Francisco office of Andreessen Horowitz, a well-known venture capital firm that has invested in startups including OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The new films were displayed on large screens in front of an audience of over 100 people, mostly seated, in a space usually used for activities like podcast recordings and networking.

The first presentation was an indie pop music video titled “Get to You” by Caleb Hurst. The video, directed by Dylan Varella, showed Hurst running down a street, his surroundings and himself shifting between various vibrant AI-created worlds. At the end, Hurst bid farewell to an animated version of himself, which flew off and changed into a cartoon sun.

The audience applauded.

“The narrative still originated from a human aspect, but they utilized all the available AI tools to enhance the visual experience,” said Song, a former startup marketing executive turned film producer, during a phone call post-event. “That’s what filmmaking and storytelling are all about. It’s about giving the audience an experience … and it’s stimulating even more thoughts.”

“Get to You” was among a few AI-generated films presented this month at an event called the Project Odyssey AI Film Gala, a roughly four-hour gathering — part movie premiere, part tech startup convention — intended to highlight advances in filmmaking using AI models.

In several aspects, the event resembled a typical short film festival. There were awards and prizes, as well as appetizers, poke bowls, and wine. However, in other significant ways, it was clearly a result of Silicon Valley’s intrusion into Hollywood’s domain, having been arranged by Civitai, a company that offers a platform for people to find and share AI-generated art and tools.

There were no publicists protecting celebrity actors and there was no red carpet. Originally, the dress code was described as semi-formal, but, reflecting the laid-back attire of startups, it was later modified to “business casual but feel free to dress it up!”

Within Hollywood, some creators have labeled AI as a threat, a technology that will eradicate jobs and pose a serious risk to their income. These worries escalated during last year’s dual strikes led by Hollywood writers and actors. However, in San Francisco, home to numerous AI firms that have raised billions of dollars, there’s more enthusiasm, although tech enthusiasts did not downplay its impacts.

“Is AI going to take my job?” Coco Nitta, CEO of AI-powered film studio iKHOR Labs, one of the event’s sponsors, began his keynote speech with this rhetorical question that many in the entertainment industry have on their minds.

Film enthusiasts have also challenged the artistic value of AI-generated films. Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro recently joked that the technology has only proven it can create “semi-appealing screensavers.”

In his opening remarks at the Sept. 13 gala, Matty Shimura, Civitai’s vice president of partnerships who leads AI film and TV initiatives, appeared to address this cultural conflict.

“This started as a dream eight months ago, when I joined Civitai and … we embarked on this journey of how we can legitimize AI filmmaking,” Shimura said.

For the Project Odyssey film competition, creators from around the globe produced films with AI that were four minutes or shorter. Winners could earn cash, as well as credits or subscriptions to AI tools.

The aim was to motivate creators to experiment with AI and to see where their imagination could lead them. The response was strong, with over 1,300 entries.

“There are stigmas associated with using AI filmmaking tools, especially in traditional creative communities, but we’re attempting to be transparent about how the tools are used,” Shimura said in an interview. “Those who are currently most resistant to the technology are also those who will be best at using it.”

The short films demonstrated how AI could be used in different genres, including westerns and narrative dramas.

Nitta stated that AI tools like those his company is developing could simplify animation processes, potentially preventing worker burnout. For example, his company collaborated with music group ROHKI to create a roughly 12-minute video shown at the gala.

Using AI tools from iKHOR Labs, the filmmakers transformed live-action performances into stylized animated versions of the ROHKI characters, Nitta explained. The project was completed by six people in about a month and a half. Without the technology, Nitta said, it could have taken six months to a year.

Tech executives point to such creations as proof of how AI could enable artists to dream big and share new stories in distinctive ways.

“This technology is going to democratize things in a way,” Nitta asserted. “Indie filmmakers with brilliant ideas, they’re going to have an opportunity to showcase their stories to the world.”

Dylan Varella, the 30-year-old director based in Austin who made the “Get to You” video, admitted that he was initially skeptical, worried that AI tools could “devalue” the art and that it could be perceived as taking time away from visual effects artists.

However, Varella was also intrigued, so he entered the competition. The process turned out to be more complex, technically challenging and creative than Varella initially anticipated.

“By the end of it, I felt like I had almost learned an entirely new role,” Varella told The Times. “It required creative decision-making at every turn, in a way that I didn’t expect. It felt like a new art form.”

Still, Varella expressed concern that in the future, as AI rapidly evolves, someone could accomplish in a day what took him around 300 hours.

“I’m somewhat fearful of where it’s heading, and I’m not looking forward to that becoming easier to do,” Varella stated.

More AI film competitions are on the horizon. A second Project Odyssey contest is scheduled for later this year. In October, Amazon’s AWS Startups and L.A.-based FBRC.ai will host a film competition named the Culver Cup.

Several panelists at the Project Odyssey event admitted that the technology still has some limitations. But its capabilities are advancing.

“I like to adopt the bull in the china shop theory, which is the tools you have to bend them to your will,” said Katya Alexander, president of Pillars Studio, on one of the panels. “They don’t exactly work how you would like them to yet.”

But Jason Zada, founder of AI studio Secret Level, hopes one day people will talk less about the AI tools used in making the films and more about the films themselves.

“I hate [it when] the question right after I show something is: ‘What tools did you use?’” Zada said on a panel. “Who cares? You know, did you like it? Was it good?”