Tech giant Meta has announced a groundbreaking partnership with renowned horror film production company Blumhouse to road-test its latest artificial intelligence video tool, “Movie Gen.”
Unveiled earlier this month, Movie Gen is an innovative program that allows users to create videos with sound from short prompts or photos. While still in development and not slated for public release until next year, Meta is collaborating with industry professionals to refine the tool’s capabilities.
Filmmakers from Blumhouse, famous for producing hit franchises like Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and Insidious, have been working closely with Meta to enhance Movie Gen. Jason Blum, founder of Blumhouse, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration. “These are going to be powerful tools for directors, and it’s important to engage the creative industry in their development to make sure they’re best suited for the job,” he said in a Meta blog post.
Academy Award-winning actor Casey Affleck, who was given early access to Movie Gen, praised the program as “more like a collaborator than it is like a tool” in a promotional video.
Despite concerns within the entertainment industry about the rise of AI—highlighted during last year’s writers’ strike in Hollywood where creatives feared AI could replace scripts or actors—filmmakers like Blum see potential benefits in early engagement with the technology.
Meta also released a three-minute video by filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty, known for his innovative storytelling. The video, styled as a sleek advertisement, delves into Chaganty’s initial skepticism about AI and how Movie Gen altered his perspective. By revisiting childhood snippets, he used the tool to add elements like aliens, change settings from the countryside to Manhattan, and transform his family home into a bank vault. “I hate AI, but with a tool like this… I dunno… maybe I would’ve just dreamt a little bigger,” he concludes in the voiceover.
While Movie Gen currently limits creations to 16-second clips, Meta hails its development as a significant breakthrough in AI-driven content creation. The company emphasizes the tool’s potential to empower creators and reshape the future of filmmaking.
The collaboration between Meta and Blumhouse signifies a melding of technological innovation with cinematic artistry, promising exciting advancements for both the tech and entertainment industries.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
