International
Oscar-nominated Hollywood screenwriter Nora Ephron no more
MUMBAI: Oscar-nominated Hollywood screenwriter and director Nora Ephron expired on Tuesday in New York at the age of 71.
Ephron died in Manhattan of complications from the blood disorder myelodysplasia, with which she was diagnosed six years ago. She is survived by her husband and two sons.
Her 15 film credits include films like You‘ve Got Mail, Silkwood and Julie and Julia that was her last film in 2009. Though she was nominated for an Oscar three times, she never won the award.
Ephron was born on 19 May 1941 in New York to a Broadway playwright and a Hollywood screenwriter. She took her mother‘s advice – “take notes, everything is copy” – very seriously and turned wry personal observations on relationships into hugely successful romantic comedies.
From an early age, Ephron wrote essays for major US magazines from the late 1960s as well as several non-fiction books, including two recent memoirs.
She was married three times, once to Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporter who helped uncover the ‘Watergate‘ scandal. Their marriage ended publicly when he began an affair with the wife of the then-British ambassador, Margaret Jay, who was also the daughter of former British Prime Minister James Callaghan.
Ephron‘s divorce from Bernstein resulted in the novel Heartburn that she converted into a film starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.
Her first marriage to writer Dan Greenburg ended in 1976. Ephron‘s third marriage to Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the screenplays for the Martin Scorsese films Goodfellas and Casino, lasted for more than 20 years.
Rumours of her death started circulating on Tuesday evening after her friend, celebrity columnist Liz Smith, published an online memorial.
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
