International
1914 Charlie Chaplin film found
MUMBAI: A short silent comedy named A Thief Catcher in which Charlie Chaplin made a brief cameo as a buffoon Keystone cop has been found.
The 10-minute 1914 film suddenly turned up late last year at an antiques sale in Taylor, Mich. After buying the same film historian Paul Gierucki thought that he was buying just another Keystone Studios comedy and didn‘t watch the 16mm print for months.
Then, in March this year, he saw Chaplin spring up onto the screen and slap some hooligans in the film starring Ford Sterling, Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy. Chaplin can be seen on screen for a mere three minutes.
In doubt, Gierucki asked his friend and fellow film collector Richard Roberts and emailed Roberts a still image from the film. Once they saw the character‘s mannerisms, they were sure that it was Chaplin playing a two-bit part in one of his earliest films.
The first public screening of the film, since 1914, will be held this Saturday at a comedy film festival in Arlington, Va.
Gierucki and Roberts are part of a group called the Silent Comedy Mafia that organizes the annual Slapsticon festival at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre outside Washington.
The festival that began on Thursday features as many as 120 films over four days with live musical accompaniment for the silent flicks.
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.
