International
ActionFest from 12 to 15 April
MUMBAI: ActionFest, the one of its kind international film festival devoted exclusively to action cinema will be held at Asheville between 12 to 15 April.
The festival’s opening night film on 12 April will be the regional premiere of Michael J. Bassett’s Solomon Kane, a swashbuckling, visceral medieval epic starring James Purefoy (John Carter, Rome) and Max von Sydow. It is based on legendary stories from the creator of of Conan The Barbarian, Robert E. Howard.
The closing night film on 15 April will be the regional premiere of Wu Xia. The film stars internationally recognized martial arts actor and fight director Donnie Yen who plays a tortured martial arts expert who attempts to begin a life of peace, only to find himself hunted by an obsessed detective and his former master, a ruthless bandit played by old school kung fu cinema icon, Jimmy Wang Yu.
Founded by Bill Banowsky (founder of Carolina Cinemas and co-founder of Magnolia Pictures), famed action director cum producer Aaron Norris and Radius-TWC Co-President Tom Quinn.
This year’s ActionFest Fight Choreographer Award will go to J.J. Perry, who wowed audiences with spectacular fights in Warrior, Underworld: Awakening, and Haywire. One of the most prolific high-profile choreographers in Hollywood, Perry has projects with Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Quentin Tarantino slated for future release.
ActionFest will also honour legendary stuntman Mickey Gilbert (of Ben Hur and The Wild Bunch fame) with the Lifetime Achievement Award and pioneer in women‘s MMA and Haywire star Gina Carano with the Chick Norris Award.
ActionFest was founded by Bill Banowsky, Aaron Norris, Dennis Berman and Tom Quinn. Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, is the Festival Director.
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.
