International
Alex Brunner is new co-president of Executive Media Group
MUMBAI: Exclusive Media Group has named Alex Brunner as the new co-president of the company‘s Exclusive Films International label that oversees worldwide sales and marketing efforts for feature films produced by Exclusive‘s labels – Hammer Films, Spitfire Pictures and Exclusive Films as well as library product and third-party productions. He had been serving as Exclusive‘s senior vp production and operations.
The company, headed by co-chairmen Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, has announced a new film fund that will be used to finance two to four acquisitions of up to $20 million per film each year. The new fund, which will fall under EFI, will allocate separate resources that will allow EFI to pick up movies, with EFI taking international distribution rights.
“We have substantial resources from our shareholders to fund productions, as we are doing with Peter Weir‘s The Way Back or George Clooney‘s The Ides of March, or the Daniel Radcliffe starrer The Woman in Black,” Sinclair and East said.
“However, this film pickup fund allows us to also take a piece of finished films from third parties – films in production and films where our distribution guarantee will form part of the finance plan of the movie,” the added.
Sinclair, Walton and Brunner will look for projects at Sundance and at next month‘s Berlin International Film Festival. Additionally, the group will be looking at potential acquisitions for Newmarket Films, Exclusive‘s U.S. distribution label.
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.
