International
Ice hockey movie opens Toronto fest
MUMBAI: Score: A Hockey Musical, opened the Toronto Film Festival on Thursday.
The festival, seen as a starting point in the race for the Oscars, raised the ire of the local arts community last year when it ditched its tradition of showcasing a Canadian film on opening night and chose British evolutionist drama Creation.
This year the pendulum has swung back with equal force with a hokey musical about Canada‘s favourite sport Hockey on skates as the festival‘s gala opening show. The inclusion of Score has also sparked a debate over giving low-brow subject matter such plum placement.
The audience, some wearing hockey jerseys, clearly enjoyed the campy film as they hooted and hollered through key scenes.
Directed by Toronto-born filmmaker Michael McGowan, Score stars Olivia Newton-John. Walter Gretzky, father of hockey‘s Great One, Wayne Gretzky and former hockey player Theo Fleury make interesting cameos.
McGowan previously screened two other critically acclaimed films at the Toronto fest, Saint Ralph and One Week.
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.
