International
James Bond resurrector Sortito expires
MUMBAI: Revolutionary branding executive Karen Sortito, who helped resurrect the James Bond franchise expired of cancer on Monday in New York. She was 49.
Having come from MTV, Sortito represented a new breed of marketer for the film business. She came from MTV, where, straight out of Southern Connecticut State College in 1983, she helped define the brand during the network‘s formative years.
She also worked at 20th Century Fox Film Corp., Paramount, Morgan Creek Prods., Revolution Studios, Spyglass Entertainment and NYC & Company, the city‘s official marketing and partnership agency.
As head of worldwide promotions for MGM/UA, Sortito helped negotiate high-end promotional deals with the likes of BMW for millions of dollars, which contributed to the cost of making and advertising GoldenEye (1995), the first Bond film in six years.
While MGM/UA were in a reshuffling of management mode, Sortito spent three years consulting in various capacities and in 2002 joined Spyglass as executive vp worldwide marketing under Gary Barber, her former boss at Morgan Creek, and his partner, Roger Birnbaum.
Sortito is survived by her mother, Phyllis Sortito; her sisters, Mary Sortito and Diane Ritucci; her brother-in-law Louis Ritucci and two nephews.
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.
