International
New film and TV studio gets going in Chicago
MUMBAI:With the opening of a state-of-the-art film and television studio, said to be the largest facility in the United States outside Hollywood, Chicago has been touted as a new ‘world class film destination’.
Joined by Emmy Award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer and the producers of the new Chicago-inspired TV series “Boss,”
Illinois governor Pat Quinn announced that the state was investing five million US dollars into the new privately-owned Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. “We want to make sure that Chicago, Illinois, is a place where when you come to make a TV show or a movie, you get a great studio space,” Quinn has reportedly said.
The new Chicago studio will eventually be expanded to 1.2 million square feet (111, 000 square meters) of space that can accommodate three to six productions at the same time, potentially creating thousands of film industry jobs, according to Betsy Steinberg, director of the Illinois Film Office (IFO).
Quinn also announced a record 161 million dollar in spending on film and television projects for 2010 in Illinois that would create around 8,000 jobs. “That‘s what this is all about, real jobs for hardworking men and women who know how to do tough, challenging things on deadline,” Quinn added.
The five million dollars that Illinois was investing to construct Cinespace, comes from the Illinois Jobs Now! capital programme which is only a small percentage of the 80 million dollars in private investment by Toronto-based studio owner Nick Mirkopoulos.
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.
