International
One Kind Day to have two screenings at Hawai Intl Film fest
MUMBAI: Chuck Mitsui‘s One Kine Day, that won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2010 Hawaii International Film Festival,will have two screenings at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) on 11 and 14 March.
The film, which stars Christa B. Allen and Julia Nickson, takes us on a journey to another side of Hawaii, the side filmmakers rarely portray on screen. The film captures a day in the life of slacker-skater Ralsto (newcomer Ryan Greer) as he trudges through one of the most ‘da kine‘ days of his life. Across the islands of Hawaii, ‘da kine‘ is a pidgin phrase that can mean, well, just about anything.
In his directorial debut, Mitsui exposes a darker side of teenage life. In the course of the film, skateboarder Ralsto sees his relatively carefree world fade away into a more complicated existence when he discovers his girlfriend is pregnant.
Filmed on location on Oahu and produced by Hawaiian film company Haolewood Productions, the film also stars Janel Parrish and Jolene Blalock.
Mitsui, who was born and raised in the Bay Area, has been a pioneer in the Hawaii skateboard scene since 1995 when he opened 808 Skate, the first skate shop in Hawaii.
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.
