International
Oscar winner Joe Strick dies of cardiac failure
MUMBAI: Oscar-winning producer and director Joe Strick breathed his last after succumbing to congestive heart failure in a hospital in Paris. He was 86.
Strick is best known as the producer, director and co-writer of the 1967 film adaptation of the James Joyce novel Ulysses for which he was nominated with Fred Haines in the adapted screenplay category.
Strick won his Academy Award for the 1971 short documentary Interviews With My Lai Veterans that featured US soldiers present at the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
Strick also wrote and directed wrote the 1960 film The Savage Eye with Ben Maddow and Sidney Meyers. The film earned BAFTA‘s Robert J. Flaherty Award for best documentary.
Strick also co-produced the 1983 film Never Cry Wolf with Lewis Allen and Jack Couffer and also the BBC documentary The Hecklers in 1996.
Strick is survived by his his wife Martine, five children Jeremy Strick, Betsy Strick, David Strick, Terence Strick and Helene Strick-Marchand and six grandchildren.
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.
