International
Publicist Jack Hirshberg no more
MUMBAI: Publicist Jack Hirshberg, who worked on dozens of films in the golden age in Hollywood, expired on 7 March at the age of 92.
Beginning his career as a newspaper reporter in the 1930s, Hirshberg turned a syndicated columnist with Hirshberg‘s Hollywood that ran throughout Canada.
Hirshberg also represented such notables as Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, Gary Cooper, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Martin & Lewis and Cecil B. DeMille.
He was a founding member of the Publicists Guild of America in 1937 and worked on films like The Ten Commandments, Some Like It Hot, Play It Again, Sam, All the President‘s Men and Ordinary People.
Starting with Paramount in 1940,Hirshberg retired in 1973, but at the request of Robert Redford, he came back to handle the publicity on Redford films All the President‘s Men (1976), The Electric Horseman (1979) and two more Brubaker and Ordinary People.
A celebration of his life will take place April 24. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made in Jack‘s memory to the Motion Picture and TV Fund, the Blind Childrens Center in Los Angeles or the City of Hope.
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.
