International
Tarantino is landlord of LA’s New Beverly Cinema
MUMBAI: Quentin Tarantino is the new landlord of Los Angeles‘s New Beverly Cinema, that was till yet the prestigious property of the Torgan family.
The cinema hall has been the business of the Torgan family since 1978. But for the intervention of Tarantino, it would be have been just another chain franchise.
Said Tarantino, “The cinema hall was going to be turned into a Super Cuts. I had been coming to the New Beverly ever since I was old enough to drive there from the South Bay since 1982. So, I couldn‘t let that happen.”
Built in 1929 as a first-run cinema hall, the Torgan family moved into the property and turned it into a 200-seat venue for classic, independent and foreign films.
The cinema hall on Beverly hit hard times in the mid-2000s as the DVD market started eating into its ticket sales. And since then, Sherman Torgan, the family patriarch and the operator of the hall was facing serious financial troubles.
“Since I‘m a print collector and I screen movies at my home, I heard from other collectors and projectionists that Sherman might have to close down,” Tarantino said.
After that, the director got in touch and asked Torgan how much money he needed a month to keep up the theatre. “The answer was about $5,000. So, I just started paying him that per month. I considered it a contribution to cinema,” Tarantino said.
Torgan passed away unexpectedly in 2007, leaving his family and friends of the New Beverly in mourning and the future of the theatre in doubt.
“Within a week of my father‘s death, the landlord had a buyer bidding for the theater space,” said Michael Torgan, Sherman‘s son.
Desperate to prevent the loss of the family business, the Torgans began considering all options. “Fortunately, I found a copy of our original lease, and it said that the family had the right of first refusal if we could find another buyer.”
“My father had just expired, so it wasn‘t a good time for our family,” Michael recalled.
“We thought we might lose the theatre. My mother reached out to Tarantino and explained to him that we were in trouble.”
Then, Tarantino decided to buy the space outright.
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.
