International
Academy to honour Winfrey on 12 November
MUMBAI: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and sciences will honour Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith with Oscar statuettes at the Governors Awards on 12 November.
The 57-year old Winfrey will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award that honours philanthropic and humanitarian contributions. Incidentally, Winfrey supports various charitable and educational causes including her own namesake foundations and Academy for Girls in South Africa.
Jones and Smith will receive honorary Oscars for their outstanding careers. Jones, who has appeared in more than 50 films, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1971 for The Great White Hope.His other credits include Field of Dreams, Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October.
Starting his career in 1945 as NBC‘s first makeup man, Smith won an Oscar in 1984 for his work on Amadeus and was nominated again in 1989 for Dad. He also worked on The Godfather, ‘The Exorcist and Taxi Driver.
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.
