International
Gotham award to Tom Rothman
MUMBAI: Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO Tom Rothman will be presented with the 21st annual industry tribute at the 21st Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on 38 November in New York.
Each year, the Industry Tribute is awarded to a career veteran who has significantly influenced the motion picture business.
Anchoring the evening‘s seven competitive awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, Best Film and the new Audience Award are tributes to film community icons, including the Industry Tribute, as well as a director, actor and an actress.
Tom Rothman‘s extensive experience in all facets of the film industry makes him the ideal recipient of this award. In addition to overseeing some of the biggest blockbusters in motion picture history, he has long been a steadfast supporter of independent cinema.
In 1994, Rothman founded Fox Searchlight Pictures, which is one of the most successful producers and distributors of specialised fare in the industry, and continues to receive consistent and unwavering backing from its parent studio.
The CEO is one of the longest tenured studio heads in the modern Hollywood era in the career of whom Fox released films as Black Swan, Cast Away, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Walk the Line, The Devil Wears Prada, Water for Elephants, The Simpsons Movie, the X-Men and Ice Age and the two top grossers Titanic and Avatar.
Said the Independent Filmmaker Project executive director Joana Vicente, "We are truly honoured to dedicate our Industry Tribute to Tom Rothman, who has made an indelible impact in the film community. Through his work, he has supported the spirit of independent film and given these voices the means to reach audiences, irrespective of the budget size of their work."
Previous honorees of Gotham Awards are James Schamus, Bob & Harvey Weinstein, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sheila Nevins , David Linde, Jonathan Sehring and film critic Roger Ebert; actors Robert Duval, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Kate Winslet; filmmakers Mira Nair, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese.
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.
