International
Jodie Foster to receive Golden Globes honour
MUMBAI: In recognition of her 40-year career as an actress, director and film producer, two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster will receive a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes ceremony next January, organiser Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has said.
Foster, who will join the likes of earlier winners like Lucille Ball, Barbara Streisand, Al Pacino, Morgan Freeman and Judy Garland, will become the 2013 recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille award.
“Jodie is a multifaceted woman that has achieved immeasurable amounts of success and will continue to do so in her career,” HFPA president Aida Takla-O‘Reilly said in a statement. “Her ambition, exuberance and grace have helped pave the way for budding artists in this business. She‘s truly one of a kind,” she added.
The 49-year old Foster began her career filming commercials at the age of three and won international fame with her role as a streetwise teen in Taxi Driver. Since then she has appeared in more than 40 films winning best actress Oscars for her role as a rape victim in The Accused and as the FBI agent in The Silence of The Lambs.
Foster also branched out into directing (Little Man Tate) and producing for both film and television through her production company Egg Pictures.
The veteran actress will be presented with her award at the Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills on January 13.
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.
