International
John Calley expires
MUMBAI: Producer of The Da Vinci Code John Calley died on Tuesday. He was 81. His death was announced by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Calley – three-time studio chief, confidant of Stanley Kubrick rose to Hollywood‘s highest ranks by making gut-level bets on directors and writers and by gently and quietly steering them.
Stints at leading studios like Warner Brothers, United Artists and Sony gave Calley his A-list status in Hollywood‘s executive ranks, but it was his approach to those jobs that made him stand out.
Like any studio boss, he had his share of failures and purely commercial hits. While The Towering Inferno was a hit, he also directed films like Clockwork Orange (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Chariots of Fire (1981) and As Good as It Gets.
“When he believed in someone, he trusted and supported him,” Mike Nichols, who collaborated with Calley in films like Catch-22 to Closer, said in a statement.
John Calley was born on 8 July, 1930, in Jersey City, the son of a car salesman, and, after serving in the Army, worked at 21 as a mail clerk for NBC in New York. After climbing a few rungs on the network‘s ladder, he left to join an advertising firm before giving film producing a try at Filmways, a production company mostly known for TV comedies like The Beverly Hillbillies.
In 1996, Calley took the reins of Sony‘s movie operation and delivered hits like Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise, but his biggest contribution to the studio involved restoring stability: Columbia, Sony‘s major arm, had four presidents come and go from 1991 to 1996.
He stepped down in 2003 but kept producing films for Sony that included The Da Vinci Code.
Calley‘s survivors include his daughter, Sabrina Calley, and three stepchildren, Emily Zinnemann, David Zinnemann and Will Firth, from his marriage to the actress Meg Tilly that ended in 2002.
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.
