International
Shirley MacLaine to receive AFI honour
MUMBAI: The American Film Institute (AFI) has selected Shirley MacLaine to receive its highest honour, the AFI Life Achievement Award that will be presented to her at a gala tribute on 7 June, next year, in Los Angeles.
Said AFI’s board of trustees chairman Howard Stringer, “Shirley MacLaine is a powerhouse of personality that has illuminated screens large and small across six decades.
From ingénue to screen legend, Shirley has entertained a global audience through song, dance, laughter and tears, and her career as writer, director and producer is even further evidence of her passion for the art form and her seemingly boundless talents.”
An Oscar winner in 1984 as best actress for her performance in Terms of Endearment, MacLaine made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry in 1955. During the course of her career, she has earned six Academy Award nominations, six Emmy noms and seven Golden Globe Awards.
Synapse Films recently released brand-new remastered Blu-ray releases of James Glickenhaus’ The Exterminator, William Lustig’s Manic Cop, and Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker with Tarantino-producer Lawrence Bender’s Intruder releasing this December.
Her latest film, Bernie had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June.
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.
