International
South East Asian filmmakers feel need for more skills training
MUMBAI: Delegates from several South East Asian countries have suggested government intent to develop the sector and an interest in working with the Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet) and the inter-governmental body Asean.
The development potential of South East Asia and the changes underway within Asia‘s Film Commissions were put in the spotlight at two seminars during Busan‘s Asian Film Policy Forum held during the Festival that concluded over the weekend.
Presentations by government officials from Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia showed countries with vastly different stages of film industry development. Indonesia said it would produce 100 films this year, but Laos expected only six films; there is a common need for more cinemas and more skills training.
Bounchao Phichit, director general from the Laos‘ culture ministry‘s department of cinema, charted a decline in theatre numbers between 1985 and 2005 and said that the government has kick-started film-making and acts variously as regulator, producer, distributor and cheerleader. He said he was happy to see that of this year‘s crop of films five were produced by private-sector firms.
Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise managing director Aung Myo Myint said that he has a “burning desire” to cultivate the skills of film artists and technicians through regional training courses and through visiting international productions. He also hinted at a surprising vibrancy; Myanmar produced 16 feature films, but also 581 video films in 2010.
Do Duy An suggested that even in the absence of financial incentives the number of co-produced films is rising. They climbed from just 2 in 2006 to 5 in 2008.
Syamsul ‘Sam‘ Lussa said that the government intends to develop cinema for both cultural and industrial reasons. But he spoke of a shortage of cinema screens that is restricting growth – there are only some 650 screens in 55 towns and cities for a population of 239 million – and a need for skills training. He also said that film needs to be removed
from the country‘s ‘negative list,‘ a list of industries in which
foreign investment is restricted or banned.
A day earlier, film commissioners described how they are increasingly taking a developmental role in addition to their traditional function of ‘production attraction‘.
Wellington Fung said that Hong Kong‘s Film Development Council is now funding technical training schemes (for assistant directors, production managers, editors and martial artists) through the new Film Academy set up at HK Baptist University.Filmmaker and actor Inoue Toshihiko said that the Sapporo Hokkaido Contents Strategy Organisation no longer simply matched locations with productions but also takes on investment matching and that his region is increasingly being used for shoots from Singapore, Thailand and India.
Oh Seok-gun, head of Busan‘s proactive Film Commission, said that Busan is now funding script development and that its budget for such incentives is set to rise to $255,000.
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.
