International
Steven Spielberg heads Cannes Fest competition jury
MUMBAI: The 66th Cannes Film Festival has announced that filmmaker Steven Spielberg will head its competition jury.
Spielberg said, “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has always established the motion picture as a cross cultural and generational medium.”
Festival de Cannes president Gilles Jacob said, “As they say across the Atlantic,” said “Steven Spielberg is a Cannes ‘regular‘: Sugarland Express, Color Purple. But it was with E.T. that I screened as a world premiere in ‘82 that ties were made of the type you never forget. Ever since, I‘ve often asked Steven to be Jury President, but he‘s always been shooting a film. So when this year I was told E.T., phone home, I understood and immediately replied: “At last!”
Spielberg, born in Ohio in 1946, has been a film enthusiast from a very young age. The first film he made was Sugarland Express that was selected for the Festival de Cannes in 1974 and won the best screenplay award.
In 1993, Steven Spielberg‘s Jurassic Park beat all records for box-office takings in the US. Famous for his commercial successes, his films also The Color Purple (1986), Empire Of The Sun(1987), Schindler‘s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), War Of The Worlds (2005), The Adventure Of Tintin: Secret Of The Unicorn (2011) and his latest Lincoln.
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.
