International
Two OZ filmmakers to attend Sundance’s Screenwriters Labs
MUMBAI: Two Australian filmmakers Ariel Kleiman, co-writer and director and Sarah Cyngler, co-writer of a film titled Partisan will travel to Utah to take part in the annual Sundance Institute‘s Directors and Screenwriters Labs.
Partisan is the story of an 11 year-old boy Alexander who is raised to see the world through his parent‘s eyes, begins to think for himself.
The program will call on accomplished advisors, professional actors and production crews to shoot and edit scenes from Partisan‘s screenplay to help Kleiman and Cyngler refine their ideas. The workshop, that will run for a month from 28 May, will also include emerging filmmakers from the US, Italy, Romania, France, Algeria, Chile and the UK.
Kleiman‘s short film Young Love was screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival where it took an honourable mention in short film-making.
His follow-up Deeper Than Yesterday had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week where it won the Kodak Discovery Award for best short film and the Petit Rail Door. The film was also awarded the Jury Prize for in international film-making at 2011?s Sundance Film Festival.
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.
