Scorsese's AI Move Signals Shift in How Hollywood Views Generative Tools
Martin Scorsese, at 83, has joined German AI firm Black Forest Labs as an adviser, making him the highest-profile filmmaker yet to publicly embrace generative AI. The Oscar-winning director is using the company's FLUX generative models to storyboard scenes for his next film, What Happens at Night, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence.
Scorsese framed the move as evolution, not capitulation. "Cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve," he said in a statement.
The announcement split Hollywood. For some, it signals permission to adopt tools the industry has treated with suspicion. For others, it changes nothing about their opposition to AI in filmmaking.
The Upper Tier of Directors Is Already Using AI
Scorsese is not alone. James Cameron joined Stability AI's board in 2024 and has discussed using the technology to streamline mega-budget film production. Steven Soderbergh used Meta's AI tools to create sequences in his Cannes documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview and plans to use AI heavily on an upcoming Spanish-American War film.
Director Doug Liman used AI to generate scene backgrounds and stage lighting on the $70 million feature Bitcoin. Jon Erwin, who directed The Old Stories: Moses for Amazon MGM, filmed the three-part series in a single week on a Los Angeles soundstage by using AI to generate backgrounds in real time as actors performed.
The pattern is clear: even when AI remains invisible on screen, filmmakers are using it to work faster and at lower cost.
Economics Make the Case Harder to Refuse
Production company Acme AI claims its tools can reduce a film's shooting schedule by 60 to 70 percent. That efficiency translates to budget savings studios cannot ignore.
Erwin argued that AI adoption could actually protect jobs rather than eliminate them. "I think the greater threat of job loss in our industry is actually just how expensive things have gotten and how long they take to make," he told the Los Angeles Times. If costs drop enough for studios to greenlight more projects, the theory goes, overall employment increases.
For creatives considering whether to learn these tools, the economic argument is becoming difficult to dismiss. Generative Video and AI for Creatives resources are available for those looking to develop relevant skills.
Fully AI-Generated Films Are Reaching Major Festivals
The Tribeca Festival will premiere Dreams of Violets, a 75-minute AI-generated docudrama about the Iranian civilian resistance, made for $2,000 from a London home over three months. At Cannes, the AI-generated action film Hell Grind debuted at the film marketplace, produced for $500,000.
Directors like Gareth Edwards (Rogue One) and Paul Schrader (American Gigolo) have expressed genuine interest in the possibilities. Edwards has discussed plans for a hybrid generative AI film. Schrader has suggested AI could replace extras in future productions.
Opposition Remains Vocal and Organized
Guillermo del Toro said recently he would "rather die" than use generative AI in his films. Steven Spielberg said he does not believe AI should be "the final word" in the creative process. "I don't believe there is any substitute for the soul," Spielberg said on the IMO podcast. "A computer that thinks it feels more than we feel is anathema to the way I was raised."
Christopher Nolan, chair of the Directors Guild of America, has flagged AI as a central concern in the guild's contract negotiations with studios, warning that innovation cannot become "an excuse to pay our members less."
What Comes Next Remains Unclear
Even filmmakers most excited about AI admit uncertainty. "We don't know where it's going to go," Edwards said. "I think anybody saying they know exactly what's going to happen over the next five years is just a liar."
Scorsese's endorsement may not settle the debate, but it has shifted where the conversation happens. In Hollywood, few figures carry more weight than the director of Goodfellas. That weight now extends, at least partially, to a generative AI startup in Germany.
Your membership also unlocks:
