Artificial intelligence as a lightning rod in Hollywood may finally be settling into a place of acceptance. In recent years, with AI at the center of entertainment-industry labor strikes, creatives have slowly been coming out in favor of specific use of generative AI technology. Ben Affleck quietly created an AI company and sold it to Netflix earlier this year. Val Kilmer’s likeness will be revived using AI. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have recently discussed their embrace of AI. Auteur filmmaker Steven Soderbergh announced he’s using “a lot of AI” in a forthcoming project.
The latest major filmmaker to publicly jump aboard the AI train is legendary director Martin Scorsese. As reported by the New York Times, Scorsese has endorsed the use of AI specifically for the purpose of storyboarding. Scorsese has signed on as a partner for Black Forest Labs, an A.I. startup that began in 2022 and specialized in image generation. The director recorded a video from his office that further explains his position. By way of example, Scorsese stands up and explains a vision of a medieval-looking town with narrow cobblestone streets. He also describes an aged man driving a car. The technology spits out something close to what Scorsese was thinking, which will help his crew more easily visualize the director’s thoughts.
As one of the most celebrated and trusted filmmakers alive, Scorsese’s endorsement of even a highly specified application of A.I. is going to turn heads. After all, storyboarding is an art and unless you are storyboarding your own script via technology, you may be cutting out work someone may otherwise get paid for. On the other hand, it’s easy to see how this technology could improve on-set communication. Scorsese refers to using generative A.I. to convey an image-driven message as using a form of “cinematic intelligence.” Using an example from a previous film, Scorsese explained how he could have staged the individual beats of the Copacabana entrance in Goodfellas more quickly using Black Forest Labs’ technology
“I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences,” Scorsese told the New York Times, “Remember, cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve.”
More from Scorsese’s New York Times statement:
“For 70 years, I’ve been creating my own storyboards. There’s always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew. There are some things you have to see and feel. Now with this tool, I can share what I’m visualizing more clearly and efficiently to my creative team — the production designer, art designer and cinematographer. I recently tested this out on a scene, and the ability to visualize and immediately share the storyboard was creatively freeing. During the preproduction process, time costs money, and this allowed us to move faster without sacrificing quality or craft.”
It’s worth noting that three years ago, Scorsese said that the film industry was “over” in an interview with GQ, as many people have pointed out on X. The filmmaker has also been strongly critical of superhero movies and the degradation of cinema, so it would likely surprise many people to see Scorsese come out in support of A.I. However, it’s also worth remembering that Scorsese faced a similar conversation and criticism when he used de-aging technology in The Irishman.
As a studied historian of his own craft, Scorsese knows that the movie industry has gone through many major transitions over time, and we are simply living through another one of these periods. We’re clearly seeing the discussion around artificial intelligence settle into a place where terms are defined and lines are drawn between what is and isn’t acceptable, even if the debate is far from over.
