The future of Hollywood isn’t feeding prompts into vanilla gen AI models

The Tribeca Film Festival showcased a mix of AI-assisted films, exposing the current gaps in generative AI’s ability to produce polished cinema. Projects like *Roar* by Illuminai Studios and *ChikaBOOM!* by Asteria Film Co. relied heavily on AI-generated visuals but suffered from disjointed storytelling and rough production quality. These films highlighted the technology’s limitations, including inconsistent footage and a lack of emotional depth compared to human-crafted work. In contrast, *Dear Upstairs Neighbors*, a collaboration between Pixar veteran Connie Qin He and Google DeepMind researchers, proved AI could enhance filmmaking when paired with human creativity. The short follows Ada, a young woman struggling to sleep due to noisy upstairs neighbors, blending AI-generated elements with hand-painted concept art by Pixar’s Yingzong Xin. The film’s distinct visual style and narrative cohesion demonstrated how AI tools can be refined for artistic purposes rather than used as a standalone solution. OpenAI’s *Mauvais Soleil* also exemplified this approach, though details about its production process were less emphasized. The festival underscored that Hollywood’s current AI partnerships, such as Disney’s collaboration with OpenAI, may face challenges due to technological constraints and shifting industry priorities. Many AI video models remain limited to short, visually inconsistent clips, making them unsuitable for feature-length storytelling. Experts suggest that studios must move beyond feeding prompts into generic AI models and instead integrate the technology into workflows with human oversight. The festival’s experimental films revealed that AI’s role in cinema will likely be supplementary—enhancing creativity rather than replacing it. As the industry explores these possibilities, the balance between innovation and artistic integrity remains a critical question for filmmakers and tech developers alike.