AI
Technology Has Always Driven Storytelling
Doug Liman started his career using Kodak’s new high-speed film stock to make Swingers on a shoestring budget. Technology has always empowered him to tell stories. He jumped into VR early, earning a Guinness World Record for the first VR series. When Google approached him about AI, he brought a feature script. Two and a half years later, 30 Ninjas has powered the first fully AI studio film with Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Pete Davidson.
AI Studios Need Both Interactive and Film Arms
Jed Weintrob co-founded 30 Ninjas to use new technology for storytelling. The studio has two arms: an interactive story extension company for XR headsets and mobile platforms, and an AI film studio. The interactive side creates AI-driven characters tied to linear properties using generative AI. The film side works with top Hollywood, sports, and music creators. 30 Ninjas uses an artist-first approach to AI storytelling, partnering with Google’s DeepMind team.
Interactive AI Characters Extend Linear Stories
Asteroid is a 180-degree stereoscopic XR film directed by Doug Liman for the Galaxy XR headset. After the film, one character survives and the viewer assumes a role to rescue him. The character DK Metcalf uses the Gemini Live API for natural language conversation. Writers produced a thousand pages of material to train the model. The Unity app keeps the player within the story world with the same tension from the film, creating a photorealistic but abstracted environment.
AI Removes Production Constraints
Bitcoin tells the story of Craig Wright, played by Casey Affleck, who may have created cryptocurrency. Pete Davidson plays a billionaire magnate. Gal Gadot plays a reporter. Doug Liman chose this story because cryptocurrency pits humans against machines. AI removed traditional production constraints. Instead of 40 locations, the film uses 150 cities worldwide. The script expanded because Doug no longer had to condense scenes. The film hired over 125 actors, far more than the 50 in Bourne Identity.
Agile Production Pipelines for AI Filmmaking
Julina Tatlock served as AI supervisor on set. The team ran AI artists alongside the edit, generating environments from art department concepts. Performance capture happened on one stage over four and a half weeks after six months of prep. Doug committed to camera angles on set so the edit team had material to work with. 30 Ninjas treats pre-production, production, and post as an agile process. The pipeline changes every few weeks as new tools emerge.
Use AI Tools to Amplify Creative Vision
Jed Weintrob urged filmmakers to use available tools. Google has invested billions in AI tools that creators can use today. Julina Tatlock advised learning what tools do well and then breaking them to find a personal style. Doug Liman told filmmakers not to copy others. Use AI to bring out humanity, not replace it. He admitted asking Gemini to write a scene and finding the result terrible. The goal is empowerment, not automation.
Notable Quotes
I don’t necessarily think of myself as an artist because I make commercial Hollywood movies Doug Liman · ▶ Watch (1:15)
Well, I’ve never made a movie like this before either. Doug Liman · ▶ Watch (5:41)
The reality on Bitcoin is that when you suddenly go to 150 different locations as opposed to 40 in a traditional movie, those locations have to be populated with people and characters Doug Liman · ▶ Watch (29:53)
it’s a really interesting idea to figure out what the engine what the what the tools can do really well, but also try to break it and try to make it look untraditional Julina Tatlock · ▶ Watch (37:43)
Key Takeaways
- Doug Liman directed the first AI studio film with 150 locations and 125 actors.
- 30 Ninjas uses Gemini Live API for interactive AI characters that extend stories.
- AI filmmaking collapsed post-production from 40 years to 6 months.