Martin Scorsese is teaming up with the artificial intelligence company Black Forest Labs, where he will serve as an advisor with the research lab.
The Academy Award winner said in a statement released Tuesday that he’s utilizing the company’s FLUX technology to assist in creating storyboards.
“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. 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 said. “Remember, cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve.”
He continued, “I utilized 3D with Hugo and de-aging technology for The Irishman. 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 — for them to build on to enrich cinematic intelligence. I recently tested this out on a scene and the ability to visualize and immediately share the storyboard was creatively freeing. During the pre-production process, time costs money, and this allowed us to move faster without sacrificing quality or craft.”
But some artists were quick to criticize the move. “He throws every single storyboard artist he’s ever worked with under the bus, as he demolishes their livelihoods with models that are likely trained on those story board artist’s same works,” the concept artist and illustrator Karla Ortiz wrote on X.
The director and animator Sam Deats also had sharp words for the Goodfellas director. “It takes literally seconds for me to storyboard a shot, there is absolutely no reason to need AI built on the stolen work of millions of artists to storyboard your vision, have some damn pride and respect your peers,” he posted.
Black Forest released a video of Scorsese utilizing the AI platform to help with the storyboarding process. He said, “If you have a tool like this, you could figure it out much much quicker and you could save production time, and also less wear and tear on the crew.”
With his new role as a Black Forest Labs advisor, Scorsese becomes one of the most prolific Hollywood directors who have voiced their support of AI. Avatar helmer James Cameron joined the board of AI firm Stability AI last September, whereas, on the flipside, Guillermo del Toro told The Hollywood Reporter in October when asked about his thoughts on AI infiltrating creative spaces, “I don’t think anyone wants this.”
“It would be like spitting on God,” del Toro added when asked how he would feel if someone from his team suggested using AI to generate something from the outset.
