Cinema Synthetica Contest Challenges Filmmakers to Make AI-Created Shorts in 48 Hours

The Winner will be selected May 16 as part of the AI on the Lot conference in downtown Los Angeles

Technologists Todd Terrazas, Max Einhorn, Mike Gioia and Ian Eck have posed a challenge to nine up-and-coming filmmakers: create short films using generative AI in only 48 hours. The Cinema Synthetica filmmaking competition is the first of its kind, founded in hopes of demonstrating the potential of AI tools to influence the future of filmmaking.

The completion is part of the AI on the Lot conference, a one-day summit to be held next week in downtown Los Angeles where Hollywood creatives can collaborate with those at the forefront of artificial intelligence. The nine Cinema Synthetica participants were carefully selected for the challenge and then divided into teams of three. After two full days of work, the films will be presented at AI on the Lot on May 16 to a panel of judges that will include such industry insiders as Einhorn, Jeff Clanagan, Kathleen McCaffrey, Momo Wang, Rachel Joy Victor and Jackee Chang.

The teams will base their shorts on a dialogue-only script written by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Bernie Su (“Artificial,” “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”). The films must be between two and five minutes long and produced with a budget of $500.

AI has been a very controversial issue in the entertainment world, competition co-founder Einhorn emphasized that generative AI is a tool t -

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o help filmmakers elevate their creative visions.

“Generative AI is set to revolutionize the filmmaking process, not by displacing jobs but by empowering more creative individuals to share their stories,” Einhorn said. “The digital camera and the Internet have already reduced barriers to entry for storytellers, and the ‘Cinema Synthetica’ competition is a testament to how GenAI will do the same. This competition demonstrates that technological advancements can benefit the filmmaking process, rather than hinder it.”

Su echoed Einhorn’s remarks and emphasized that there is still very much a human aspect behind the creation of the short films.

“As the filmmakers blend the AI tools with their incredible human talent, they’ll be crafting films that were not possible just three months ago with these resources,” Su added. “It’s an honor to provide a spark of inspiration in this groundbreaking event.”

(Pictured: Cinema Synthetica participants read through the script in preparation for the contest.)

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