AI on the Lot has inked a deal with the Toronto International Film Festival to host a pop-up event next month designed to help industry professionals better understand the potential of generative AI tools for visual media.
The presentation aims to showcase how filmmakers are already using AI in storytelling. The session, which is open to accredited festival-goers, will take place on September 8th at Glenn Gould Studios starting at 3:30pm ET, followed by happy hour at 5pm. The 49th Toronto festival will run from September 5th to 15th.
TIFF's AI on the Lot will also premiere “Cinema Synthetica,” a short documentary about nine filmmakers who took part in a 48-hour challenge to create a short film using AI tools. The competition took place as part of the AI on the Lot conference in Hollywood in May.
Participants of TIFF's AI on the Lot include Walter Woodman, founder and director of Toronto-based indie film collective Shy Kids, which is creating narrative short films using the buzzworthy AI video program Sora, and Nick Krebeloff, chief creative officer of creative agency and production company Native Foreign, which used Sora to create an AI-generated Toys R Us branded film, as well as Sam Pressman, CEO of Pressman Film, and Hilary Mason, co-founder and CEO of AI-driven gaming startup Hidden Door.
Todd Terrazas, lead organizer of AI on the Lot and executive director of Artificial Intelligence Los Angeles, will emcee the event.
“Following record attendance growth at our second annual conference this spring, we're excited to bring AI on the Lot to the world with our first-ever AI in Filmmaking pop-up event at TIFF,” said Terrazas. “The world premiere of Cinema Synthetica, demos of Sora's capabilities and discussions with creators who are experimenting with this new technology will give attendees a comprehensive look at the current capabilities of generative AI.”
