Runway’s fourth annual AI Film Festival offered a vivid look at how quickly generative video tools are advancing and how unsettled Hollywood remains about their impact. The event, held in Santa Monica, screened 10 AI-generated shorts selected from hundreds of submissions, drawing a crowd that included filmmakers, studio leaders and industry observers.
The films varied widely in style and tone. Some leaned into animation or stop-motion aesthetics, while others aimed for a more realistic look. The subjects ranged from unsettling body-horror imagery to quieter, more reflective storytelling and outright surreal concepts. The work still showed familiar AI flaws, including awkward mouth movement, overly smooth motion and difficulty rendering readable text, but the overall impression was of a medium that has moved far beyond its early, meme-worthy phase.
Dave Clark, cofounder of AI film studio Promise and creator of one of the featured films, said the latest tools have become practical enough to slot into a professional workflow. He said he can now place a 4K generative shot next to footage captured on a camera, a sign that AI is becoming part of production rather than a standalone novelty.
The festival arrived at a moment when the entertainment industry is still debating how to handle AI. Many artists and performers continue to push back against the technology, while awards bodies are working through questions about eligibility and authorship. Some industry participants are also trying to define consent-based rules for the use of actors' likenesses.
At the same time, AI has already moved into mainstream entertainment business deals. Runway has a partnership with Lionsgate, and the companies expanded that relationship last week into a joint development program focused on creating projects that combine AI with traditional content production. Other major names in Hollywood have also shown interest in AI, including Martin Scorsese, whose advisory role with Black Forest Labs drew significant attention.
Runway executives argue that the technology is meant to broaden access rather than simply replace workers. Jamie Umpherson, the company’s chief creative officer, said AI can help people who previously lacked the resources to make films bring ideas to life. He added that experienced creators can use the tools as part of a larger toolkit.
Umpherson said the technology could help projects that have been stuck in development for years finally get made. That argument also came up during a panel before the screening featuring Runway CEO Cristobal Valenzuela, screenwriter Roger Avary and Gala Avary, both of General Cinema Dynamics.
Roger Avary said the people most likely to lose out are not necessarily artists themselves but the intermediaries who control access to production. Gala Avary said AI tools can help smaller teams overcome practical barriers such as finding locations and securing permits, making it easier to realize ambitious independent projects.
The festival also reflected a broader shift in the market. As large studios become more cautious, smaller independent films have been finding stronger audiences. Supporters of AI in filmmaking say generative tools could accelerate that trend by lowering the cost and complexity of making projects that would otherwise never get off the ground.
Still, the implications for labor and creativity remain unresolved. AI companies say the technology expands opportunity, but critics worry studios may use it to cut costs by replacing human workers. The festival’s screenings suggested that the technical quality is improving quickly, even if the machines still struggle with some basic details.
For Hollywood, the bigger question may no longer be whether AI can make film images at all. It is how much of filmmaking, from development to production to performance, it will eventually touch.