Tribeca film festival to showcase first-ever AI-generated short films

Tribeca Film Festival partners with OpenAI to debut the first-ever short films created using AI.

The Tribeca Film Festival will debut five short films created using OpenAI's Sora model, marking a significant step for AI's role in filmmaking. Sora allows users to generate video clips based on textual descriptions.

"Tribeca is rooted in the belief that storytelling inspires change," said Tribeca Enterprises co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal according to a press release. "We're excited to see what these filmmakers create with Sora."

This program is a collaboration between Tribeca Festival and OpenAI. A group of filmmakers were trained on the Sora model, which is not yet publicly available. The filmmakers were required to adhere to agreements negotiated with the DGA, WGA, and SAG in 2023 regarding the use of AI in film production.

"We are honored to have these works debut at Tribeca," said OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap according to the press release. "We're eager to learn how Sora can be a better tool for creatives."

The films will be screened on June 15th, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. This news comes after a period of increased partnerships between OpenAI and media companies, including Vox Media, The Atlantic, News Corp., Reddit, and Dotdash Meredith.