Russian film industry explores the growing role of AI in cinema

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the Russian film industry, enhancing production through background creation, crowd scenes, and secondary characters. At the Cinema Night event, industry leaders discussed AI's role, emphasizing that creative decisions remain in the hands of directors, artists, and screenwriters. Yulia Osetinskaya, General Producer of Soyuzmultfilm, revealed AI's use in creating short videos of characters like Cheburashka, as well as developing character costumes, locations, and props.

Dmitry Rudovsky, Director, Screenwriter, and General Producer of AP Entertainment, showcased Unreal Engine and LED screens in large-scale productions, such as the one-day creation of Alaska using AI-generated Alaskan settings. Sergey Ryabov, CEO of AI Lab, noted that generative models excel in short formats like trailers and vertical series, but creative input from screenwriters, directors, artists, and producers remains crucial for project success.

Yana Shmailova and Ekaterina Kononenko, co-founders of Forge Cinema AI, warned of the resource-intensive nature of AI-generated video, with up to 1,000 minutes potentially needed to produce one minute of an action scene. Combining traditional filming with generative technologies, as seen in Mesto Sily's Kaifsk. City of Gnomes series, aims to reduce costs and speed up workflows while leveraging AI's practical applications.

Co-founders Yulia Lipatova and Makar Kozhukhov of Magic Studio emphasized their use of AI to streamline production by breaking down scripts into scenes, shots, and parameters, freeing human operators to monitor and refine the process.