Zurich Film Festival(ZFF), an annual event in Switzerland known for placing a spotlight on emerging films and filmmakers, revealed the big screen’s next biggest innovation: Tilly Norwood, the first actress who is 100% AI-generated.
Eline Van der Veleden, a dutch actress, comedian, and now technologist, presented at the festival’s panel to reveal Xiocia, the first production studio to specialize in producing artificial “Characters”. Van der Veleden was joined by the head of Luma AI’s Studio dream Lab LA, Verena Puhm. The two introduced Tilly Norwood acting abilities in a 2 minute comedy sketch, however Norwood isn’t developed enough to do interviews at this time.
Van der Veleden and Puhm reported to the AP news that after the presentation they were surrounded by talent agencies looking to sign Tilly Norwood. A deal has not been made at this time.
While the reaction at the festival was positive, Hollywood had a completely different response.
Notable actors such as general hospital star Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Scream actress Melissa Barrera, and well-known rom-com actress Toni Colette spoke out via social media to voice their concerns regarding agencies signing on AI created individuals. They all condemned the industry for even being open to utilizing Tilly Norwood, Barrere commenting under the post made by the Deadline entertainment news, that she “Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their (expletive deleted),” while others such as Colette, demand that SAG-AFTRA(Union/guild) make any statement to address the concerns.
The guild released a statement to the Deadline that “SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.” Van der Velden responded to the industry’s concerns by confirming that Norwood was not created with the intent to replace actors, but to serve as a tool. She went on to explain “…AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. I’m an actor myself, and nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance,”
There is still a lot unknown about the future for Tilly Norwood; She is still in the process of being tested and has no agency. Van der Veleden and Verena Puhm intend to make more AI “Characters” and get an agent for Norwood within the next year. The industry is split on the topic of AI on the big screen, but they agree on one thing: Creativity is not a computer code, it’s human.
