In an announcement published on the Black Forest Labs website, Scorsese stated that cinema is a relatively young art form, only about 125 years old, and therefore people need to be open to technological changes. The director recalled his past use of 3D technology for *Hugo* and de-aging techniques for actors in *The Irishman*, viewing AI as the next development to help filmmakers realize creative ideas.

"With this tool, I can share what I envision clearly and effectively with the crew, so they can develop and enrich cinematic thinking", the director said.

Director Martin Scorsese at the 63rd New York Film Festival in October 2025. *Photo: AFP*.

Black Forest Labs is a German technology company that specializes in developing AI models to generate images from text. In a video announcing the partnership, the *Goodfellas* director demonstrated how to use Black Forest Labs' FLUX AI model to create storyboards for a scene in a new project. He referenced the famous Steadicam shot in *Goodfellas*, which follows Henry Hill through the Copacabana nightclub, as an example of sequences requiring complex planning and staging.

Scorsese believes that AI tools can help filmmakers experiment with many visual options in a short time. He said, "If there was a tool like this, you could find solutions much faster. That saves production time and reduces pressure on the crew".

Robin Rombach, CEO and co-founder of Black Forest Labs, sees the collaboration with Scorsese as proof of AI's practical application potential in filmmaking. However, it remains unclear whether the director is only an advisor or also an investor in the company.

Scorsese's move has sparked opposition from artists. Karla Ortiz, an artist who worked on many Marvel projects like *Black Panther*, *Avengers: Infinity War*, and *Avengers: Endgame*, argued that the director's action inadvertently negates the contributions of storyboard artists who collaborated with him for decades.

Samuel Deats, director of the *Castlevania* animated series, also criticized the move on social media. He stated that there is no reason to use AI to replace storyboard work when the technology is trained on the works of millions of artists.

Currently, Hollywood holds many opinions on the use of AI in creative work, basically divided into two factions: supporters and opponents. Hollywood filmmakers who openly support AI include director James Cameron, a board member of Stability AI, which produces a text-to-image conversion model.

At the "AI for Talent" workshop at the Cannes Film Festival 2026, Darren Aronofsky, the mind behind *Black Swan*, stated that many projects would not exist without this technology. Aronofsky collaborates with Google DeepMind through his Primordial Soup studio to develop AI-powered projects, including the short film *Goodnight Lamby*, which premiered at Cannes. Additionally, the Tribeca Film Festival (US) will soon screen *Dreams of Violets*, a 75-minute work created entirely with AI.

Conversely, Guillermo del Toro is one of the voices opposing this technology. At the British Film Institute in September 2025, he declared he "would rather die than use AI", criticizing the technology for not delivering emotion or valuable messages. The filmmaker said, "The value of art is not in how much money or effort is saved but in what humans are willing to sacrifice to achieve it".

Trailer for the film "Killers of the Flower Moon" (2023) by director Martin Scorsese. *Video: CGV*.

Martin Scorsese, 84 years old, is an Italian-American director. Experts consider Scorsese the greatest living director, having created many groundbreaking works such as *Taxi Driver*, *Goodfellas*, *The Departed*, and *The Aviator*.

Many of Scorsese's films depict how people cope with inner negativity, reflecting social reality. Throughout his career, the director has won four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, one Grammy, and one Oscar. In late 2023, the National Board of Review honored his *Killers of the Flower Moon* as the best film of the year.

Cat Tien (according to Variety, Guardian)