Martin Scorsese has become one of the most prominent Hollywood directors to publicly embrace artificial intelligence, announcing a partnership with artificial intelligence company Black Forest Labs that will allow him to use the technology to create storyboards.
The Oscar winner, 82, will act as an advisor to the research lab and has already begun testing its FLUX imaging technology during pre-production.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Scorsese framed his interest in AI not as a departure from his values as a filmmaker, but as a continuation of his long-standing commitment to new tools.
“For 70 years, I’ve been creating my own storyboards. There’s always been the problem of how to communicate what you see in your head to the cast and crew,” he said.
“There are some things you have to see and feel. I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the boundaries of creativity to create deeper, richer experiences for audiences. Remember, film is a young medium, it’s only about 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve.”
He drew a direct line between this movement and his previous technological experiments, the use of 3D in Hugo and anti-aging technology in The Irishman.
For Scorsese, the appeal of AI storyboards is fundamentally practical.
“Now, with this tool, I can share what I’m visualizing more clearly and efficiently with my creative team, the production designer, the art designer and the director of photography, so they can enrich the cinematic intelligence,” he said.
“During the pre-production process, time costs money and this allowed us to move faster without sacrificing quality or craftsmanship.”
He also noted what the technology means to the people around him: “If you have a tool like this, you could figure it out a lot faster and you could save production time, and also less wear and tear on the equipment.”
The announcement places Scorsese alongside James Cameron, who joined the board of artificial intelligence firm Stability AI last September, as one of Hollywood’s most prominent voices willing to engage with the technology rather than resist it.
