Art Directors Guild Lashes Out At Martin Scorsese For AI Promotion

The Art Directors Guild has called out Martin Scorsese’s endorsement of an AI tool for storyboarding. Referring to a promotional video for Black Forest Labs’ generative AI system FLUX, the guild wrote, “In the recently released Black Forest Labs video promoting their generative AI product FLUX, Mr. Scorsese asks the question, ‘how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew?’ He claims the solution is the use of this generative AI program to do the jobs that are rightfully the jurisdiction of Art Directors Guild Local 800 artists and designers – human artists and designers who have been successfully collaborating with directors to visualize their films for decades".

The ADG negotiates on behalf of storyboard artists, who create visual sequences from written scripts that can guide the filmmaking process. The union also represents concept artists, illustrators, graphic artists, set designers and production designers.

The ADG underlined this an example of the director “turning his back on the human artists who throughout his career have helped him create his most memorable works." Black Forest Labs on June 2 revealed Scorsese as a new advisor, saying the appointment was intended to “push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences.” In a statement published on the company’s website, Scorsese said cinema “is a young medium” and that filmmakers “have to be open to how it can evolve.”

"Mr. Scorsese’s promotion of a generative AI product circumvents the input of Art Directors Guild Local 800 art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers, and other talented Union professionals,” the statement further says.

Scorsese has defended his position: “I recently tested this out on a scene, and the ability to visualise and immediately share the storyboard was creatively freeing. During the preproduction process, time costs money, and this allowed us to move faster without sacrificing quality or craft.”