DistantNews
Support us
🇵🇦 Panama /Technology

Director Maggie Gyllenhaal abandoned AI for her Marilyn Monroe film

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal said she abandoned generative video AI in her Marilyn Monroe short because the results did not work.
  • She said Dakota Johnson’s performance as Monroe proved more moving, human and alive than the AI-generated material.
  • Her comments highlight current limits of video AI and concerns about its effect on jobs in the audiovisual industry.

Maggie Gyllenhaal tested generative video AI for her short film about Marilyn Monroe, then discarded the results. “Basically it didn’t work,” she said in Venice.

basically it didn’t work

· Maggie GyllenhaalShe explained why she abandoned generative video AI in her Marilyn Monroe short.

The 17-minute film, “Flesh Impact,” features Dakota Johnson as Monroe during the star’s golden years and Ellen Burstyn as an older Monroe. It imagines what Monroe’s life might have been like had she not died in 1962.

Gyllenhaal, who chairs this year’s Venice Film Festival jury, said the people who commissioned the project asked her to use AI. The system had been licensed and trained on Monroe films for which the filmmakers held the rights. “I thought: ‘Okay, I’m curious. Let’s see,’” she said during a discussion about artificial intelligence at the festival.

I thought: ‘Okay, I’m curious. Let’s see,’

· Maggie GyllenhaalShe described her initial reaction when the project’s commissioners asked her to use AI.

After extensive work, she rejected the material. She said the footage of Johnson playing Monroe was “much more moving, human, alive.” Her comments point to the current limitations of AI video, while the technology continues to fuel concern in the audiovisual industry over its impact on employment.

much more moving, human, alive

· Maggie GyllenhaalShe compared Dakota Johnson’s performance with the AI-generated material she discarded.
About this summary

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog