“Mr. Scorsese, The Business is not in flux.” So began the statement the Art Directors Guild put out on social media on Tuesday, aimed at one of Hollywood’s most celebrated directors.
The guild, IATSE Local 800, accused Martin Scorsese of “turning his back on the human artists who throughout his career have helped him create his most memorable works.” The target was his new partnership with the AI startup Black Forest Labs.
The statement took aim at a promotional video for the company’s generative AI product, FLUX. In it, Scorsese asks how a director communicates what he sees in his head to cast and crew, and says the AI tool is the answer. The guild argued that this hands over work that belongs to its members, “human artists and designers who have been successfully collaborating with directors to visualize their films for decades.” It said his promotion of the product “circumvents the input” of the guild’s art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers and other union professionals.
Representatives for Scorsese did not immediately answer a request for comment from Variety.
What Scorsese said
Black Forest Labs announced on June 2 that Scorsese had joined as an advisor, with the aim of pushing “the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences.” In his own statement on the company’s website, he called cinema “a young medium” and said filmmakers “have to be open to how it can evolve.”
He pointed to his past use of new technology: 3D for Hugo and de-aging for The Irishman. With the new tool, he said, he can show his vision more clearly and quickly to his production designer, art designer and cinematographer, who can then build on it.
Other critics
The guild was not alone. On June 3, Boots Riley, director of I Love Boosters, wrote on X that he suspected money was behind the deal. He guessed that at 83, Scorsese had been paid a large sum for his family and thought AI would fail anyway. Riley added that if that was not the case, his view of the director was even worse.
