Movies
‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Has Its Peacekeeper
Director Francis Lawrence has tapped “Sons of Anarchy” thesp Patrick St. Esprit (Super 8) to play Romulus Thread in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, reports Variety.
Based on the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins, the sequel sees tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark embark on a “Victor’s Tour” of Panem’s districts, where Katniss senses a rebellion simmering as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games.
Ready to enforce the Capitol’s law under any circumstance, Thread becomes the Head Peacekeeper of District 12 in “Catching Fire.”
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth return to star in the sequel alongside newcomers Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amanda Plummer, Jena Malone and Lynn Cohen.
Nina Jacobson is producing through her Color Force banner along with Jon Kilik. Lionsgate will release “Catching Fire” on November 22, 2013.
Movies
‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Is No Fan of Generative AI: “Defeats the Purpose Entirely for Me”
There has been a lot of talk recently about filmmakers embracing generative AI as part of the filmmaking process, from Darren Aronofsky to Martin Scorsese. But what about filmmakers that are against the use of Gen AI for creative pursuits? You can count 20-year-old Backrooms director Kane Parsons among that group, which should give you some hope for the future.
In a new chat with The Australian, the self-taught young filmmaker makes it crystal clear that he won’t be using generative AI in any of his upcoming filmmaking projects.
“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” Parsons tells the outlet. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”
“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” Parsons notes. “We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.”
He explains, “I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.”
Kane Parsons also notes during the interview with The Australian, “… there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.”
Backrooms marks young prodigy Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and it’s based on his own series of YouTube videos that were brought to life using Blender, the open-source 3D computer graphics software suite. So it’s no surprise that Parsons, who has hand-made his filmmaking career up to this point, isn’t buying into the hoopla around Generative AI.
His debut feature is the #1 movie in the world, so perhaps he’s onto something.
What’s next from Kane Parsons, you ask? Stay tuned…
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