Artificial Intelligence

Scorsese Partners With AI Startup for Storyboarding

Is this a betrayal of cinema's craft or simply the next evolution in storytelling?

Published JUN 4

Story

Above: Martin Scorsese at the 2026 The National Board of Review Awards Gala in New York on Jan. 13. Image credit: Lexie Moreland/WWD/Getty Images

The Facts

Director Martin Scorsese has joined AI image-generation startup Black Forest Labs as a partner and adviser, using the company's FLUX technology to assist with storyboarding during film pre-production.
Storyboard18
The New York Times
Scorsese said the AI tools will help him communicate his vision more efficiently to his creative team. "During the pre-production process, time costs money, and this allowed us to move faster without sacrificing quality or craft," he said.
Daily Wire
BBC News
Black Forest Labs, founded in 2024 in Freiburg, Germany, was most recently valued at approximately $3.25 billion. Scorsese's connection to the firm came through BroadLight Capital, an investor co-founded by his manager, Rick Yorn.
Storyboard18
Variety
Concept artist Karla Ortiz, who has worked on Marvel films, including "Avengers: Endgame" and "Black Panther," criticized Scorsese, claiming he is throwing "every single storyboard artist he's ever worked with under the bus."
guardian
The Times (UK)
Scorsese's move comes following Hollywood's 2023 strikes involving over 170,000 workers, centered partly on protections from the impact of AI. Since the industrial action, however, some high profile figures, such as Demi Moore, have said fighting AI "is a battle that we will lose."
NDTV
The New York Times
Other prominent directors hold differing views on AI. James Cameron sits on the board of Stability AI, while Guillermo del Toro said at Cannes this year that he would "rather die" than use generative AI in his films.
Breitbart
Variety

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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The Spin

Narrative A

Scorsese partnering with an AI startup to replace storyboard artists is a betrayal of the collaborative craft that makes cinema great. Generative AI steals from artists without compensation, and normalizing it at the top of Hollywood accelerates job losses for workers earning 10–30k a film. A director of his stature lending his name to this technology does real damage.

Film Stories

Jimmy Palmiotti on X

Narrative B

Scorsese has adapted to every major shift in cinema — sound, color, CGI, 3D — and AI-assisted storyboarding is simply the next evolution. FLUX helps get the vision in his head in front of his crew faster, without sacrificing craft or human judgment. Dismissing this tool would ignore how technology has always expanded what storytelling can do.