LA AI Film Festival launches
A social post announced the launch of an LA AI Film Festival, noting it’s backed by Affleck’s reported $600M AI sale to Netflix and that the jury includes people from Marvel and Disney. (x.com) The post frames the festival as an Oscars‑level production and a networking node for film and AI communities. (x.com)
Los Angeles now has another artificial intelligence film event on the calendar, with screenings planned in Hollywood and the wider city as studios pour more money into machine-made tools. (aifilmfest.org, aifilmfestivals.org) The clearest confirmed Los Angeles dates belong to two separate festivals already selling or promoting 2026 editions: Runway’s AI Festival lists a Los Angeles gala on June 18 at The Broad Stage, and the Artificial Intelligence Media Festival says its events will run September 11 to 13 at Regal Cinemas at Sherman Oaks Galleria and other local venues. (aiff.runwayml.com, aifilmfestivals.org) These festivals center on films made with generative artificial intelligence, meaning software is used to create or alter video, images, sound, or effects instead of relying only on cameras and manual post-production. Runway’s 2026 rules say film entries must run 3 to 15 minutes and include generative video in the finished work. (aiff.runwayml.com) Runway’s event has grown from a niche showcase into a bigger industry stop. Its 2026 site calls this the company’s fourth annual festival, with categories spanning film, design, gaming, advertising, fashion, and new media, plus a top Grand Prix award of $50,000 and 1,000,000 Runway credits. (aiff.runwayml.com) The Los Angeles launch lands after studios and technology companies spent the past two years moving artificial intelligence from demos into production pipelines. Bloomberg reported on March 11, 2026, that Netflix agreed to pay as much as $600 million for InterPositive, the AI moviemaking company founded by Ben Affleck. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg said InterPositive’s software alters footage that filmmakers already shot, letting crews remove stray objects or adjust backgrounds without generating an entire movie from scratch. The report said David Fincher had already used the tools on an upcoming Brad Pitt film. (bloomberg.com) Festival juries show how closely this space is tying itself to established Hollywood brands. Runway’s 2025 jury included Jane Rosenthal of Tribeca Enterprises, Bruce Markoe of IMAX, Brianna Domont and Daniel Revkin of Lionsgate, Joel Kuwahara of Bento Box Entertainment, Kia Brooks of The Gotham, Richard Kerris of NVIDIA, and Debora Den Iseger of Monks, alongside filmmakers Gaspar Noé and Harmony Korine. (runwayml.com, indiewire.com) Runway also pushed the festival beyond one-night screenings last year. The company and IMAX announced an August 17 to 20, 2025 theatrical run of the winning shorts in 10 United States cities, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Denver, and Washington. (imax.com, hollywoodreporter.com) Money is following the same trend. Runway said in September 2024 that it created a Hundred Film Fund with $5 million at launch, potential growth to $10 million, grants ranging from $5,000 to more than $1 million, and another $2 million in product credits for projects using artificial intelligence in film production. (runwayml.com) That expansion is colliding with labor and copyright fights that have not gone away. Bloomberg said Hollywood workers worry studios will use artificial intelligence to cut jobs and costs, while Disney and Universal sued Midjourney in federal court in June 2025 over alleged copyright infringement tied to generated images from their franchises. (bloomberg.com, ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov) So the Los Angeles festival push is arriving at a moment when the tools are getting real budgets, real venues, and real studio attention. The next test is whether these events stay as showcases for short-form experimentation or become a regular feeder system into mainstream film production. (aiff.runwayml.com, bloomberg.com)
