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What is Charli's username on Criterionforum?

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2026 3:43 pm Shout out to Scorsese appearing in both the new Star Wars movie and the cover of Charli XCX’s new album

But will these both suck?

I need a drink

Please God let all his recent bullshit be him stacking cash to fund his Jesus movie or World Cinema Project vol. 12 or something.

It’s amazing how loyal he still is to Michael Ovitz, who got him involved with this

I'm not sorry to say but if they mmanaged to wrangle Scorsese to supporting AI then the film industry is completely fucked for the very forseeable future. Unless this emerging wave of Gen Z/youtubers starts a movement to produce films "the old way" then we got not chance. This is just fucking depressing.

He says it's just for storyboarding, but the implications are still terrible from a labor perspective. Not really surprising either, it's probably the most commonly predicted and widely feared scenario within the film industry: the above-the-line personnel will be just fine, nothing will happen to them, but everyone else is fucked. Crews are going to be a lot smaller, and with labor costs shrinking, the above-the-line personnel can celebrate that overall costs are down, meaning productions are either cheaper or free to spend the money elsewhere (epics are back, we can afford them again!) but people who made their living further down the ladder will have to find new careers. I guess that's kind of a reflection of the American economy over the past 45 years: almost all of the money is going to people at the top, but the middle is going to be thinned out and they'll have to settle for low-paying work on low-budget films or get forced out of the business/that part of the economy altogether.

I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's always been open to new technology and is probably very isolated from the AI discourse. He sees this merely as a time-saving tool, not as something that's going to put artists out of work. But the bitter irony is that this is someone who, at 11 years old, imagined and beautifully storyboarded a Cinemascope epic.

hearthesilence wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 5:34 am He says it's just for storyboarding, but the implications are still terrible from a labor perspective. Not really surprising either, it's probably the most commonly predicted and widely feared scenario within the film industry: the above-the-line personnel will be just fine, nothing will happen to them, but everyone else is fucked. Crews are going to be a lot smaller, and with labor costs shrinking, the above-the-line personnel can celebrate that overall costs are down, meaning productions are either cheaper or free to spend the money elsewhere (epics are back, we can afford them again!) but people who made their living further down the ladder will have to find new careers. I guess that's kind of a reflection of the American economy over the past 45 years: almost all of the money is going to people at the top, but the middle is going to be thinned out and they'll have to settle for low-paying work on low-budget films or get forced out of the business/that part of the economy altogether.

Storyboarding is still a job, and cutting those positions will snowball to concept artists, pre-vis artists, production designers, art directors, etc. It won’t end, and it’s so disheartening to see him acquiesce like this and sell his soul

Terrible news. Like black&huge said ... This was that.
If MS goes THAT FAR, he's an agent for his own demise.

Agreed, this is a terrible precedent, and nothing good can come of it. The support for AI from elderly people especially is really disheartening...they think it's a fun toy or something. Where is the "back in my day..." and "kids these days...?" Do you really think what civilization needs to get back on track is more distractions and shortcuts? Do I really have to go to church to find some common ground? If you are looking for any uplift the video of Hayao Miyazaki shitting on some AI generated zombies in a boardroom is heartening. Otherwise I think we're seeing the last gasps of creativity. Get off my lawn.

All power to @ Zot!

I’m fine with his stated reason that he’s using it for his own personal storyboarding, especially since it’s probably saving him time, which is an increasingly rare resource for him. (Also, if he has arthritis at his age, doodling may even be painful for him.)

What I don’t love is him getting into business with the AI companies. That’s an entirely different and unnecessary thing.

Matt wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 5:58 am I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's always been open to new technology and is probably very isolated from the AI discourse. He sees this merely as a time-saving tool, not as something that's going to put artists out of work. But the bitter irony is that this is someone who, at 11 years old, imagined and beautifully storyboarded a Cinemascope epic.

Right? He even mentions DeMille in that ad on his IG account which was quite a bit of whiplash. This happening a few days after Marcia Lucas's passing let alone a few weeks after Tony Stella's really struck me as quite sad.

DimitriL wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 6:42 pm I’m fine with his stated reason that he’s using it for his own personal storyboarding, especially since it’s probably saving him time, which is an increasingly rare resource for him. (Also, if he has arthritis at his age, doodling may even be painful for him.)

What I don’t love is him getting into business with the AI companies. That’s an entirely different and unnecessary thing.

I can see this thread going in the wrong direction already, but alright....
Scorsese can afford to hire an artist to sit with him and sketch scenes if he's ailing. That can result in a artistic collaboration between humans. The main issue, among many others is that storyboards are often very decisive in determining the blocking, pacing, and cinematography of the resultant film. If you want an algorithm influencing these decisions, the game is up....because we all know the algorithm will just regurgitate what it knows...which is what is what we've already seen.

Zot! wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 7:29 pm

DimitriL wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 6:42 pm I’m fine with his stated reason that he’s using it for his own personal storyboarding, especially since it’s probably saving him time, which is an increasingly rare resource for him. (Also, if he has arthritis at his age, doodling may even be painful for him.)

What I don’t love is him getting into business with the AI companies. That’s an entirely different and unnecessary thing.

Scorsese can afford to hire an artist to sit with him and sketch scenes if he's ailing. That can result in a artistic collaboration between humans. The main issue, among many others is that storyboards are often very decisive in determining the blocking, pacing, and cinematography of the resultant film. If you want an algorithm influencing these decisions, the game is up....because we all know the algorithm will just regurgitate what it knows...which is what is what we've already seen.

As a director, I would never spit out my first notion of anything to another human with hopes they'd capture it. It's getting something out quick and dirty to eventually communicate the general sense of something to a collaborator. This is not a storyboard. This is just getting something out of your head as a starting point. A storyboard artist would never say, "oh, I have to capture the tone of Marty's stick figure."

Now me, I'd never stop doodling. I'd rather not make the film if that was taken away from me. But also, this is a pretty private act where the director is sussing out their own ideas to themselves.

I haven't looked at his storyboards in a long time, but IIRC Scorsese's tended to be very rudimentary. In the commentary for Taxi Driver (produced by Criterion but later used for Sony's releases), Michael Chapman said there were actually two different sets of storyboards but he eventually just used Scorsese's which seemed more helpful and to the point in terms of how to compose the shot whereas the "professional" storyboard was more like "a comic book" (his words) given the amount of work put into it. I know the ones for GoodFellas were very much like the ones Scorsese did for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull (all on the DVD supplements, I may have seen them at MoMI's Scorsese exhibit too) and as late as Hugo, it doesn't seem like that's changed. So it is surprising he'd suddenly want to do things this way.

black&huge wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:44 am I'm not sorry to say but if they mmanaged to wrangle Scorsese to supporting AI then the film industry is completely fucked for the very forseeable future. Unless this emerging wave of Gen Z/youtubers starts a movement to produce films "the old way" then we got not chance. This is just fucking depressing.

I think as Zot! points out, this is a generational thing – by and large, people of Scorsese's age (see also Schrader, who's posted a lot of silly things about this) seemingly can't get enough of AI. There was never any prospect of depending on them to lead the charge against it.

An effective backlash, if it comes, will indeed be from the three generations in between the Baby Boomers and the kids who are starting to grow up with this stuff as the norm. Hopefully that happens, because there's something basically existential at stake here, particularly in terms of art and human creativity. Time to shove that genie back into the bottle with prejudice!

I find it strange that such generalisations are being made based on Scorsese’s age (and by extension, older adults in general).

I hold Scorsese in high regard, mostly for his avid love for the medium. Which is why I’m so disappointed by him going down the AI path and, most of all, him shilling for the AI company.

Just today, Alice Cooper spoke out about how AI can generate a facsimile of a song, including all the playing, but it’s missing the essential point of any type of art form; that it’s an expression of the human condition. (And don’t even start me on the excuse that some say that AI breaks down walls of gatekeeping. No, it’s called training, practice and professionalism. Wanna become a photographer, pianist, etc. Learn to do it. I’m a writer by trade, and I feel the heat around all this.)

Scorsese knows this and age has nothing to do with it. I can only assume he’s doing it for the money after he’s gone, ensuring for his wife and family. But from what I see and read, he’s already well off.

As Domino expressed earlier in the thread, it feels like hell has frozen over.

I'm a bit younger than Scorsese and Schrader (turn 74 in a couple of weeks) -- but certainly feel very little enthusiasm for AI beyond tasks like eliminate dust spots and electric wires in my digital photos.

hearthesilence wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 10:08 pm I haven't looked at his storyboards in a long time, but IIRC Scorsese's tended to be very rudimentary. In the commentary for Taxi Driver (produced by Criterion but later used for Sony's releases), Michael Chapman said there were actually two different sets of storyboards but he eventually just used Scorsese's which seemed more helpful and to the point in terms of how to compose the shot whereas the "professional" storyboard was more like "a comic book" (his words) given the amount of work put into it. I know the ones for GoodFellas were very much like the ones Scorsese did for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull (all on the DVD supplements, I may have seen them at MoMI's Scorsese exhibit too) and as late as Hugo, it doesn't seem like that's changed. So it is surprising he'd suddenly want to do things this way.

A large sample of Scorsese’s storyboards appeared in a 1993 exhibit at the Pace Gallery called Drawing Into Film. I’ve had a copy of the publication that accompanied it for years, and it’s great,

Is he on the same level as Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam as a visual artist? No. Still, his work is more developed than the incredibly primitive work that Rainer Fassbinder made as a guide, and you should see Steven Spielberg and Sam Raimi’s stick figure masterpieces

I was holding off on the Scorsese - All The Films book, because it is not complete. (ie He is still alive.)

Now I think I'll get it.

Noiretirc wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2026 12:57 pm I was holding off on the Scorsese - All The Films book, because it is not complete. (ie He is still alive.)

Now I think I'll get it.

Sick burn

bdsweeney wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2026 12:06 am I find it strange that such generalisations are being made based on Scorsese’s age (and by extension, older adults in general).

I'll admit my "evidence" is completely anecdotal (i.e. bullshit) and US-centric, but there is starting to emerge a pattern in my life of people over 70 surprising me with both praise for and use of AI. If I wanted to be kind, I think part of it is that this was a generation that didn't grow up with computers and now they're being given the dream of sci-fi talking robots that was popular in their childhoods, and the "low barrier to entry" means they can finally use a complicated device without having to ask their kids/grandkids for help. If I wanted to be less kind (which I am), I would say they are betting that it will pad out their portfolios in their later years, so they can golf and gatekeep the final gasps of the American dream for themselves while watching the world burn. Scorsese is skating dangerously close to this territory with his endorsement.

The Art Directors Guild released a statement on Scorsese's Flux genAI endorsement.

All of this pushback gives me hope.