--- title: "OpenAI Let Directors Make Short Films With Sora and the Results Are Wild" description: "OpenAI has given a number of directors, production companies, and creative agencies early access to Sora, with wild results." date: "2024-03-26" modified: "2024-03-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-directors-short-films-sora" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "generative ai" - "OpenAI" - "sora" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI Let Directors Make Short Films With Sora and the Results Are Wild ![OpenAI has given a number of directors, production companies, and creative agencies early access to Sora, with wild results.]() *\Image: OpenAI\* ## Director Access OpenAI has given a number of directors, production companies, and creative agencies early access to its [Sora text-to-video generator]() — and the results range from [astonishing to downright terrifying](). Toronto-based multimedia production company Shy Kids used the next-generation generative AI tool to come up with a whimsical short film about "Air Head," a man who has a balloon instead of a head. The short film is an impressive example of the tech's capabilities, showing off Sora's striking ability to generate relatively believable and [photorealistic video footage]() in response to a text prompt. "As great as Sora is at generating things that appear real, what excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal," said director of "Air Head" Walter Woodman in a statement. "A new era of abstract expressionism." https://twitter.com/shykids/status/1772347121296883981 ## Weak Chimera A different short film showcased by OpenAI highlights how Sora can also be used to generate videos with horrifying results. Digital artist Don Allen III, who started his career at DreamWorks Animation, created clips of grotesque animal hybrids for his pseud-documentary called "Beyond Our Reality." The short 90-second clip shows footage of a "Girafflamingo," an unholy cross between a giraffe and flamingo, as well as a "Whalepus," a whale with terrifying octopus arms. https://twitter.com/AngryTomtweets/status/1772361937931657470 While the short films are impressive, we've already seen [some glaring inconsistencies]() in Sora footage OpenAI has shared, suggesting OpenAI may be overselling the tool's real-world capabilities by cherry-picking particularly impressive examples. According to a [recent interview in the *Wall Street Journal*](), OpenAI is hoping to publicly release Sora "later this year." But who will have access and when is still unclear, especially considering just how resource-intensive rendering AI video is. In short, we'll reserve our judgment until we've gotten our own hands on the tool. **More on Sora:** *[OpenAI Says Sora Video Generator May Allow Nudity]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()