Tribeca Festival will feature 5 films created using OpenAI's Sora

• Tribeca Festival will feature five short films made with OpenAI's Sora on June 15.
• Filmmakers received early access to Sora and created the films in just weeks.
• Creatives who've used it say it's facilitated their artistic process.

Generative AI is making its debut at the Tribeca Festival, a 20-year-old New York film festival founded by actor Robert de Niro.

In collaboration with OpenAI, the Tribeca Festival is set to premiere five short films created using artificial intelligence on June 15. This marks the first time OpenAI's text-to-video tool, Sora, will be featured at a festival.

The filmmakers — all festival alumni — have committed to following the AI-related terms established by last year's agreements with directors, actors, and writers in the movie industry, according to a statement from the festival. They were given education on OpenAI's tools, early access to Sora, and the freedom to create their videos independently and asked to complete their projects in just a few weeks.

Jane Rosenthal, cofounder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises, said that "stories come to us as a feature film, an immersive experience, a piece of art, or even an AI-generated short film. I can't wait to see what this group of fiercely creative Tribeca alumni come up with."

OpenAI introduced Sora back in February to "understand and simulate the physical world in motion." While the tool hasn't yet been released to the public, OpenAI claims that it generates videos up to a minute long from text.

Some Hollywood veterans initially saw it as a threat. Filmmaker Tyler Perry paused plans for an $800 million studio expansion after he saw Sora's capabilities. Since then, however, creators who've gotten access to Sora say it has enhanced their creative process. They're able to communicate abstract concepts more clearly and visualize ideas in new ways. And they don't feel replaceable.