Art Directors Guild accuses Martin Scorsese of betraying human artists over AI endorsement

Art Directors Guild Chides Martin Scorsese Over His Newfound Fondness for AI

Art directors are really having a moment. Not only did the art director on indie sensation Obsession make waves recently with a round of discourse about compensation, but now the Art Directors Guild is drawing a line in the sand between itself and Hollywood icon Martin Scorsese after the living legend decided to align himself with a generative AI company. In a statement, the organization that represents art department workers accused Scorsese of "turning his back on the human artists who throughout his career have helped him create his most memorable works." The guild surely isn't alone in that feeling, but it is particularly personal for the organization given the purposes for which Scorsese has endorsed generative AI. In announcing that he would be partnering with Black Forest Labs, Scorsese suggested that he could use the company's generative AI model Flux to help with the storyboarding process -- visualizing the script and blocking scenes before shooting starts. "There's always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew," the director said in a statement to the New York Times. "Now with this tool I can share what I'm visualizing more clearly and efficiently to my creative team -- the production designer, art designer and cinematographer." The Art Directors Guild represents storyboard artists, and took direct issue with Scorsese's suggestion that he needs AI to communicate his creative process. "He claims the solution is the use of this generative AI program to do the jobs that are rightfully the jurisdiction of Art Directors Guild Local 800 artists and designers - human artists and designers who have been successfully collaborating with directors to visualize their films for decades," the union said in a statement. "Mr. Scorsese's promotion of a generative AI product circumvents the input of Art Directors Guild Local 800 art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers, and other talented Union professionals." It also rightly pointed out that, to the extent the generative model can produce outputs that serve the needs of the director, it can only do so because it is "built on work likely stolen from them and many other artists from around the world." Scorsese has always been pretty open to new technology, and has also repeatedly spoken about AI as a tool for the next generation of filmmakers to figure out how to use. He's done them the favor of figuring out one use that they absolutely should not explore.

Martin Scorsese's promotion of AI company called a 'betrayal' by director's union

Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, usually hailed as a master filmmaker and scholar of cinema, is facing backlash for promoting a company that offers generative AI products. The director of classics such as "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas" spoke about embracing artificial intelligence as a movie making tool in a video posted last week by AI startup company Black Forest Labs. The video announced that Scorsese had joined the company as an advisor. In a statement to the New York Times last week, Scorsese told the outlet that he was interested in the technology's role in storytelling and "seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity." "Remember, cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve," he said. Representatives for Scorsese did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment. The New York Times article noted that he declined an interview, but made clear his support of AI was specific to storyboarding, the preproduction process of using illustrations to plan scenes in a movie. "For 70 years, I've been creating my own storyboards," he said. "There's always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew. There are some things you have to see and feel." That embrace of AI was the subject of an open letter from the Art Directors Guild Local 800, an chapter of the IATSE union, published Wednesday. It directly addressed Scorsese and accused him of "turning his back" on the artists who helped him create some of his best work. Throughout his career, Scorsese has been revered for his mastery of the cinematic art form and for his deep knowledge of film history. He's been nominated for multiple Academy Awards for his films, including "The Irishman," "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Last Temptation of Christ." He won his first Oscar in 2007 for best director for "The Departed." "Mr. Scorsese's promotion of a generative Al product circumvents the input of Art Directors Guild Local 800 art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers, and other talented Union professionals," the letter said. It went on to point out that generative AI is only capable of producing the product he's using by studying copyrighting work, likely without consent, credit or compensation to the original artist. "To think their professional contributions can be mimicked or outshone by generative Al, which is built on work likely stolen from them and many other artists from around the world, is a betrayal of the collaborative nature of cinema," the letter stated.

Art Directors Guild Claps Back at Martin Scorsese's Promotion of AI Tool

The Art Directors Guild is not happy with Martin Scorsese's promotion of an AI tool for storyboarding. The Studio City-based crew union clapped back at the Killers of the Flower Moon director on Tuesday for a recent ad he filmed with startup Black Forest Labs. In the video spot, Scorsese -- an advisor to the company -- creates a storyboard featuring a medieval street with the use of the company's FLUX technology and lauds the model's display of "cinematic intelligence." The ADG called this an example of the director "turning his back on the human artists who throughout his career have helped him create his most memorable works." In its remarks, the labor group quoted a recent statement from Scorsese about his partnership with the AI company. "There's always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew," he said. "There are some things you have to see and feel. I'm interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences." From the ADG's point of view, he was advocating for potential job displacement. "He claims the solution is the use of this generative AI program to do the jobs that are rightfully the jurisdiction of Art Directors Guild Local 800 artists and designers -- human artists and designers who have been successfully collaborating with directors to visualize their films for decades," the labor group said in the statement. "Mr. Scorsese's promotion of a generative AI product circumvents the input of Art Directors Guild Local 800 art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers, and other talented Union professionals." The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Scorsese for comment. The ADG bargains on behalf of storyboard artists, who create visual sequences from written scripts that can guide the filmmaking process. The union also represents concept artists, illustrators, graphic artists, set designers and production designers. Scorsese himself has long drawn storyboards, and in his statements around his partnership with Black Forest Labs, he has suggested the company's technology can help with this process. With a membership that also includes art directors, scenic artists and others, the ADG has recently been hit hard by the recent contraction in the entertainment business. In 2024, the union paused a training program for young professionals due to mass unemployment in their covered crafts. According to annual filings with the Department of Labor, the union's membership declined from 3,492 in 2022 to 2,966 in 2025. And its members are among those most threatened generative AI, according to a 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild and The Concept Art Assn. The ADG isn't having it. "The skills of Art Directors Guild Local 800 artists and designers bring the highest level of value to any film or television production," the union's statement continued. "To think their professional contributions can be mimicked or outshone by generative AI, which is built on work likely stolen from them and many other artists from around the world, is a betrayal of the collaborative nature of cinema." Read the union's full statement below.