Martin Scorsese has joined Black Forest Labs as an adviser and is already using the AI company’s FLUX model to storyboard scenes, a public embrace of generative tools from one of cinema’s most closely watched directors.
The move lands now because Hollywood is in a fresh wave of AI adoption, and Scorsese’s name carries unusual weight in that debate. In a video filmed at his New York City office, he described how the model can help him turn what he is seeing in his head into something his creative team can read faster, from the production designer to the cinematographer. Black Forest Labs said the partnership is meant to push the bounds of creativity and create deeper, richer experiences for audiences.
Scorsese framed the shift as part of film’s own history. Cinema, he said, is only about 125 years old, which means it has to stay open to how it evolves. He pointed to earlier experiments in his own work, including 3D in Hugo and de-aging technology in The Irishman, as examples of tools that changed how he could tell a story.
The demonstration was not abstract. Scorsese discussed the famous Steadicam shot in Goodfellas that follows Henry Hill through the Copacabana nightclub, saying each vignette had to be intricately staged. A tool like FLUX, he said, could help him figure out scenes much quicker, save production time and reduce wear and tear on the crew. That makes the promise practical, not just creative: clearer preproduction plans could mean fewer delays once cameras start rolling.
There is, though, one unresolved piece to the partnership. Scorsese’s embrace of the technology is clear, but it was not clear whether he personally invested in Black Forest Labs. He was introduced to the company through BroadLight Capital, which is backed by Rick Yorn, his manager, and CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz also helped seal the deal. Robin Rombach, the company’s chief executive, called the partnership “a great proof point that this works.”
Scorsese’s decision also puts him alongside other major filmmakers taking different positions on AI. Peter Jackson recently said, “I don’t dislike” it, while Guillermo Del Toro blasted the idea that art can be made with “a fucking app.” Gareth Edwards has gone further and said he wants to create a hybrid generative AI film. For Scorsese, the bet is narrower and more immediate: he is treating the software as a planning tool now, and the next question is whether that approach stays in the storyboard stage or follows him onto a finished film.
