Utopai Studios Expands AI-Based Film and TV Production with 25 Projects Underway

Five Titles, Including "Half Moon," Set for 2027 Release

AI Approaches Differ for Live-Action, Historical Epics, and Animation

Utopai Studios has embarked on adopting AI technology in global markets, including Korea, to expand its film and TV content development. The studio is collaborating with producers worldwide, selectively applying AI technologies that suit each work’s genre and method of production.

Utopai Studios is currently developing and producing a total of 25 film and TV projects. The company is creating content for a variety of channels—including theatrical releases, television, streaming services, and digital platforms. In 2027, the studio plans to release five titles, comprised of three feature films and two series, to the global market.

The three feature films scheduled for release in 2027 are "Half Moon," "Cortes," and "The Most Serious Fart." The series titles include "Space Nation" and "Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years."

Among these, "Half Moon" is a co-production film involving teams from both Korea and Germany. Korea’s Paper Van Studio and Germany’s In Good Company are jointly producing the film, with Hyoju Yang taking on both screenplay and directing duties. Principal photography began in Bonn, Germany, in August 2026, with a release scheduled for 2027.

"Half Moon" tells the story of a young girl, Yeri, and her aunt, Ajin, spending the summer on a remote island in the North Sea. Centered on these two characters, the film explores themes such as loneliness, family wounds, belonging, and emotional healing.

The production focuses on traditional live-action filmmaking methods. The performances of the actors and the director-driven storytelling serve as the foundation, while AI is used in a limited manner for certain visual components. At this stage, Utopai Studios’ AI cinematic storytelling system "PAI" is employed.

The extent to which AI is utilized varies by project. Rather than producing all of its content solely with AI, Utopai Studios applies AI technology to areas deemed necessary for each project, led by the creators’ direction.

The historical epic "Cortes" exemplifies this difference. Based on the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1519, this is a large-scale project that has been under development for decades. By leveraging AI-based production technology, the studio is able to create extensive scenes that would be difficult to realize using traditional methods alone, thus overcoming constraints in terms of cost and production scale.

"Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years," inspired by the Chinese classic Journey to the West, employs AI-generated animation as its primary production method. Unlike "Half Moon," where AI is incorporated only for some visual elements in a live-action setting, this project relies far more heavily on AI technology throughout the production process.

"The Most Serious Fart" combines a traditional artist-led production process with AI. The film is based on the children’s book published in 2023 by Mike Bender and Chuck Dillon, and integrates AI into production design, storyboarding, and animation alongside conventional production techniques. The release is planned for theaters in 2027.

The sci-fi series "Space Nation" is being produced for the global broadcast and streaming market. Consisting of a total of eight episodes, it is being produced by Ex Machina Studios, with Utopai Studios and Brazil’s Globoplay co-producing the project.

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Utopai Studios is the world’s largest independent AI-native film and TV studio, spanning development, investment, production, and distribution for films and series. It is led by co-founder and CEO Cecilia Shen and co-founder and CTO Jie Yang. According to Forbes, the corporate value of Utopai Studios was estimated at 1 billion dollars as of May, when Carmelo Anthony’s Creative 7 Productions invested in the company.

The proprietary PAI system is utilized throughout the filmmaking process, supporting visual development, scene design, continuity between scenes, and video generation and editing. The range of application is adjusted based on each project’s genre and production style, and is integrated alongside traditional methods.

The company defines AI not as an end goal in content creation, but as a tool that assists the creative process. The stated purpose of using AI is to support creators’ capabilities and overcome the limitations of time, cost, and production scale that exist in the conventional film industry.

This direction is interpreted as presenting a new production standard not only for Hollywood, but also for large-scale international co-productions going forward.

Looking ahead, the company plans to further expand co-production with global studios and creators based on the 25 projects currently under development or production. Utopai Studios is also working to build global entertainment IPs that can extend beyond film and television into various other formats.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.