Overview
- Producers missed a planned Cannes debut after OpenAI shut down its Sora video generator in March, and they are now shopping Critterz at the Cannes market while seeking a new AI partner.
- The film is being developed with amersia’s internal Woven platform that automates routine animation tasks while keeping human directors and writers in charge of creative decisions.
- Creators say the project was completed so far in about nine months with a roughly 15‑person team, a pace and crew size they contrast with traditional animated features that take years and hundreds of staff.
- OpenAI has told reporters it is not the film’s financier or producer and described Critterz as an independent project whose makers experimented with OpenAI’s tools.
- The setback underscores wider industry consequences: projects tied to third‑party AI can face sudden delays, festival eligibility and labor questions, and pressure on studios to vet the stability and costs of AI partners.