Kling AI has signed on as AI production partner on “Minibots,” the animated feature previously announced at AFM 2024 with “Mulan” director Tony Bancroft attached.
The company disclosed the partnership at the Cannes Film Market, where it also confirmed that Bancroft will handle character design on the project and that “Terminator 3” writer Michael Ferris has written the script.
John Adams of Evolutionary Films and BAFTA nominee Diane Shorthouse are producing. The announcement came at the close of Kling AI’s panel, “From Creative Possibility to Production Reality: Kling AI in Cinematic Workflows,” held at the Palais des Festivals’ Main Stage.
Alongside the “Minibots” partnership, the company launched what it is calling its next-gen initiative – a program that will offer qualifying filmmakers cash incentives and compute resources for productions that advance the use of AI in filmmaking.
The panel brought together three directors working with Kling AI across major productions. Jon Erwin – founder and chief content officer of Wonder Project and CEO of Innovative Dreams – detailed how his Amazon Prime Video series “House of David” drew more than 50 million viewers in its first season. His follow-up project, “Moses,” starring Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, moved from concept to broadcast-ready first episode in roughly five months, with principal photography completed in a single week with a crew of around 100. “The normal cycle of time at a streamer is three years for that process,” Erwin said. “It’s amazing how fast content can be made.”
