22/05/2025 - CANNES 2025: The panel explored collaboration, education, storytelling gaps and the industry’s resistance to change when it comes to new technologies

l-r: Mikael Windelin, Marieke Muselaers, Mettelise Hansen, Ene Katrine Rasmussen, Aleksi Hyvärinen and Sten-Kristian Saluveer during the panel

On 17 May, at Cannes’ Marché du Film, the National Film School of Denmark presented a panel titled “Pushing Filmmakers Forward: Why Upskilling is a Must in the Film Industry”, which was moderated by Sten-Kristian Saluveer, film and media innovation strategist, producer and founder of Storytek. The discussion aimed to bring together industry professionals to explore the emergence of new AI tools and their potential applications, especially as the Danish school offers courses designed to equip the next generation of professionals with the skills needed to make the most of such technologies.

When asked which are the biggest revolutions that the industry is facing, Aleksi Hyvärinen, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of independent Finnish production company Don Films, said that AI is possibly the biggest change in recent times: “It feels like you constantly have to learn things and adapt.” Later on in the discussion, Hyvärinen highlighted the potential negative outcomes of the misuse of AI: “The possibility of making a feature a week is great, but the worry should be that it could all be about the volume and not about the stories themselves.” As for the other challenges, he thinks that these will be overcome soon – for example, the artificiality of the look or the fact-checking, which still needs refining. The latter is key for the correct usage of artificial intelligence: “It has to be noted, though, that nowadays, fact-checking tools are becoming really precise. In a matter of minutes, you can have so much background info, it’s really impressive.” Finally, he mentioned that he agrees with people who describe AI as a massive game changer for humanity: “We cannot fathom what’s really going to happen; nevertheless, it’s correct to compare the change that AI is bringing to the one brought about by electricity coming into households.”

Ene Katrine Rasmussen, head of Industry and Training at the National Film School of Denmark, affirmed that, in a constantly changing world, “We need to be more efficient in our workflows and be able to use new technologies.” Rasmussen focused on the importance of sharing knowledge: “We are not competitors; we are collaborators,” a sentiment with which all of the participants agreed. She later talked about the programmes available at the school, and outlined its Green Manager course, a mini-MBA in AI, one in International Funding and Business Development, and a mini-MFA (Master of Fine Arts), which are among the offerings in English and are open to international students. The school will also organise a new course, set to start in January, named Master in AI for European Film Professionals, because, as Rasmussen stressed, the legal and environmental aspects are also crucial and need to be understood. “The aim is to have a diverse group of people at our school, in the sense of having both international professionals and individuals from different industry backgrounds.”

Producer Mettelise Hansen noticed there is also a lack of correct usage of the tools: “Paradoxically, the technology is booming, but it has no impact on my daily work. It’s not being employed enough; there’s a lack of skill. The area where we use it the most is in VFX because in that sector, people are more used to adapting to new technologies.” She then said that, undoubtedly, some of the things made with AI can look dated very quickly because of how fast the technology moves and how “one of the many challenges is that there are not a lot of people around willing to work with AI. There is a huge need for directors to understand the importance of this because there is a dearth of storytellers among the people who have embraced it first. Educating people is important because sometimes, audiences are less likely to like your project if you’ve used AI in it, and that should change.” She ultimately talked about the importance of asking ChatGPT for negative feedback, rather than “just feedback”, as the tool is too often overly nice when giving such comments. “Too many directors think that ChatGPT likes their scripts, but that’s misleading.”

Marieke Muselaers, head of International Financing at Nordisk Film, also present at the panel, discussed the importance of sharing among professionals: “We have over 20 producers in three different countries on a payroll. They’re all working on their own projects all the time, but they also try to foster a culture where people can share and collaborate. We have a portal where everyone can share, even with a voice message, that they have just pitched something to someone, so everyone can know what the others are up to.” She then discussed how, way too often, people in the film industry think that they’re “special” or “different”, and don’t really identify with other industries, such as more economically focused ones, even though understanding those aspects of the financials is key for success in this business.

Mikael Windelin, a VFX and VP producer, sees AI as more of an evolution than a revolution, as technological tools have been used for a while, and he opines that we are far from having fully AI-generated shots in regular productions. He introduced Picture This, a one-day conference that will involve creators, filmmakers and technologists, which will take place in Copenhagen on 21 October. “We don’t want it to be an event for techs only, so we’re hoping that it will be a way for young professionals to learn something new to upscale their skills.” Finally, when asked what will happen in a year from now in AI development, he answered jokingly: “We’ll still see a lot of mediocre material, in which there will be occasional gems that we’ll have to look out for. This historical period is similar to the years when people had access to iPhone cameras for the first time, and everyone started making videos, mostly with bad results.”