Spanish filmmaker explores how AI is changing filmmaking in China

When Spanish filmmaker Larry Levene arrived at Versatile Media's virtual production studios, about an hour by train from Shanghai, he was not simply stepping onto a film set. He was entering a production environment where ideas, performances, camera movements and digital worlds can be tested before a traditional shoot even begins.

Levene, who has worked on several China-related film and television projects, visited China to explore how artificial intelligence and virtual production are changing the filmmaking process.

Versatile Media has built a production pipeline that brings together real-time previsualization, motion capture, virtual cameras, digital assets, LED stages and production management systems.

Directors and cinematographers can test camera angles, actor blocking, lighting, movement and editing rhythm inside a virtual environment, seeing much of the film before the final shoot takes place.

For Levene, this opened up a different way of thinking about cinema. Instead of waiting until post-production to discover how a scene might look, filmmakers can make creative decisions earlier, adjust them quickly and work with a clearer sense of the final image.

Locations, weather, lighting and physically difficult scenes can be imagined and tested inside the studio, reducing some of the limits that have traditionally shaped film production.

His journey continued in Shanghai at Digital Domain, where he saw how AI is being used in visual effects, image generation and virtual human technologies. These tools are beginning to shape not only how films are produced, but also how ideas are developed and visualized.

The visit also raised a more difficult question. If AI can help generate images, build worlds and speed up production, what happens to the many skilled people whose work has traditionally brought those images to life?

For Levene, the hope is that AI remains a tool in the hands of creators, helping filmmakers imagine and realize their ideas, rather than replacing the talent, craft and human judgment at the heart of filmmaking.

Through his visits, Levene saw a film industry in transition. AI and virtual production are not just changing what appears on screen. They are beginning to reshape the journey from idea to image, opening new possibilities while raising new questions about the future of creative work.