Art Directors Guild Criticizes Martin Scorsese's Promotion of AI Storyboarding Tool
The Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, issued a formal statement Tuesday condemning director Martin Scorsese for partnering with AI startup Black Forest Labs and promoting its FLUX generative AI tool for storyboarding. Scorsese, who joined the Germany-based company as an advisor, framed the technology as a practical pre-production aid to help communicate his visual ideas to cast and crew more efficiently. The backlash highlights growing tensions between Hollywood's labor unions and prominent filmmakers over AI's encroachment on jobs already hit hard by the entertainment industry's recent contraction.
Martin Scorsese announced his advisory role with Black Forest Labs on June 2, 2026, appearing in a promotional video in which he used the company's FLUX text-to-image AI to generate a storyboard of a medieval street scene. Scorsese framed the tool as a pre-production aid, comparing it to his past use of 3D technology on 'Hugo' and de-aging technology on 'The Irishman,' and argued that cinema must remain open to technological evolution. The Art Directors Guild responded on Tuesday with a formal statement accusing him of 'turning his back on the human artists' who helped define his career, arguing that the AI tool circumvents the work of art directors, storyboard artists, illustrators, production designers, and other union professionals. The guild also alleged that FLUX's capabilities are built on copyrighted artwork likely scraped without consent, credit, or compensation. Filmmaker Boots Riley added his own public criticism, speculating on social media that Scorsese's motivation was financial. The controversy arrives as the ADG is already under significant strain: its membership has fallen from 3,492 in 2022 to 2,966 in 2025, and the union paused a training program for young professionals in 2024 due to mass unemployment in its covered crafts. Scorsese's endorsement is notable because he is now the most prominent filmmaker to publicly back generative AI, lending the technology a cultural legitimacy that extends well beyond a typical startup announcement.
What's missing
The articles do not clarify the specific financial terms of Scorsese's advisory arrangement with Black Forest Labs, nor whether any existing union contracts or the recently negotiated Hollywood AI provisions explicitly govern or restrict directors from endorsing AI storyboarding tools in this manner.
How coverage differed
Mainstream outlets (Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Forbes, NBC News) reported the story straightforwardly, centering the union's concerns about job displacement and copyright. Breitbart dismissed the guild's objections as 'Luddite' whining, framed the union as self-interested, and argued AI is an unambiguous democratizing force — a markedly different editorial stance that minimized labor concerns entirely.
What different sources said
- NBC NewsLeft
Martin Scorsese’s promotion of AI company called a ‘betrayal’ by director’s union
- The Hollywood ReporterCenter
Art Directors Guild Claps Back at Martin Scorsese’s Promotion of AI Tool
- BreitbartFar Right
Nolte: Luddites in Art Directors Union Attack Martin Scorsese for Using AI
- VarietyCenter
Art Directors Guild Slams Martin Scorsese for AI Partnership: ‘Turning His Back on the Human Artists’
- ForbesCenter
Martin Scorsese Is Under Fire For His AI Endorsement
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