Martin Scorsese Joins AI Image Startup Black Forest Labs as Partner and Advisor, Prompting Backlash from Artists and Directors

Martin Scorsese signed on Tuesday as a partner and advisor to Black Forest Labs, a German generative AI startup that created the FLUX family of image-generation models. Forbes reported the announcement on June 5, 2026. Black Forest Labs released a video showing Scorsese using FLUX in a working session.

The footage demonstrates how the models can visualize concepts for movie scenes in real time during the storyboarding phase. Scorsese said AI could have helped him create the famous Steadicam shot from his 1991 film GoodFellas far faster, saving production time and sparing the crew.

The partnership arrives three years after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which produced new contractual guidelines on the use of AI in union productions.

Those strikes centered on concerns over creative authenticity, digital likeness rights and job displacement. Other filmmakers have taken differing positions. At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026, Demi Moore said, “AI is here.

Reese Witherspoon urged her 30 million followers to learn about AI and use it. ” Directors who oppose the technology have also spoken out. Guillermo del Toro said he’d rather die than use AI. ” Storyboard artists and animation directors pushed back against the announcement.

Boots Riley posted his own rough hand-drawn storyboards on social media. ” Scorsese addressed the reaction in a statement. “I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences,” he wrote.

The Hollywood Sign, erected in 1923 with letters 45 feet tall and 36 feet wide, was declared a Los Angeles Cultural Historical Monument in 1973.