AI Trailer Wins Inaugural $2.5M Future Vision XPRIZE, Heading for $10M Feature Development
lmoroney · x · 2026-10-11
Director Jeff T. Thomas (aka Jeff Synthesized) won the inaugural $2.5 million Future Vision XPRIZE with an AI-made proof-of-concept trailer for The Gifted, beating roughly 2,500 entries. Judges included Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neal Stephenson, Google's Mira Lane, and Rod Roddenberry; Tyson said the choice was unanimous.
The three-minute trailer, prompted to show "a future worth building toward," follows an 11-year-old boy who rebuilds an AI version of his late mother from her texts, voice, and diary — partly inspired by Thomas losing his own mother at 14. Google and Range Media Partners will develop it into a feature with roughly $10 million, with AI used as one production tool.
Takeaway for AI filmmakers: treat each short as a pitch — a tight, personal three-minute story just got picked up for feature development.
Related event: AI-Generated Trailer 'The Gifted' Wins First Future Vision XPRIZE(3 posts)→
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