Same words, different worlds

SAME WORDS, DIFFERENT WORLDS: EIGHT ARTISTS WORKING WITH AI REIMAGINE A SCRIPT BY OSCAR-NOMINATED EFTHIMIS FILIPPOU

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Efthimis Filippou, behind The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Kinds of Kindness, collaborates with MikeTeevee on a new experiment in AI filmmaking

What happens when eight artists are given the same script, access to AI filmmaking tools and complete creative freedom?
HUMANCENTRIC is a new storytelling project created, curated, and produced by creative production partner MikeTeevee, designed to cut through the noise around AI by focusing on what happens when artists push the technology creatively.
The project began with an original scene written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Efthimis Filippou, whose credits include The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Kinds of Kindness.
MikeTeevee then handed the script to eight artists using AI as part of their creative process: Reo, Doopiidoo, Infrarouge, Veronika Pell (Mindeye), David Szauder, Blumquist, Gizem Akdag and MikeTeevee's VFX and creative team.
The brief was simple: everything could change except the dialogue. Characters, settings, genres, and visual worlds were entirely up to the artists.
The result is eight strikingly different interpretations. The original scene follows a washed-up Lieutenant confronting a barman over the brutal murder of his family. Across the eight films, the story moves through surreal, noir, and uncanny worlds, with characters, realities, and visual languages shifting dramatically between interpretations.
Together, the films explore how individual creative choices can transform the same piece of writing, and what remains human when everyone has access to the same tools.
HUMANCENTRIC has been designed not simply as a series of films but as an evolving storytelling platform, designed to live across festivals, galleries and cultural spaces. Its first immersive installation transformed viewing into participation: visitors spun a Wheel of Fortune to select one of the eight films, then entered a curtained viewing booth to watch it. Conceived as a ninth artist, the installation became another interpretation of the work.
Efthimis Filippou said: “When I started writing scripts 20 years ago, I was really annoyed by the fact that the film created had nothing to do with what I had imagined. Now I know that ‘this had nothing to do with what I had imagined’ is the best thing that can happen to a script. And to know it happened eight times, what a pleasure.”
Ellen Utrecht, founder of MikeTeevee, said: “AI gives more people access to increasingly powerful creative capabilities. But the technology isn't the most interesting part. HUMANCENTRIC wondered what would make the difference if everyone has access to the same tools. The answer, for us, is still human perspective, curiosity, and the choices you make.”