The Art Directors Guild is not happy with Martin Scorsese’s promotion of the AI tool in the storyboard.
The Studio City crew union clapped again Moonflower Killers director on Tuesday for a recent ad he shot with startup Black Forest Labs. In the video, Scorsese – a consultant for the company – creates a storyboard depicting a medieval street using the company’s FLUX technology and praises the model’s display of “cinematic intelligence.”
The assistant general manager described this as an example of a director who “turned his back on the human artists who had helped him throughout his career to create his most memorable works.”
In its statements, the labor group quoted a recent statement from Scorsese about his partnership with the artificial intelligence company. “There was always the issue of how to communicate what you saw in your head to the cast and crew,” he said. “There are some things you just have to see and feel. I’m interested in the intersection between technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the boundaries of creativity to create deeper, richer experiences for audiences.”
From the Assistant Director General’s perspective, he was calling for possible job cuts. “It claims the solution is to use generative AI software to do jobs that fall properly under the purview of Art Directors Guild Local 800 Artists and Designers — human artists and designers have been successfully collaborating with directors to conceptualize their films for decades,” the working group said in the statement. “Mr. Scorsese’s promotion of the generative artificial intelligence product circumvents the input of the local 800 art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers and other talented union professionals.”
Hollywood Reporter Scorsese has been contacted for comment.
ADG negotiates on behalf of storyboard artists, who create visual sequences from written texts that can guide the filmmaking process. The union also represents concept artists, illustrators, graphic artists, set designers and production designers. Scorsese himself has long drawn comics, and in his comments about his partnership with Black Forest Labs, he suggested that the company’s technology could help in that process.
With its membership also including art directors, scenic artists and others, ADG has recently been hit hard by the recent downturn in the entertainment industry. In 2024, the union suspended a training program for young professionals due to mass unemployment in covered trades. According to annual filings with the Labor Department, union membership fell from 3,492 in 2022 to 2,966 in 2025.
Its members are among those most threatened by generative AI, according to a 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild and The Concept Art Assn.
The assistant general manager doesn’t have that. The union statement continued: “The skills of local artists and designers in the Art Directors Syndicate, which includes 800 artists, achieve the highest level of value for any film or television production.” “To believe that their professional contributions can be imitated or surpassed by generative AI, built on work likely stolen from them and many other artists from around the world, is a betrayal of the collaborative nature of cinema.”
Read the union’s full statement below.
The arts directors’ union, IATSE Local 800 #adg800, issued a statement about Martin Scorsese’s recent promotion of generative artificial intelligence (AI):
“Mr. Scorsese, the work is not in a constant state of flux.
Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese turns his back on human artists… pic.twitter.com/7vyqOVGWOZ
– Art Directors Guild (@ADG800) June 9, 2026
