LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Visual effects veteran Ed Ulbrich, who worked on such films as “Titanic” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” has joined artificial intelligence research company Moonvalley as head of strategic growth and partnerships.
Ulbrich will work to broaden the company’s relationships in Hollywood and collaborate with Moonvalley’s studio arm, Asteria Film, to promote adoption of its technology.
He said in an interview he sees parallels between the rise of generative AI and the birth of computer-generated imagery, which revolutionized visual effects in film decades earlier.
“A lot of people worried we were going to be getting rid of jobs, so I’ve seen this before,” Ulbrich said. “By the way, history will show hundreds of thousands of jobs were created from that bloom in technology.”
Moonvalley is one of several artificial intelligence companies looking to establish a foothold in Hollywood.
The company has looked to position itself as respectful of copyright, using only licensed works used to train its AI video model, Marey.
The unauthorized use of film and television libraries has become a recent flashpoint, leading two major Hollywood studios to file a lawsuit against another AI company, Midjourney.
“What drew me to Moonvalley is their respect for the craft, their use of clean, licensed data, and their focus on empowering creators,” Ulbrich said.
Ulbrich has more than three decades of experience in visual effects, with more than 50 film and television and 500 commercial credits. He also helped pioneer live digital human performances with a holographic projection of the late rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2012.
Prior to joining Moonvalley, Ulbrich served as chief content officer and production president at Metaphysic, a generative AI company best known for technology used to age and de-age actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in the movie “Here.” That company was acquired in February by DNEG Group.
He also held senior roles at Deluxe and Digital Domain, where he served as CEO.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Chris Reese)
