AI actress Tilly Norwood has attracted the attention of multiple talent agents, actor, comedian and producer Eline Van der Velden told a panel at the Zurich Summit, the industry strand of the Zurich Film Festival.
Tilly Norwood is the first creation to emerge from recently launched AI talent studio Xicoia, a spin-off from Van der Velden’s AI production studio Particle6.
Van der Velden said that studios were quietly moving forward with AI projects, and that further announcements would come in the next few months.
“We were in a lot of boardrooms around February time, and everyone was like, ‘No, this is nothing. It’s not going to happen.’ Then, by May, people were like, ‘We need to do something with you guys,’” said Van der Velden, who was being interviewed on stage Saturday by Diana Lodderhose of Deadline.
“When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?,’ and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months.”
In July, Norwood revealed on her Facebook page that she had appeared in her first role, a comedy sketch “AI Commissioner,” which can be found below.
Norwood wrote, “Can’t believe it… my first ever role is live! I star in ‘AI Commissioner,’ a new comedy sketch that playfully explores the future of TV development produced by the brilliant team at Particle6 Productions.”
She added, “I may be AI generated, but I’m feeling very real emotions right now. I am so excited for what’s coming next!”
“We want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, that’s the aim of what we’re doing,” van der Velden told Broadcast International, adding that economic issues were driving the movie and TV business toward AI production.
“People are realizing that their creativity doesn’t need to be boxed in by a budget – there are no constraints creatively and that’s why AI can really be a positive,” Van der Velden continued. “It’s just about changing people’s viewpoint.”
In a LinkedIn post, van der Velden commented, “Audiences? They care about the story — not whether the star has a pulse. Tilly is already attracting interest from talent agencies and fans. The age of synthetic actors isn’t ‘coming’ — it’s here.”
Particle6 has produced content across multiple genres, from “Miss Holland” for BBC Three to “True Crime Secrets” for Hearst Networks, and “Look See Wow!” for Sky Kids.
