Keith Zhang John Gaeta and Bruce Hunt Courtesy of Subject (2); Theresa Hunt/Courtesy of Subject “Soul over slop.”
That’s the mantra of a new AI cinema lab and summit scheduled to take place at San Francisco’s KQED on April 10-12. It’s presented by a nonprofit called Soulscape launched by an entrepreneur and onetime Uber engineer Keith Zhang with a mission to build bridges between Silicon Valley tech innovations and tools and Hollywood storytelling.
Soulscape 2026 will host 200 creators selected from thousands of applicants worldwide to convene in the city for the summit, which will feature keynote conversations, panels, tech demos, masterclasses, an AI career fair, mentorship and a red carpet finale. The centerpiece of the event will be a 48-hour short film sprint that will see the participants producing an original AI-fueled project that will be judged by a panel of experts.
Related Stories
The AI Issue A New AI Scam Is Targeting Thousands of Authors. I Was One of Them.
The AI Issue As Hollywood Panics Over AI Job Losses, a Startup Says It Has the Answer
Winners will share a prize pool featuring $25,000+ in-cash grants, and a $25,000+ creator arsenal comprised of software memberships and AI computing credits sponsored by Soulscape tech partner Tapnow, YouArt and ElevenLabs. Zhang is mounting the inaugural event in collaboration with Oscar-winning visual effects artist John Gaeta and assistant director Bruce Hunt, both of whom worked with the Wachowskis on The Matrix franchise. The jury will critique the crop of films while Gaeta will have the honors of judging the final five entries and personally announcing the winner.
Making up the jury will be Storyverse AI founder Jesse Z; Pixar vet and JioStar’s senior vp of GenAI content and technology Stephan Vladimir Bugaj; Kartel.ai vp of creative systems Monica Monique; Hollywood Professional Association president Renard Jenkins; Pixar vet and Intangible.ai lead product designer Philip Metschan; Callandor Group founding partner and former MGM, Sony and Warner Bros. marketing executive Michael Fisk; and Google production marketing manager of generative media models Khulan Dav.
Gleam Media Studios, a Los Angeles-based creative studio that specializes in AI content, will serve as Soulscape’s official studio partner in a collaboration that will see the company scouting talent and providing “thought leadership.”
“Right now, the internet is flooding with AI-generated visual garbage — content engineered for attention and algorithms rather than human hearts,” Zhang said in a statement. “At Soulscape, we are building a 21st-century digital Bauhaus movement and building bridges, not walls. We believe that no matter how infinite the AI spectacle becomes, every pixel must serve a profoundly human story. We’re not just hosting an event; we are building a ‘Y Combinator meets A24’ ecosystem to empower the next generation of storytellers, and we are honored to have legends like John Gaeta and Bruce Hunt opening the doors for them.”
Tickets and more information can be found here.
A logo for Soulscape 2026. Courtesy of Soulscape THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Subscribe Sign Up
