From Toys R Us
A screenshot from an AI-generated video released by Toys R Us, believed to be the first advertisement created with OpenAI's Sora.
CNN —
Toys R Us is proof that artificial intelligence could have a future in the film industry.
The retail toy brand debuted a short promotional film created almost entirely using OpenAI's new text-to-video conversion tool at the 2024 Cannes Lions Film Festival in France this week.
The company's entertainment studio partnered with creative agency Native Foreign, which had early access to Sora. Toys “R” Us said it believes it is the first brand to use the technology to premiere a movie. The tool is not yet available to the public.
The 66-second promo video follows a young Toys”R”Us founder Charles Lazarus as he has a vision to reinvent the toy store with the help of the brand's mascot, Jeffrey the Giraffe, who appears to him in a dream. The video has received mixed reactions on social media, with some calling it a fascinating glimpse into the future of cinema, and others calling it “eerie.”
In addition to Sora, Toys R Us says it also used corrective visual effects and an original music score.
In February, OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT, launched Sora, an AI model it claims can create lifelike, imaginative videos from short text prompts. OpenAI said the tool can generate videos up to 60 seconds long, providing scenes with multiple characters, specific types of movement, and in-depth background details.
Responding to the announcement, experts said text-to-video AI models could disrupt the digital entertainment market.
Kim Miller, chief marketing officer of Toys R Us Creative Studio, told CNN the concept was born after she attended a brand storytelling group and told organizers that for her next project, she wanted to do something “fun” and “quirky” related to the company's founder's origins.
After Native Foreign became an early tester for Sora, Chief Creative Officer Nik Kleverov called Miller and proposed collaborating.
“As you can see, it was all created in text, but some shots were completed quicker than others and some shots required more iterations,” he said. “The blocking, the look of the characters, their clothing, their emotions, the background – everything had to fit together perfectly. Sometimes we created something that was almost perfect, and other times it just wasn't quite right.”
Miller said there was also a lot of intuitive validation and human involvement throughout the process.
“Sometimes, even if we met the requirements, we weren't able to react in time to the circumstances,” she said. “There was a lot to learn and a lot of back and forth. It was an educational process.”
Miller, an early adopter of Facebook Live while working with Martha Stewart, believes the best way to understand technology is to experience it for yourself, rather than just believe what others have told you.
“The same is true for AI,” she says.
She added that Toys R Us is currently exploring advertising opportunities for the promotion.
“Our big mission is to make sure everyone knows that every Macy's store has Toys R Us, so you may see a holiday-only Toys R Us coming soon,” Miller said.
OpenAI has yet to announce an official release date for Sora, but rumors suggest it could be released later this summer.
