iQIYI, Peter Pau Launch AI Theater Camp to Push AI Beyond Short Video

Pau, 73, has worked on “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Forbidden Kingdom” and “Blossoms Shanghai,” and won an Academy Award as a cinematographer. “I am 73 and I am making a transition. I want to embrace new technology, master it and do what I really want to do. That is my determination,” Pau said, according to the report. He said AI can completely overturn past ideas, which is why he threw himself into the shift.

The camp at iQIYI’s Youth Center teaches screenwriting, camera language, advanced AI techniques, sound and dubbing, and commercialization. Young creators bring their own ideas and stories; after the camp, 15 chosen teams will turn their projects into films. The works will be at least 15 minutes long, far longer than the short clips common in many AI video contests.

Pau argued that story matters more than fleeting visual novelty at that length. “If you are someone who often reads books, you know that text gives far more room for imagination than three-minute short video content,” he said. A 15-minute AI film, in his view, is harder than a 30-minute short or even a two-hour movie because it must complete a full dramatic structure and hold viewers’ attention without letting them switch away.

Zhu Liang, iQIYI vice president and head of innovative production, said the camp operates like a venture-capital model: projects are judged case by case under high standards, and Pau takes part in reviews throughout the camp to ensure stronger content can land on iQIYI. The report said the camp is less a contest to discover creators than a week-long master class in film aesthetics and AI application.

On the technical side, iQIYI’s intelligent production department has concentrated its production experience into a stable workflow and platform, and works with creators to adjust it in practice. Zhu said iQIYI is talking with multiple model companies rather than betting on one model, because different models can perform better in different scenes. He described the department as a bridge between technology and art, able to speak with both creators and model companies; feedback from artists also influences how AI tools are iterated.

The company is also building distribution support. Unlike iQIYI’s Mist Theater and Romance Theater brands, the AI Theater is not defined by genre or a targeted audience, the report said. Zhu said iQIYI wants the label to signal higher-quality, serialized and commercializable AI content, distinct from ordinary AI short videos and AI comics. He compared the moment to cinema’s move from film to digital two decades ago, when “digital cinema” was still a separate concept; one day, he suggested, AI may become embedded in all image-making and the separate AI theater label may no longer be needed.

Qi Kang said AI may blur the boundary between professional creators and amateurs and will change traditional film and entertainment production. He said creators should also consider how AI can evolve audiovisual language. Pau, for his part, rejected fear of replacement: “Do not be afraid. Now is the time for you to change, not for AI to change. I am 73 and I am transitioning—many people are still young, so why can’t you?”

Editor's Summary

iQIYI and Peter Pau are running a Beijing camp that will select 15 teams to produce 15-minute-plus AI films for a new AI theater within one quarter. The project pairs Pau’s filmmaking guidance with iQIYI’s technical, production and distribution support, positioning AI content as a premium, commercializable category rather than short-form memes. iQIYI executives compare the shift to cinema’s move from film to digital.