The GenJam is an interactive workshop where participants collaborate in small groups to create AI-generated art and film projects. Using cutting-edge AI tools, teams will conceptualize, generate, and refine creative content in a supportive environment.

No prior experience with AI tools is necessary — just bring your creativity and a laptop!

As artificial intelligence and real-time tools rapidly reshape creative industries, educators face a pressing challenge: how to adapt, collaborate, and prepare students for a future that’s already unfolding. This Spotlight brings together a dynamic group of educators, technologists, and industry leaders for a full day of focused conversation, practical insight, and cross-sector collaboration. Through thought-provoking talks, hands-on workshops, and real-world case studies, we’ll explore how to evolve curricula, share learning models, and equip students with the adaptive skillsets needed to thrive in an AI-driven world.

This is not just a conference—it’s a working session designed to drive real change.

Abstract: This session will showcase key highlights and insights from the May 28 AI Jam, where participants explored the creative potential of AI tools. Through a dynamic video loop of standout projects and expert commentary, attendees will gain a firsthand look at how AI-driven techniques were used for art and film creation. The debrief will emphasize practical takeaways, creative breakthroughs, and lessons learned, offering valuable insights for educators and innovators looking to integrate AI into their own practices.

Abstract: As AI transforms how content is created and consumed, students need more than inspiration—they need infrastructure. This talk explores how alliances with AI service vendors and content studios can help educators equip students with real-world skills, tools, and expectations. Drawing from 30 years in VFX and animation, Lucien shares how his studio integrates AI into production and how academic partnerships can prepare students for the workflows of the future. He’ll touch on TV, film, corporate, healthcare, interactive, and XR—showing why AI literacy is now essential for creative careers.

Abstract: The framework is designed as an innovative “sandbox” environment where both students and faculty are invited to engage with the latest generative AI tools to create different genres of moving media using traditional techniques in a supportive and collaborative environment. In this, every step of the process will allow for discussion on ethical implications, bias, privacy, and copyright concerns that are intrinsic to generative AI technologies. It allows educators to quickly participate in innovation with a human-centric approach. One of the benefits of this sandbox course is the flexibility of substituting Gen AI tools as they evolve without changing the structure of the class.

Main Takeaways:
Innovative Learning Environment: This generative AI sandbox fosters experimentation, encouraging both students and faculty to test new creative boundaries. Students gain hands-on experience with text-to-text, image generation, video generation, and editing. The format embraces iterative learning and failure as part of discovery.
Framework for Flexibility: The sandbox model provides a replicable framework for courses and workshops that focus on technical exploration and interdisciplinary themes. With its modular structure, educators can substitute tools as technologies evolve, keeping the class structure intact while staying current in the rapidly shifting creative technology landscape.
Real-World Application through Case Study: The framework mirrors real-world production pipelines and encourages critical discourse around the creative use of AI. Purchasing seats vs partnerships is discussed.
Ethical and Critical Engagement: The sandbox emphasizes ethical literacy: students examine bias in datasets, copyright challenges, and authorship questions. This fosters critical thinking and prepares students for thoughtful integration of AI in professional creative practice.

Session Description: What if students had access to the same AI tools reshaping modern studios—and the guidance to use them meaningfully? This breakout explores how educators can form strategic alliances with AI vendors, creative studios, and media companies to bring emerging technologies into the classroom. We’ll discuss how to go beyond tool demos and align academic programs with real-world production needs—so students graduate fluent in workflows that are shaping the future. Together, we’ll sketch out partnership models, incentive structures, and shared goals that make these alliances sustainable and scalable.

Description: This innovative sandbox-style framework is designed to engage with the latest generative AI tools in the creation of moving media genres, blending new technologies with traditional techniques.

Within a supportive environment that prioritizes experimentation, students and faculty gain hands-on experience with up-to-date AI for text, image, and video generation and editing, aligned with the course’s theme. Interdisciplinary collaboration is encouraged. While the framework emphasizes creative and technical development, it also integrates open, non-judgmental discussions around the ethical, legal, and societal dimensions of generative AI, such as bias, privacy, and copyright.

These discussions foster critical thinking and prepare students for the responsible integration of AI into their creative practices. A sandbox-style class can function as either an avant-garde exploration or an introductory experience, depending on the learner’s stage of development and the institution’s level of integration.

The modular structure allows educators to swap out tools as technologies evolve, ensuring the course remains current while preserving its core pedagogical approach. Modules can also be embedded into existing curricula, enhancing course relevance and accelerating innovation beyond the pace of traditional academic cycles.
This framework builds upon the case study of “AI & Filmmaking: A Critical Exploration”, taught by Anthony Giacchino in the MFA Computer Arts program at the SVA in Fall 2024, and earlystage collaborations with faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during Fall 2023.

Description: Much of today’s training in real-time tools relies on overly-polished examples and imaginary projects that rarely resemble the work professionals are actually hired to do. Students build ornate sci-fi corridors or cinematic trailers, but struggle when job-hunting or facing on-theground job requirements: impossible deadlines, unclear client briefs, messy assets, or developing with tools outside the common pipeline.

This session explores why technical education needs to shift its focus from abstract exercises to practical, real-world applications. It calls for a curriculum that prioritizes job-ready skills over theoretical mastery—training learners not just to understand the software, but to solve problems, adapt under pressure, and deliver work that meets the needs of a myriad of industries, pushing learners to go beyond commonly-known roles in game development or virtual production.

There are real jobs out there using real time everyday—interactive theater, museum design, social impact, architecture, enterprise XR—and they require more than polished demo reels. They require creators who can use these tools as a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

Alex Coulombe operates both Manhattan’s only Unreal Engine authorized training center and the award-winning creative studio Agile Lens. He’ll shine a light on what he looks for in new hires and how he approaches teaching realtime tools and techniques to everyone from young students to professionals across a wide range of industries looking to build on top of an existing pipeline

Description: What happens when the classroom moves slower than the world outside it? Higher education is at a breaking point. While industries race forward—powered by AI, automation, and rapid iteration—colleges and universities remain entrenched in outdated systems, locked-down tech, and risk-averse cultures. The result? A growing disconnect between what students learn and what the world demands.
This isn’t just about curriculum reform. It’s about tearing down the firewalls—both digital and ideological—that prevent experimentation, critical thinking, and true innovation. It’s about asking: Why are we still preparing students for yesterday’s world? This session challenges educators, technologists, and institutional leaders to confront the cultural inertia that keeps higher education stuck. We’ll expose the hidden costs of legacy infrastructure, the ethical dilemmas of AI, the myth of grade-based success, and the urgent need for transparent, hands-on engagement with the tools of today. Join us to provoke, debate, and help rewire education for the age of disruption. Bring your boldest ideas—because the future doesn’t wait.