How to use AI ethically in your film

The AI Wave Reshaping Filmmaking

Ethical AI video tools for filmmakers.

Over the past few years, generative AI tools have burst onto the scene, promising to revolutionize how films are conceived, shot, and edited. From text-to-image generators that help you storyboard in seconds to AI-driven color grading suites that match cinematic palettes with a single click, AI in filmmaking offers both promise and fear for the damage it might do to employment in the industry. Netflix’s recent admission that they used AI to generate a scene in their new SCI-FI show has not done much to allay people’s fears. For first time filmmakers without access to Hollywood budgets these tools can be intoxicating. Platforms like Runway ML and Luma AI let indie creators whip up visual effects on a shoestring budget. Things have never felt more creative.

Yet beneath this creative gold rush lurks a less glamorous reality. Many of today’s AI video models are trained on vast caches of unlicensed footage scraped from the internet—raising serious questions around copyright, creative attribution, and legal liability. Filmmakers who bank on these tools can find themselves staring down takedown notices or, worse, infringement lawsuits, all while lacking transparency about where the training data came from.

This is where an “ethical AI” video model becomes more than just a buzzword. By insisting on openly licensed, opt-in datasets—and backing it up with indemnity guarantees—tools like the newly launched Moonvalley’s Marey aim to give filmmakers the legal peace of mind and creative control that every storyteller deserves.

Why “Ethical AI” Matters to Filmmakers

Moonvalley’s Marey isn’t just another text-to-video toy—it’s built on the promise of openly licensed training data, so you can create without wondering if your next clip will land you in legal hot water. In an era when other generative tools have scraped copyrighted footage (sometimes without recourse for creators), Marey stands apart by using only content from partners who have explicitly opted in and by offering an indemnity policy to shield you from takedown notices

Transparent Licensing & Creator Rights

• Exclusive, opt-in datasets. Moonvalley contracts “data brokers” and content owners to assemble fully licensed video libraries—no grey areas, no future disputes

• Opt-out & data deletion. Any creator whose work ends up in Marey can request removal. And if you supply your own footage, you can delete it from the model at any time.

• Indemnity guarantee. If someone claims Marey output infringes their rights, Moonvalley’s policy promises to have your back, letting you focus on the art instead of the paperwork

Democratizing Filmmaking, Ethically

We are all about democratizing film here at the festival so for us any tool that will open filmmaking up to the masses is worth looking into. For an independent filmmaker the biggest selling point is that it democratizes access to the top AI storytelling tools, especially for people who have long felt shut out of traditional filmmaking. It can cost hundreds of euro to rent equipment and a limited budget can inevitably end up limiting the scope of the stories people are trying to tell. Tools like Moon valleys Marley coupled with your mobile phone will help open up worlds to new voices in the industry- secure in the knowledge that every frame is legally sound.

Granular Creative Control, Guilt-Free

It’s not just about ethical filmmaking, it’s also about control. Moon valley’s Marey’s is also about giving it’s about filmmakers the tools to refine every shot:

• Frame-by-frame tweaks: Change camera angles, background elements, even lighting after generation.

• Source-footage remixing: Drop in your own clips and let Marey reframe them for new environments—from suburban roads to country highways

All without risking uncanny resemblances to unlicensed content—so your creative choices stay exactly that: yours. Behind the scenes, they’re also expanding their creator-partnership network, so the pool of ethical training footage keeps growing—and so does your peace of mind.

Takeaway: Ethics + Empowerment

The cat is well and truly out of the bag with this stuff. We even have an AI category at this point for Christ’s sake. (Something we have taken some heat on). What it’s about now is putting guard rails on it, making it fair for creatives.