A few days after entering for a presentation at the Zurich Film Festival last weekend, Tilly Norwood was talking about town.
However, despite appearing only in one two-minute comedy sketch, the AI-generated actress, who is on the verge of becoming a family name, has yet to interview her. Variety was asked by a spokesperson about Particle6, the company that created her, and was told, “Tillie can’t speak at the moment.”
The acting community has blown up Tilly, but Emily Brandt calls her “really scary” and President Thug Af Astin has vowed to deal with the phenomenon with agents, but the creation of AI is a reality that Hollywood spokespersons are beginning to take seriously. One of the people who include A-list clients on the roster says they are open to taking on AI actors as clients.
“It’s so crazy, but we have to see this shift to AI, like the shift to social media,” the spokesperson said. “I remember when social media began to boom, no one wanted to represent social media influencers, but now most of the biggest names in the industry come from following strong social media. I feel that change involves representing AI-focused talent in the future.”
Another well-known spokesman scoffed at pearl clutching when it came to Tilly.
“Representation isn’t about whether the client is human or AI. It’s about positioning, protecting reputation and ensuring that the story remains true,” she says. “As AI is increasingly weaving into our everyday lives, representations of AI figures become more common, they become essential. The roles are the same: protecting your message, maintaining your brand, building a career – human or artificial.”
But the third spokesperson with heavy clients for the actress by her name says, “No in hell,” adding, “I don’t think they need a spokesperson.”
The company that created Tilly claims that the actress has not identified them or as such. “Her pronoun is her/her,” Particle6 said, adding, “Everyone wants to have an interview with Tilly.”
And if Tilly, programmed with the human abilities of crying in the sketch “AI Commissioner,” ends up working in television and films, she continues to be asked to press. That inevitability underlines her need for an individual spokesperson. Individual spokespersons decide which outlets are most valuable to participate, and perhaps to maintain a particular topic from the restrictions.
Tyler Merritt, Chief Technology Officer at Austin-based UNEEQ, is probably the only talent agency for AI Human Influencers, and says he has reserved his works with major brands like Qatar Airways.
“It’s possible to create a story where your characters can effectively answer your questions. And continuity is a big thing with AI. “When you start continuing with artificial intelligence, it becomes very difficult to say, ‘Aha, gotcha. You’ve slipped.’ But giving these performances in these films is sometimes authentic, and worry is that they are incredibly ineffective and not incomplete in themselves.
To date, in response to creators who claim that an announcement about a signature with Hollywood agents is imminent, there has been weighted as to whether they represent Tilly, and whether only two talent agencies will represent Tilly. Gersh’s president, Leslie Siebert, told Variety he wouldn’t be surprised if AI creations landed in agents. Similarly, WME co-chair Richard Weitz told Rapp, “We represent humans.”
