Veteran Filmmaker Turns to AI on MINIBOTS Project

A three-decade veteran of traditional film and TV production is now testing AI video tools, using Kling AI to build the project MINIBOTS and explore performance for AI-driven characters.

Diane Shorthouse, who spent 30 years working in conventional film and television production, is now putting AI filmmaking tools to the test on a project called MINIBOTS. Her move marks another example of an industry veteran stepping away from traditional workflows to see what generative video can add to the filmmaking process. According to a post from Kling AI, Shorthouse's interest centers on two areas where she sees AI offering real advantages over conventional production: improving safety during shoots and finding ways to bring convincing emotional performances to characters generated entirely through AI. Both are persistent challenges that traditional filmmaking has long managed through practical, often costly, means — from stunt coordination to motion capture and animation pipelines. Details on MINIBOTS itself remain limited, but the project appears to serve as Shorthouse's testing ground for applying Kling AI's tools to storytelling that would otherwise require the kind of resources only larger productions could typically afford. Her background in mainstream film and TV gives her perspective a different weight than that of creators who started directly in AI-native production, since she is explicitly framing her AI work as an extension of, rather than a replacement for, decades of traditional craft. The emphasis on emotional performance is notable, given that one of the recurring critiques of AI-generated video has been its difficulty conveying nuanced human expression. Shorthouse's experience suggests some filmmakers are actively working to close that gap rather than treating it as an inherent limitation of the medium. As more veteran creators publicly experiment with tools like Kling AI, their transitions offer a window into how traditional industry expertise is being reapplied to AI-driven production, even as the tools and their capabilities continue to evolve.