The View co-host Sunny Hostin has sparked a debate over the future of filmmaking after revealing her new partnership with AI studio Fountain 0 to bring her creative projects to life.
Speaking during a recent episode of The View, Hostin explained that she turned to artificial intelligence after spending six years struggling to get New York Times bestselling books adapted for the screen.
“The gatekeeping in Hollywood around Black and brown creative content is insane,” Hostin said on the broadcast. “I cannot get New York Times bestselling books onto the screen to tell diverse stories to diverse communities… With AI, that cuts out the gatekeeping. You get to make your film. You get to have a director.”
Hostin’s decision follows Fountain 0 making history at the Tribeca Film Festival with the premiere of Dreams of Violets, the first-ever AI-generated film featured at the festival.
The docudrama draws on 47 years of Iranian civilian resistance and protests against government forces, following five strangers hiding in a dead-end alley as a soldier discovers their hiding spot while government forces execute wounded protesters nearby. A child in a wheelchair named Amir watches the scene unfold from a window above and decides to intervene.
Directed and created by Iranian-born brothers Ash and Pooya Koosha, the 74-minute film was made without physical cameras, sets, or live actors, produced in just two months for roughly $2,000 using generative AI tools, with every image, character, and location generated based on real-life journalistic reports, photographs, and eyewitness accounts.
Rather than casting traditional actors, Hostin confirmed her own projects will follow a similar approach, using AI-generated imagery and noting that while she licensed her own image for a potential “Where’s Waldo” style cameo, the rest of the cast will be generated. Her goal is to take finished AI-driven films directly to streamers to license and stream.
The announcement immediately drew pushback from her co-hosts, particularly Joy Behar and Ana Navarro, who questioned the ethics and real-world labor impact of cutting out human actors, writers, and directors.
When Behar asked how using AI images helps the real Black community when “the real people are not working,” Hostin stood firm. “They are AI images, because the stories are not being told, Joy, because the real people are not getting jobs in Hollywood,” Hostin responded. “The train has left the station and this is something that’s here. It’s not going away… But I’m not the person putting them out of work because the studios just won’t make these projects.”
Hostin maintained that using AI acts as an alternative distribution pipeline to ensure overlooked stories, such as those of “hidden figures” in history, finally get told.
