AI Tech Startup Rebrands as Utopai Studios

Cybever, known for its 3D video generation and Previz-to-Video production pipeline, has rebranded as Utopai Studios, with a feature film and sci-fi series already in the works.

The new Hollywood outfit is being led by co-CEOs Cecilia Shen—Cybever’s CEO and co-founder—and media entrepreneur Marco Weber, a partner in Utopai. The studio plans to fuse its proprietary production technology with Hollywood storytelling chops to deliver “visually ambitious projects”. The slate already includes the feature film Cortés, penned by Nick Kazan, and a sci-fi series. Both have been presold. The outfit has aligned with sales partner K5 International and previsualization firm OPSIS, known for its work on Game of Thrones, Captain America and Wicked. K5 will be pitching the series at MIPCOM and the film at AFM.

“Our mission for Utopai Studios is to allow filmmakers to build their dreams and make the films they intended to do, without being restricted by financial pressure or creative compromises, which they usually have to agree to,” Shen and Weber said. “The main focus for us from the beginning was to make the technology useful and controllable for the filmmaker, to ensure it was their detailed vision on the screen and not just an inconsistent resemblance of it, made by a machine. As a result of that, Utopai is a home for storytellers and world builders that has no limits. The bigger you think creatively, the more welcome you are. We are truly honored to have assembled a team of such world-class filmmakers for our first projects and can’t wait to show the world.”

The team also includes Jie Yang, Cybever’s co-founder and CTO, who will continue to serve as CTO of Utopai; production designer Kirk Petruccelli as chief creative officer; and filmmaker Martin Weisz as chief workflow officer.

Cortés is set in 1519 and is planned to be released in two films at 100-minutes each. “I have been trying to tell this story for more than 30 years,” Kazan said. “It was always impossible: too big, too expensive, just always ‘too,'” Kazan said. “Finally, I have found a home and creative partners with the talent and vision and a technology that will allow moviegoers to witness in some form events that took place more than 500 years ago. The facts of that time (the arrival of the Spaniards, the battles, the eventual fall of the astonishing city of Tenochtitlan) are rich and complicated, and many are disputed. Our goal is to tell one story—not the story, because there are many sides to it. We want to entertain, to give viewers a glimpse of the clash between two very different, almost alien cultures. We are, and we must be, bold in this.”

The untitled sci-fi series is being planned as an eight-parter, penned by Vanessa Coifman and Weisz, with Weisz directing. The series follows a group of young pilots tasked with defending Earth from an alien threat. Weber and Coifman serve as executive producers.

“With Project ‘Space,’ we will try to push the envelope in the sci-fi genre creatively, utilizing our world-building technology that will allow us to build a breathtaking universe and fill it with an extraordinary story and characters,” said Weisz. “While in the traditional filmmaking process, this would have required a significantly higher investment, we are lucky to not have that pressure. Our innovative team just enjoys the daily increasing opportunities, as well as the freedom, to go to places that others couldn’t go before visually, liberating the entire production process as we go.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Cecilia and Marco at this crucial and exciting time, when the world is undergoing the most significant technical revolution mankind has ever encountered,” said Daniel Baur, CEO of K5 International. “We love their passion for filmmakers and their deep understanding of how to use advanced technology.”

“We’ve followed video-to-video AI from the start, and Utopai’s early results were nothing short of extraordinary—far beyond anything out there,” said Henrik Fett, CEO of OPSIS. “Our aligned vision made this an ideal partnership. This isn’t about handing the keys to AI, but using it as the time-saving tool it’s meant to be. By combining our proven visualization pipeline with generative tools, we’re expanding creative possibilities while keeping control with the filmmakers.”