'Like cutting up a Picasso': AI microdrama edit of Neighbours worries actors and crew

Former Neighbours actors and crew have triggered concern regarding aims to employ AI to assist re-edit old footage and create mini episodes for mobile phone viewers.

Key points

• Footage of Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, will be the initial focus of the micro-drama.
• The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, one of the unions, confirmed the discussions.
• The mini episodes will probable feature Matt Werkmeister, 34.
• Now a Melbourne-based producer and director, Werkmeister notes he hasn't been approached by the businesses behind the micro-drama and is concerned what the episodes will feature.
• The micro-drama episodes will employ "original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances", according to Fremantle spokesman.

Fremantle, producer of the now-defunct Australian TV soap opera, has partnered with US-based RoseBerry Media for the project that will employ AI to "scan decades of episodes" to assist create short vertical videos.

Both firms say the move will bring the show – which aired its final episode last year – to new audiences. But some actors and crew say they have not consented to their images, voice or work to be re-purposed.

Robbie has yet to respond publicly. The BBC has contacted her agency for comment.

In an official note, the firms behind the project stated the AI-assisted technology will "scan decades of episodes to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments, helping editors quickly identify the strongest material".

For context, the micro-drama episodes will employ "original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances", according to Fremantle spokesman.

"It does not generate new scenes or performances, alter actors' faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices, " he remarked, adding that a human editor would be "reviewing and approving every stage of the editing process".

Notably, the mini episodes will probable feature Matt Werkmeister, 34. This person joined the set of Neighbours in 2005 when he was 13 years old. He played a regular character, Zeke Kinski and shared plenty of scenes with Robbie's character.

"If they're creating a new micro-drama out of something that already exists, I feel there needs to be consent for using our image and voice as well as the writers, " he remarked.

Robbie is "obviously a big draw card" and "it's nice to watch old clips from shows you used to watch, " Werkmeister remarked, but when he signed his contract two decades ago, "streaming didn't even exist as a platform" so he's unsure of what his rights are.

That uncertainty is additionally at the forefront of Sam Clark's mind. He played Ringo Brown on Neighbours from 2006 to 2010, a character who afterwards marries Robbie's fictional character.

Speaking from Los Angeles, Clark – now working as a producer and voice actor – remarked he hadn't heard concerning the micro-drama until a friend sent him an article.

"I don't have a negative view of the work that we did all those years ago getting a second life as long as it's not being manipulated into new storylines, " Clark, 39, remarked.

"AI and social media obviously wasn't a thing when I signed my contract 20 years ago so I'm still trying to understand exactly what those parameters are."

Sound recordist Bruce Findlay, 68, has worked in the TV industry for close to five decades and Neighbours has a "special place" in his heart, having worked on the show from episode one.

Using AI to support produce short episodes from old footage was "like cutting up a Picasso and rebuilding it".

"We worked so hard to get this product out. And now they're chopping it up into little tiny pieces, throwing it up in the air and putting it back together again using AI – it belittles the process".

Guy Hameiri, head of RoseBerry Media, remarked the project is the first time the business will employ its in-house AI tool to sift through Neighbours footage – there are more than 9, 300 episodes – to produce "premium vertical television".

Meanwhile, the project will "reimagine" the material, giving it "new audiences, new relevance and new value, " he remarked.

Meanwhile, the head of Fremantle's commercial and international arm, Jens Richter, has called the project "an exciting example of how technology and creative thinking can unlock new value" from their catalogue.

It's understood that Fremantle is in discussions with two unions on the matter and that residuals – ongoing payments for actors and writers when their work is re-aired or syndicated – will be paid, but this does not apply to crew.

In practice, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, one of the unions, confirmed the discussions.

"Workers should be consulted before their likeness or expertise is used in a way they could never had envisioned when they signed contracts decades ago, " remarked MEAA's acting CEO Adam Portelli.

In short, ' Like cutting up a Picasso' : AI microdrama edit of Neighbours worries actors is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.