The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and YouTube have unveiled the first four AI-enabled short films created under the Create with AI programme, marking a key milestone in the initiative aimed at supporting AI-led creative projects and strengthening India’s capabilities in emerging technologies.

According to a press release from IICT, the programme was announced in November 2025 to provide creative studios with access to AI tools, technology and mentorship. The first four films were developed by Eleventh Door Studio, Avium Studios, Karthik Kult Kreations and Kalpanik Films LLP. The films were showcased at the IICT Theatre in Mumbai and released by the participating filmmakers on their respective YouTube channels, along with IICT.

The Create with AI programme combines IICT’s infrastructure and faculty mentorship with YouTube’s AI software, tools and credits. The participating studios have used these resources to experiment with artificial intelligence across different stages of filmmaking, including concept development, visualisation, production and post-production.

Alongside the films, audiences can access exclusive behind-the-scenes content offering a closer look at the tools, techniques and creative processes used by the filmmaking teams. Filmmaker Rajesh Mapuskar also attended the showcase and interacted with the participating creative teams.

Dr. Vishwas Deoskar, CEO, IICT, said India has an opportunity to lead the next phase of AI-led filmmaking. He said the Create with AI programme combines institutional mentorship with access to advanced AI tools, allowing Indian creative studios to experiment, build capabilities and develop new filmmaking workflows.

Gunjan Soni, Managing Director – India, YouTube, said India has a strong storytelling tradition and that independent creators are increasingly building production capabilities on their own terms. She added that generative AI can help remove production bottlenecks and give creators more time to focus on writing, world-building and creative craft.

According to a new Gen Media India report by Public First and Google, generative media tools can provide a 20 percent productivity boost for creative workers in India. The report estimates that this could save around 390 hours each year, giving creators additional time to focus on writing, world-building and refining their work.

Ninad Raikar, COO, IICT, said the focus of the programme was not on whether AI would replace creativity, but on what could become possible when filmmakers are equipped with new technological tools. He described Create with AI as a hands-on experiment combining Google and YouTube’s AI technologies, IICT’s infrastructure and faculty mentorship, and the creative vision of filmmakers.

Raikar added that the four films demonstrate how AI can expand creative possibilities while keeping filmmakers at the centre of the storytelling process.

IICT is India’s National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR). The institute was established with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra, FICCI and CII.

Its first campus began functioning at the NFDC Complex in July 2025, while a permanent 10-acre campus is being developed at Film City, Goregaon. IICT currently offers 18 courses and has partnerships with global technology and media companies.

The launch of the first four films under Create with AI marks an early step in the programme’s larger objective of helping Indian filmmakers experiment with emerging technologies while developing new approaches to AI-assisted storytelling and production.