Gossip Goblin's AI Anthology 'Gods Don't Give Gifts' Debuts Trailer, Moves to Dec. 4 for Best Animated Feature Oscar Bid

Fable has moved the theatrical release of Gods Don't Give Gifts, the AI-generated anthology of four shorts from YouTuber Gossip Goblin (Zack London), to December 4 and plans to submit it for best animated feature, according to Variety. The campaign puts a wholesale AI-generated feature in front of Academy rules that weigh how much human authorship sits at its creative core.

• The delay targets Oscar season. Fable shifted the U.S. release from Oct. 30 to Dec. 4, roughly a month later, to bring the film closer to the traditional Oscar campaign season.
• Voters and critics see it early. The campaign includes advance screenings for Academy voters and pre-release screenings for critics.
• Distributor not yet disclosed. Fable has not disclosed a distributor, but the trailer debuts in theaters and the poster will run across U.S. multiplexes.
• Human authorship is the yardstick. Academy rules say AI tools "neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination," and branches weigh how much a human was at the heart of the creative authorship.
• Content may be its own hurdle. The film's violence and its R rating from the Motion Picture Association may also serve as barriers in the category.

Fable pairs the December run with voter screenings and a Los Angeles billboard campaign

Beyond the screenings for voters and critics, Fable plans a billboard campaign across Los Angeles, as Variety reports. Fable CEO Edward Saatchi claims the release is "a seminal, historic moment in animation."

"For 5 years, the question has been when will an AI film win an Oscar? Gods Don't Give Gifts is the first that has a shot at a nomination and then it's all to play for," Saatchi said in a statement. He added, "We feel it could be this generation's Toy Story."

Fable and London revealed their theatrical plans hoping to follow YouTubers-turned-filmmakers Kane Parsons and Mark Fischbach (Markiplier). Both turned their YouTube followings into box office with Backrooms ($401 million) and Iron Lung ($51.2 million).

The Academy judges AI films on how much human authorship sits at the creative core

The Academy bans AI actors or AI-assisted scripts, but under its published eligibility rules, as Variety reports, AI tools "neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination." Relevant branches "judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award."

The rules also let the Academy request more detail: "If questions arise regarding the aforementioned use of Generative Artificial Intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship."

The rating is a separate consideration. The first R-rated film nominated for best animated feature was Charlie Kaufman's 2015 stop-motion picture Anomalisa.

London says AI let a small team build the anthology's world down to its props

The four shorts sit within the "second cycle of humanity" in the Gossip Goblin universe's "13 cycles." They aim to satirize society's relationship with AI, tracing the fallout of humanity besting earthly limitations like death and memory through technology.

London describes the anthology in a statement as "part speculation, part critique." He also said, as Variety reports, "I made these films with AI, which some people find ironic. But using a medium to interrogate that medium is one of the oldest moves in art."

He said AI gave him "the ability to transmit stories onto a screen, with minimal filters, intervention, committees or constraints."

According to London, the tools let "a small talented team" build the world at prop-level detail, covering "leviathans and space ships and talking apes, down to the scuffed up sneakers on a background extra."