James Boyd brings two AI-assisted films to four Southern California festivals

Filmmaker James Boyd will screen 404 and DEAD DRIP at four Southern California film festival events over the next month, including a world premiere for DEAD DRIP in North Hollywood. The screenings highlight Boyd’s “human made with AI tools” approach and his argument that generative AI is changing production, not replacing storytelling.

Why it matters: - James Boyd is using generative AI to test a broader question for independent film: whether new tools can lower production barriers without flattening a filmmaker’s voice. - The four screenings put that approach in front of festival audiences across Southern California over the next month. - Boyd’s framing matters because he links today’s AI tools to earlier shifts in film technology that opened access for independent creators.

What happened: - Boyd will bring two AI-assisted projects, 404 and DEAD DRIP, to four Southern California film festival screenings. - 404 screens Friday, August 21 at 9:45 p.m. at Film Invasion Los Angeles in Glendale. - DEAD DRIP will have its world premiere Sunday, September 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the 14th Annual Studio City Film Festival. - The Studio City Film Festival runs September 2-10 at the Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood. - 404 and DEAD DRIP will screen together Tuesday, September 15 at 6 p.m. at the Indiewood Film Festival at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre. - 404 closes this run with a Saturday, September 19 screening at 10 p.m. at SIMI Film Fest at the Simi Valley Town Center in Simi Valley.

The details: - Boyd describes his method as “human made with AI tools.” - 404 is a science-fiction comedy about an AI bot that struggles to find purpose after humans reject her empathy algorithm. - 404 has won a Silver Telly Award in the Generative AI, Comedy category. - 404 has also accumulated multiple festival honors. - DEAD DRIP is a horror-comedy project centered on eccentric supernatural characters in a world filled with vampires, monsters and human absurdity. - The September 6 screening will be DEAD DRIP’s first public showing. - Boyd founded the Nodance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in 1998. - Nodance became the world’s first DVD-projected film festival. - The festival used digital projection to avoid the cost of creating film prints for theatrical exhibition. - Boyd said the goal was to remove an economic barrier between independent filmmakers and audiences. - Boyd’s career has moved from 35mm production to early digital cinema and now generative production tools. - More information is available at JamesBoyd.com. - Boyd’s social links in the release include Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Between the lines: - Boyd is drawing a line between the tool and the outcome: generative AI may change how films get made, but he argues it should not determine what they look like. - That approach positions AI as a production layer, not a creative genre. - The contrast between 404 and DEAD DRIP suggests Boyd wants the technology to serve different storytelling goals rather than produce a single recognizable style. - His comparison to the early digital transition at Nodance signals a long-running belief that new formats matter most when they reduce cost and widen access.

What's next: - DEAD DRIP makes its world premiere on September 6. - 404 continues its festival run through at least September 19. - Boyd is likely to keep using generative AI as part of filmmaker-driven narrative work as he explores what the tools can add without replacing human decision-making.

The bottom line: - Boyd is presenting AI-assisted filmmaking as an access tool, not a replacement for directorial voice.