Local filmmaker flips script, morphing from AI skeptic into collaborative partner
Owen Logan was a senior film student at Boston University in spring 2025 and looking for a topic to pursue for independent study when the idea was floated to him : Why don 't you make a film using artificial intelligence ?
Having spent more than three years learning to produce scripted films and documentaries, from researching and shooting to transcribing interviews and editing, the Newport Beach resident was a bit leery of letting tech in on the creative process.
But as conversations about the impact of AI on the human workforce, particularly in film and television, continue to gain prominence, the film student wondered what lessons there could be in attempting to guide and collaborate with a generative tool ?
Advertisement "At first I was opposed to the idea, " Logan, 23, recalled Tuesday. "But then I realized this is the world I 'm stepping into so, like it or not, maybe I needed to learn more about that world. I kind of approached it with a war mentality - a know your enemy kind of thing."
A history buff with a passion for global cultures, social causes and storytelling, Logan zeroed in on exploring concepts of American identity through the lens of immigration and the movement of people from all over the world to the United States.
The result is " Mother of Exiles, " a four- minute short featuring images and sequences spanning centuries, interspersed with depictions of Americans casting ballots at polling places. Scenes are set to the spoken words of 19th- century poet Emma Lazarus ' "New Colossus, " the lines of which were installed into the base of the Statue of Liberty in 1903.
Despite the subject matter 's relevance, as the nation walks up to its semiquincentennial anniversary and as the Supreme Court this week upheld the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, Logan maintains the film 's message is not political.
"I wanted to make something I could show to Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike and to all my family across those different labels and have them relate to, " he said. "I was trying to be very intentional and caring about what I wanted to depict. If you 're going into a very sensitive topic like that, you have to be very careful about the sequences you get."
In planning the project, Logan worked with Tunji Akinsehinwa, an associate professor in the film and television department of Boston University 's College of Communication, to establish some ground rules.
Logan had to script the film and write a research paper on his findings, which he delivered to 70 faculty members in a year- end meeting. He was also required to assemble a team to assist in the production and to cast a voice actor.
The student and adviser regularly shared research on the various AI tools that might be employed and discussed the environmental ramifications of the infrastructure required by the technology, an aspect of Logan 's paper.
"It wasn 't an easy get- out- of- work [assignment ]. He had to do quite a bit of work, " Akinsehinwa said of the process, which evolved and changed with each software upgrade.
"A year ago, AI technology was very different from what it was now. While Owen was making the film there were different models of platforms he was using every month."
Frame by frame, Logan learned the art and science of prompt engineering as he applied the same principles he 'd learned and used in conventional production. The idea was to make AI execute the filmmaker 's creative vision, not to generate random content.
"Mother of Exiles " ends with a 1989 quote from Ronald Reagan 's final presidential address, wherein he opines that a person can live in France but never become a Frenchman and concludes, "But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American."
Logan said his intention was not to answer questions about American identity, but rather to pose them. To help viewers explore the film 's concepts further, he developed a downloadable discussion guide and hopes it may facilitate discussions among viewers, students or teachers.
The short last month was awarded best student film at the New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles, which "champions creators who push boundaries, embrace emerging formats and share narratives that resonate."
Logan, who is the short film programmer for the Newport Beach Film Festival, has since moved on to other stories. He 's working on a documentary about Nantucket scrimshaw artists who carve elaborate art pieces on a now- depleted stock of whale bones. But the lessons of "Mother of Exiles " remain.
"It went from being a school project to learn AI to something maybe I can share with the public to promote civil discourse, " he said. "These emerging technologies can be used for good."
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