AI-cut Neighbours: former stars of the series concerned about the use of their likenesses

The Fremantle and RoseBerry Media project

Fremantle, the production company that owns the rights to the concluded Australian series Neighbours, has announced a partnership with the American company RoseBerry MediaAn AI tool will scan more than 9,300 episodes to tag storylines and identify the strongest moments, and editors will cut them into short vertical mini-episodes for viewing on phones. The project's first focus will be footage of Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011. Robbie herself has not publicly responded; the BBC said it had contacted her agency for comment. Both companies stress that the project is meant to give the archive 'a new audience, a new relevance and a new value' — as RoseBerry Media head Guy Hameiri put it — while Fremantle's head of commercial, Jens Richter, called it an example of how technology 'unlocks new value' in the catalogue.

Objections from actors and crew

According to BBC News, some former members of the cast and crew learned about the project from the media and say they did not consent to the reuse of their image, voice and work. Matt Werkmeister, who played Zeke Kinski from 2005, noted that when he signed his contract two decades ago, 'streaming didn't even exist as a platform', and he is unsure of his rights; he believes that creating a new mini-drama from existing material requires the consent of actors and writers. Sam Clark (Ringo Brown, 2006–2010) said he has nothing against giving old work 'a second life', as long as it is not reworked into new storylines, but he too is trying to understand the parameters of his rights. Sound engineer Bruce Findlay, who worked on the series from the very first episode, compared the AI-driven reassembly of material to 'cutting up a Picasso and putting it back together', saying it 'diminishes the process'. Fremantle assures that the mini-episodes will use only original broadcast footage, dialogue and actors' performances: no generation of new scenes, no altering of faces and no synthetic voices, and every stage of editing will be checked by a human editor.

Rights and payments

According to the BBC, Fremantle is reportedly in negotiations with two unions; reruns — regular payments to actors and writers when their work is rebroadcast — will be paid, but this does not extend to the crew. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance confirmed that negotiations are under way. Its acting chief executive, Adam Portelli, said that 'workers should be consulted before their image or craft is used in a way they could not have imagined when signing contracts decades ago'. It remains unclear exactly how rights and payments will be distributed and how Margot Robbie will respond.

Image source, Getty