The first completely AI photoreal live-action passing feature film + the first film in history with a randomized ending
(PRUnderground) March 1st, 2026
Pioneering filmmaker and theorist Hooroo Jackson premieres Strings on February 28, 2026 — the first fully AI photoreal live-action feature to cross the “passing threshold” (generated performances indistinguishable from real human actors) and the first film ever released with a randomized ending.
Set in the Antebellum South, Strings follows four sisters of the Beaufort family and the deepening bond between imaginative youngest daughter Nellie Beaufort and gifted Black master puppeteer Daniel Brock. As their artistic collaboration turns into something more dangerous, their relationship becomes the fault line that cracks the world around them.Strings marks two decisive breakthroughs:
- Live-action photoreal imagery that fully passes at feature length — realized solo on a budget under $1,000.
- The first randomized ending in cinema history. One version is happy. One is tragic. The film decides which one you receive. There is no choice. There is no warning.
Clip 1: https://youtu.be/nOWcjnq4S74
Clip 2: https://youtu.be/lyGKuvzoCYw
Strings is Jackson’s sixth landmark feature release in two and a half years, each marking different firsts-in-category in AI cinema history. The collapse of production budgets and tools opens what Jackson calls ‘post-scarcity cinema’, verbalized in his New Machine Cinema doctrine.
- Window Seat (2023) — The first fully AI feature film (budget: $100)
- DreadClub: Vampire’s Verdict (2024) — First fully AI animated feature + first AI anime feature film (budget: $405, Amazon Prime)
- A Very Long Carriage Ride (2025) — First simultaneous dual-style release (AI stop-motion + AI classic 2D (budget: $2,000)
- My Boyfriend Is a Superhero!? (2025) — First fully AI 3D-CG feature + first choose-your-protagonist feature (budget: $1,000)
- Strings (2026) — First completely AI photoreal live-action passing feature + first randomized-ending feature
Accompanied by three foundational theory volumes — The New Machine Cinema, Post-Scarcity Cinema, and Pirate Cinema. Jackson’s work defines the vocabulary and economics of the emerging regime: One Person, One Film. Living, Breathing Cinema. The Adaptive Cinema Engine, and the Pirate Cinema Manifesto. Total budget for six features + three books: under $5,000. Total crew: one. Strings is now streaming on YouTube and hooroojackson.com. Your ending awaits.
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Original Press Release.
